"Those who can be saved should be saved."
'Those are the words my grandfather told me a long time ago, but it's been 10 years since I've heard those words, and every day those words become harder and harder to see as reality, especially when people walk by me day in and out a poor homeless teen and either don't give it a second thought or see me as a disgusting rat they wish would disappear. Ugh, I guess that's the way it is. Most have to look after themselves.'
"Don!"
The sound of a kid's voice snaps the young man out of deep thought. Donaldo is a 17-year-old native of Brazil. He's a rugged young man with shiny blue eyes looking past his unkempt, long, curly black hair. He looks down at the 12-year-old boy that was trying to eagerly grab his attention.
"Was-up Lucas?"
This is Lucas. He's another street kid like me he lost his parents to a local gang, stuff like this is common here, in Tabas Brazil. We stick together and survive by stealing. He's like my little brother. "Don, it's time old man Rolo is distracted. Let's go."
The two boys move over to an extravagant cart full of gold watches and necklaces. As the boys get closer, they speed up and run toward the cart, grabbing handfuls of merchandise. Behind the cart stands a burly man with an unkempt beard and not-so-jolly gut hearing his goods being stolen. He quickly turns and grabs Don. "you little rat, trying to steal from me?"
Don feels a weird shock the second Rollo grabs his arm. Don quickly jumps back with a handful of gold goods. "Run Lucas!" the boys ran as fast as they can away from the Burly man known as Rolo.
Across the street were two men who watched the scene play out.
Both men are in black and unique clothes with a gold cross on their right shoulders. The first man has long blond hair in a ponytail with brown eyes and a large scar below his left eye. "hmm did you see that Sable?"
The first man looks over at the second, his short black hair and light brown skin that shined in the light. His dangling earrings with two little crosses smack his neck as he looks at his colleague "yep John, that kid with the curly hair, he's..."
John looks on with determination. "yep he's been marked."
Later in a small room with two beds and an almost majestic view of the Tabas slum.
The two boys assessed their haul. Lucas stops stunned as he looks at the watches. "Ahh, these are all cheap fakes!"
Don quickly looks at Lucas. " What?! You're joking, right?"
Lucas throws the watch at the wall in frustration. "Nope, we would only get about 10 for all this."
Don stands up and walks toward the only window in the room. If you could call it, it was more like a hole in the concrete wall shaped like a window. "Ugh, I can't keep living like this, Luca."
Lucas looks at Don with a confused look. "How else are we supposed to live?"
Don looks at the moon that is sitting almost like it would kiss the town below. "I don't want to live just to live. Spending every day without direction. Hoping that we're able to get a warm meal. As it is now, we are no better than rats."
Lucas lets out a loud sigh as he shakes his head. "I don't get it at all."
The room goes silent, all that can be heard are the rats that live on the roof moving around. Then suddenly, two loud knocks break the silence. Lucas looks at Don concerned, Don nods and pulls out a knife from his pocket. Don then signals for Lucas to open the door. Lucas sits up and begins to slowly creep along the floor, each step more careful than the last. Sweat builds on his eyebrows as he gets more and more nervous as he gets closer. He reaches for the doorknob when suddenly he remembers his parents.
It had been a long time since he'd even thought about them. He almost forgot what their faces looked like. But at this moment, one-hundredth of a second before he reached the doorknob, he can remember every detail of their face and even the smell of his mom's perfume. For that moment, he was at peace.
Then, suddenly, a hand comes through the door and grabs Lucas's head. The person the hand belongs to walks right through the door, breaking it as he comes through. Don's eyes widen as he notices who it is. "Rolo!"
Rolo raises Lucas in the air. At that moment, Don noticed Rolo looked different. His skin was gray. His eyes were glowing green and his face had a large inhuman smile on it. A hideous voice rings through the room. "You rats thought you could steal from me?"
The voice was so vile and unnatural Don fell to his knees out of fear. Rolo squeezed Lucas's head. "I'll kill you both slowly and eat your souls."
Don built up some strength and asked, "Rolo, what are you?"
Rolo laughed, the laugh was more vile and disgusting than anything Don ever heard. "I am a child of greed. An eater of souls. I'm evil incarnate"
At that moment Don remembered his grandfather, religious to a fault. He would volunteer for those just as needy as him. Prayed every day, fearing God and the Devil. After he died, Don stopped believing in all of that, but in that room in the moonlight, seeing Rolo's twisted smile that reached ear-to-ear crossed his grey skin, he knew he was a daemon. Don started shaking uncontrollably. 'Think Don! I need to think. Even though the door was weak and rotting, Rolo walked right through it as if it were nothing. Not to mention the fact he picked up Luca with ease. Luca may only weigh about 115 pounds, but even an athletic adult would find that extremely difficult. There's no doubt Rolo is extremely strong. If I make a move, he might be able to instantly smash Luca's head with little effort. Then what are my options? Think don think. THINK GOD DAMNIT! Wait, he's a child of greed. It may have been a metaphor for the devil, but what if it's not?'
Don dropped his knife and took a deep breath. "Hey Rolo, if you're a child of greed, then you should be tempted by this."
Rolo paused, his glowing green eyes widened in joyous curiosity. "Don, are you trying to make a deal with the Devil?"
Don's face lit up. 'So it wasn't a metaphor. This is a gamble, but it could work.' The light from the moon illuminated the room further, revealing Rolo's demonic face. Don's heart skips a beat. 'He really is a daemon. That's right, this is a gamble and if I lose Luca and I will both die.'
Don steadied as his heart raced. It was a feeling he'd never felt before. "Luca and I have been stealing for a while. We always had this dream that we would buy our way into the Tampas Gang. So we saved up for years just for that purpose."
Rolos' head turned like a dog trying to understand something. Don's blood warmed in his veins. The feeling he'd never felt before was excitement. He thought to himself, 'What's wrong with me? This situation where most would stop and pray for redemption in the face of evil is...'
"So, Rolo, let's play a game of tag."
Rolo's twisted smile turned to a face of confusion. "Tag?"
Don was trying hard to conceal a weird sensation bursting at the seams of his face. "Put down Luca and chase me. If you can catch me, I'll tell you where we have our stash." Of course, this was a lie. There was no plan and no stash. However, Don knew this was the only way to save his friend.
Rolo's smile became more twisted.
Don thought to himself, 'This is scary and almost hopeless.' However, Don couldn't fight what he was feeling, no matter how much he tried to suppress it. 'Above all else, this is fun.' Then suddenly the seams that held back the weird sensation on Don's face had burst into a smile.
Rolo's eyes glowed an even brighter green. "Don, that smile you have is more twisted than some daemons I know." Rolo's laugh rang through the room. "Alright, kid, I accept your challenge."
Rolo dropped Luca, who had passed out from shock. The second Rolo let go of Luca, Don turned around and jumped out of the window. Falling from the third floor, he looked down and thought. 'Today is Wednesday. No one has taken their trash to the landfill yet. So this will break my fall.'
Don lands in an enormous pile of trash. Upon impact, a glass bottle in one of the bags he had landed on cuts his cheek. Don quickly picks himself up. He ran as fast as he could as he thinks. 'I could outrun Rolo earlier and I know these streets like the back of my hand. There's no way he could catch me in this town.'
A loud crash behind Don causes him to fly forward a bit as he continues to run. He looked behind him to see Rolo emerge from the dust cloud. His green eyes pierced through before he began chasing Don, catching up at an alarming rate.
Don ignores his screaming lungs as he runs faster and thinks to himself. 'Of course, he's this fast. He's a daemon. That was so dumb of me to think he was as slow as earlier today.' Don smiled again. He was undeniably having fun.
Adrenalin is a potent drug that humans can produce. Its effects on the body can cause a humans reaction and the body to work tenfold more than that of a body without. Its effects have allowed mothers to lift cars off children and men to beat off sharks in an attack adrenalin is indeed the most powerful defense mechanism humans have and at that moment, Don, filled with joy, excitement, and pure adrenalin, ran faster than he ever had.
Don could feel the wind rush past his face as he thought. 'This is amazing. It feels like I could run forever. I wish I could run like this all the time. 'His heart beat even faster, as if something awoke in his soul.
Rolo noticed Don was getting away, and his inhuman, joyous face slowly turned to one of rage. Rolo screamed, "YOU DAMNED RAT, I'LL KILL YOU!!!!!" Rolo's muscles grew bigger and his speed increased dramatically. Little by little, he was catching up with Don.
The feeling in Don's heart grew, and his mind raced. 'Damned rat? Yep, I guess that's me. For as long as I can remember, I have been a rat to survive without my gramps. Living every day just to live but, what's wrong with that!'
Don's eyes glowed bright blue as Rolos's grey hand inched just moments away from Don's head. Don screamed, "If I need to be a rat to survive, then so be it. I'll be the best damn rat there is! A voice rang in Don's head. "I like that answer, kid. Never change who you are. I'll watch over you from now Donaldo, so let's get this show started!"
Don didn't know who the voice he heard belonged to, or these words that kept ringing in his head screaming to get out, but he trusted it more than anything. Don inhaled and screamed what was now violently swirling inside his head. "Give rise to speed and cunning. RAT KING!!!"
An explosion of light and strong wind blows away Rolo, who slams into a nearby wall. Rolo looks at the beam of light surrounding Don. "No, no, no, NO, NO, NOOOOO!" Rolo smashes the street below him as if a baby was throwing a tantrum. "How? How did you come to manifest a miracle?"
As the light fades, the cut he received earlier fades in smoke, leaving only the blood that it caused. Don looked down to see he was now wearing a raggedy black trench coat. "I get it. This is my speed."
Don sensed something coming to his chest and, without a second thought, dodges to the right and looks to see Rolo's arm that was accompanied by Rolo's surprised face. Time seemed to have froze for Don as he looked at his desperate face. A simple thought crossed Don's mind and slipped past his lips. "Wow, you're slow."
Rolo's face turned to a hideous image of rage. His victim is right in front of him 'I just need to kill him.' he thought, looking at Don and in a sudden change of vision that was once Don was now the moon. 'Huh? Why am I looking at the moon? That rat was just in front of me. Where is he? Why are my eyes hard to move?'
It was at that moment that Rolo had found Don. He was above him, and what Rolo saw next caused even greater confusion. His own body was across the street. Rolo struggled to form the words. "Did... I... lose?"
Don raised his head to eye level. "Yep, this is checkmate."
Rolo let off a faint smile. "Congrats.. the treasure stays... yours."
Don matched his smile. "Sorry, Rolo, that stash was a lie to get you to play this game."
Rolo let off a weak laugh. "Well played... you... damned... rat."
Rolo's head fell to ash as his last words left his mouth. Once Rolo became ash, Rat King dispersed into light and Don fell to his back. Then suddenly, two men appeared in front of him. Don bounced up from laying to sitting. "Who are you?" Don weakly says.
John scratched his blonde head. "Why did you sacrifice yourself to fight that daemon kid?"
Don looks at this stranger and contemplates this question. Then his grandfather's voice rang through his head. "That thing was evil and scary, but there was a chance to save someone, so I did."
John lets out a soft sigh. "That's a good reason, but you could have increased your chances of surviving if you would've left the kid to die. Why didn't you?"
Don's face filled with the same determination he had during the fight with Rolo. " Because those who choose to do nothing are worse than evil!"
The second man known as Sable, who seemed disinterested, smiled intensely. "I like you, kid. I want to make you an Inquisitor!"
John tries to chime in with disdain, but Sable simply raises his hand to stop him in his tracks. Don hesitated. "An Inquisitor?"
Sable's smile glowed more brightly. "We hunt daemons like this wherever they are. We are the vanguard between humanity and evil. The sword, the shield, and the light are what we are. We are the Inquisitors and I want you to join us."
Don hesitates again. Then Sable leans down and said words that Don couldn't reject, "People die every day to daemons. You joining may only save a few more of said people, however, like you said, those who choose to do nothing."
Don's eyes widen a little annoyed but those were his words. "Fine, I'll join you, I'll be an Inquisitor."
as the three men stood in the middle of that abandoned street, the sun rose.
This was the event that would lead to the end of the world.
This is the story of the Inquisitors.