Pain. That was what Elias felt as he lay sprawled out on the hard floor. His hands struggled to push himself off of the floor, but it was ultimately no use. His hands slipped in a thick wet substance on the floor, and it was fairly warm. He reoriented himself, and with a strong effort of will, he rolled on his back.

Elias tried to breathe, yet when he attempted the action, a sharp pain radiated out from chest. It hurt like a motherfucker, but he only showed a slight grimace before he schooled himself. Pain had stopped bothering him a long time ago. That's what happens when you go through hell on Earth, and live to tell the tale. He felt his chest, and when he brought his hand to his eyes, he saw thick red blood covering his hand.

"Goddamn it." Elias muttered as he lay on the cold hard ground.

He was on concrete, that's for sure. The feeling of the cool air on his skin reminded him that he was outside. The darkness around him reminded him of exactly just how late it was.

"I have great luck." He said, then coughed out of mouthful of blood.

Elias was, after all, just walking home from work. It was already bad enough that his fucking car wouldn't start. Just another place to throw money that he didn't have. He then tried to take the main street home, but of course the whole damn road, sidewalks included, was shut down due to construction. If he could just fly or something, that would make it a lot easier, but of course, in a world where 97% of people were born with one or more powers, he had none.

No, the best part of his night had to be that, in order to get home, he had to take one of the backways home. There were a few different ways he could have went, but only one of them saw him getting home at least 20 minutes earlier than the others. Looking back at it now, he wished he would have just taken the long way home.

"Too late now." He mused as he felt the world growing dimmer.

Of course, the way he choose to go was not the safest route he could have went, but he truly didn't expect anything bad to happen to him. He may not be rich or anything, but he did have a one of those all in one home gyms. That was the only thing he truly spent more money on as far as hobbies went besides video games. So, that being said, Elias was pretty built. At 6 feet tall and roughly 7 inches, 220 pounds of lean muscle, he made for quite the intimidating figure.

Looking back at it now, he supposed none of that truly mattered against a bullet. A random thug tried to rob him at gun point, but Elias was subborn beyond reason, and refused the man. A short scuffle ensued, and that left the other man with a broken nose, a split lip, and a black eye. Elias on the other hand got 6 bullets to the chest, and to be honest, the fact that he wasn't already dead surprised him.

"All of that for 30 bucks." He said, fighting the urge to laugh.

Seriously, committing what amounted to murder just for 30 dollars for his troubles was funny in a sick sort of way. So now, Elias lay there in a pool of his own blood, just waiting for the end to take him. He wasn't afraid, nor was he upset. Life was shit anyways, so perhaps this was more of a boon than anything.

They say your life flashes before your eyes as you die, and all he could think about was the terrible car accident when he was 11 that killed both his mother and father, leaving him truly alone in this world. After that, he had grown numb to many sensations and emotions, such as pain, fear, and sadness. He did get angry still, although that was probably more in part to his stubborn nature than anything else. Shit, he remembered saying that he was going to kill God for taking his parents from him, and that anger kept him going for quite some time.

He couldn't help but chuckle at his childish nature, which illicited another coughing fit. There was still something though... the only person he really cared about, and who still never failed to make him smile. Tiana, his baby sister, was with friends when the accident happened, and they were each other's rocks growing up ever since then.

Life was challenging, as being an unpowered person meant that he didn't qualify for many jobs. Even his sister had a power, albeit a weak one. She had telekinesis, although it barely let her pick up things heavier than a cell phone. Still, it was better than his nothing.

That's not even mentioning the torment he suffered at school at the hands of many powered bullies, and of course, they seeked great pleasure in beating up kids like him. Because nothing says I'm a big strong guy more than using your literal super strength to put someone on the ground again and again. He did grit his teeth at that, because one of them in particular managed to weasel his way into a relationship with his sister, and he couldn't even do anything about it.

He controlled what she did and said, and barely let her see him. Even when she could, it was very brief, but he could tell that she wasn't happy, but there was little either of them could do about, given that Gavin McHughs was the 2nd strongest "hero" in the state. And Elias Mason was... just a normal guy. Built for sure, but still no match for someone like that.

"I'm sorry Tia..." He said, and he was surprised when a tear leaked from his eye.

So, he hadn't lost all sense of emotion. Too bad that realization was happening right now. He closed his eyes, and breathed slowly.

"Hmm." He mused, as he noticed something odd.

His body felt cold, yes, but the air around him felt like it was getting warmer. In fact, he could actually smell fire. His eyes shot open as a feeling of uneasy wrongness settled over him. What he saw was not what he was expecting to see.

Fire and brimstone made up the sky, and the scent of it, as well as of blood and death mixed with the pungent odor. He tried to crane his head, but it was locked in place. Then, a figure appeared overhead, and it took him a while of silent staring while his mind tried to process the sight.

What stood over him was a tall man, except his skin was red, and protuding from his head were blackened horns made from bone. They looked to be a part of his body, rather than an adornment. He was pretty much the spitting image of a demon from myth.

"What the hell?" He asked, to which the demon smirked.

"Correct you are." The demon said, and Elias just stared in disbelief.

There was an intense silence until Elias sighed.

"Was I that bad? Did I jerk off too much or something?" He asked, and that made the demon chuckle.

"Oh no, nothing like that. You were just in the right place at the right time...although that is definitely a matter of perspective. You see, my lord is in need of people like you." The demon said, and the way he said 'My Lord' made him think of a religious zealot of some kind.

"People like... what, weak and powerless?" Elias asked in a deadpan voice.

"Exactly! Those who are not tainted with the neutral energy pervading the world. You are the perfect soldier, or at least you will be. A clean slate, ripe for the taking." The demon said.

All right, so Elias was in no way a fan of what he just heard, and the way the demon talked about him was not doing him any favors.

"What the hell are you talking about? If you plan on enslaving me or something, you better just kill me right now, because I sure as fuck am not gonna do a damn thing you tell me." Elias replied, his stubborn nature coming to the forefront.

"Ah, so much ferocity. It'll be a shame to see that go. So knows, maybe some of that will stick around. Whatever is left of your mind anyways. Come, I'll explain along the way." The demon said, then Elias seemed to start moving against his will.

He appeared to be on a cart or gurney of some sort, and as he was incapable of even blinking, he had no choice but to listen to this asshole as he explained the process he was about to go through. He tuned out the demon's mad rambling, and only listened to the important parts.

Apparently, demons were not born through procreation, or at least not in the sense that he was familiar with. There were demonkin, which were children born from demons, but they weren't actually true demons like this douchebag. True demons were made, usually from humans, although the demon did explain the process could and has been used on other creatures. Essentially, the person being turned into a demon had their minds broken through torture, all the while being flooded with demonic energy until the conversation process was complete.

The fuck hole of a demon made sure to emphasize that it was very unpleasant, and very, very painful. He also said that the chamber he would be held in is one where time passes much more slowly inside than on the outside. He said that Elias could be in there for 1000 years and only about 10 minutes will have passed out in the real world.

That was pretty much it on the useful information regarding his imprisonment. They were fucking delusional if they thought they were going to get him to give in. He still needed to be there for his sister, and he sure as hell, no pun intended, wasn't going to allow some fucking demons to stand between him and seeing Tia again. One way or another, he was going to get out.

The other useful information was that, apparently this demon was named Torgoth, and he served a demon lord known as Moraxus. Or something like that. Torgoth said that once his mind was broken, the demonic energy would invade his mind, body, and soul. It would slowly convert him into a demon, and once completed, his mind would be rewired to serve the demon lord without question. As if Elias would ever bow to someone. He wouldn't even bow to God himself if he showed up.

"Ah, here we are." Torgoth said, and while Elias didn't know where here was, he got the feeling that it wasn't going to be a vacation.

Soon, the firey landscape was gone, and in its place, was a darkness so pitch black that he wouldn't have been surprised if he was sent to the void or something. Honestly, given what he was told about time passing slowly here, that made sense if the books he read were anything to go by.

Then, in the next moment, a red light enveloped the nothingness, and a tear in reality opened up. A burly demon with a more purple complexion stepped through, and with him, he wheeled in a cart full of tools. Many, many sharp objects were abundant, and Elias groaned.

"Well, this is going to suck ass."