The red demon flew along the chaotic streets of Winnipeg. Tromping along loudly underneath him were his two companions,[url=http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/megaman/images/b/b0/ArmorSoldier.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100726050940] a robot piloting a hulking armor that announced their presence with its every footstep[/url] and [url=http://lparchive.org/X-COM-UFO-Defense/Update%2015/1-xcom167.png]a young soldier carrying a rifle that seemed to jump at every noise.[/url] He didn't know their names. He didn't particularly care. Demons generally didn't. He'd only been a member of this band for a short while, having fallen in with them during those first confusing days when he'd found himself in this world, alone, and had been made to fall in line basically at gunpoint. Not that he minded working for Viral. The charismatic beastman appealed to his violent sensibilities, and with the Demon World Village so diminished one master was as good as any other. They were making their way more easily than he had thought they would. Viral's first attack had effectively scattered the organized defense of the city and the sight of the white giant looming over the ruins was enough to make any other sane person think twice. Their orders were to go street by street, the beastmans emblem proudly displayed on the front of the robots armor, and kill anyone stupid enough to still think resisting was a good idea. They came to the front of a ramshackle hut made from trash lashed together from whatever could be found and held together with prayer and repeated a process that had become almost mechanical at this point. The big armor would walk up and turn the wall into a door with his fists. This was usually enough to cow everyone inside. If no shots were forthcoming after that the rookie and the red demon would pop out behind the armor and menace the inhabitants until they knew who the new boss in town was, Master Viral. If they were met with resistance they did the same thing, but with more bullets and fireballs. The wall fell inward as normal, letting daylight into the dark interior of the hut and reveling the interior. What was most apparent was that someone had gone to impressive length to light proof the room, as it was still wreathed in shadows even with the giant hole knocked in the side. The only apparent light source was a single candle burning on a table next to a ratty looking red recliner. Around the recliner were numerous books, some still in neat piles while others had been scattered to the ground by the shock. There was no bed. There were no weapons or food. The only homey touch, the red demon thought, was the skull sitting on the table beside the candle. The armor tromped in and gave a confused look round. Usually there were screams, of the sound of frantic flight, but now the only noise were the distant sounds of battle. The rookie sighed in relief and let his shoulders relax. The humans tensed up like he was about to die every time they did this. "Looks like they did a runner." He said, turning to the red demon. "Poor bastards." The demon had to agree. The mop up crews were much less forgiving than they were. He wanted to be in one of those, but only the veterans were allowed to have that kind of fun. He turned away in disgust. "Let's go then." He screeched. "Got a lot to do." It was then that they heard the metallic thud of the armor hitting the ground. They turned back to find the armor in a sitting position, its pilot gone. The red demon only had a second to wonder what had happened before the rookie swore loudly and tossed a grenade into the hut. He saw something drop out of the shadows of the roof and was about to fire, but as the beat of its batlike wings carried it out into the daylight he found he couldn't. The rookie had no such reservations, and raised up his rifle, rut the figure threw something at the human that glanced off his body armor. The rookie started to scream as the robots head rolled away in the street, holding down the trigger and spraying fire in the figures direction. He somehow managed to miss every shot in his panic, long enough for the figure to line up a shot of his own. Fire leaped from his mouth, hitting the rookie and engulfing him like a hungry beast. The street was filled with the smell of cooking meat, and he flailed pointlessly for a moment before collapsing into a pile of molten slag. The [url=http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/ghostsngoblins/images/6/6c/CG2RedArremer.png/revision/latest?cb=20150315164649]red demon[/url] looked on in awe as the [url=http://67.media.tumblr.com/e7aa37fe0180e980a6cb47fbbeba20f7/tumblr_inline_mtig0chLeV1snt8i1.png][b]Red Demon[/b][/url] landed in the street before him. "C-c-commander!?" he asked in disbelief. Firebrand looked him over critically, then smiled. Behind him the grenade went off, leveling his erstwhile home and everything inside. He did not turn to look. --- "We all thought you were dead." his subordinate choked as the two of them flew over the war torn city. "Killed with Lord Astaroth when the village fell, along with the entire suppression force." The Red Arremer couldn't be farther from the truth, but he couldn't to tell a demon that looked at him with so much hope that he taken his Demon Blazon and abandoned the village when Astaroth had been shown to be nothing but a pawn. He should, however, be dead. By all rights he should be dead. He'd gone to the material world, to the Belcrant, fully intending to die. He'd felt Arthur's lance strike true, heard his promises to end the madness that had descended across both their worlds, and then all had been darkness. At least until he had awoken in an unknown desert, weak and surrounded by the broken bodies of the Demon Blazon and Zouna's troops, and found himself dumped into a world where the same madness had taken it by the throat and choked the life from it. It had been a very confusing few months since then. "How fares the village in my absence?" He said, changing the subject. The red arremer hung his head in shame and Firebrand took that as his answer. He nodded his head down and the pair descending from the sky, alighting atop one of the nearby buildings to survey Viral and his magnificent armor. "So, you fell in with this man?" The red arrenmer again could not answer, but Firebrand gave a satisfied grunt. "I can see why. Such lust for conquest. He reminds me of my younger self." Which meant he was capable of turning the fragile balance of this place on its ear, he thought darkly. The world had no need of someone like him. He didn't say that either. The hero of the Ghoul Realm couldn't say things like that. Instead he said, "What do you say we help teach this whelp a lesson is humility?" The red arremer couldn't possibly say no. Even if he hadn't inadvertently betrayed his commander he would rather die than refuse an order from Firebrand. Even if his enemy was commander Viral, fighting and dying was what red arremers did. Something, though, confused him. "Help?" Firebrand suddenly grabbed the young demon by the neck and pulled him over the side as an artillery strike demolished the building under them, taking flight away for the giant robot. There was no way the lords of this world would let rebellion like this go unopposed. Around them the city began to explode as bombs rained down indiscriminately, turning the landscape into a bombed out hell. That was fine with Firebrand. It reminded him of home. He had been aimless until now, seeing himself as having been lost in the shuffle of dimensional transfer. A lone drifter from an ancient, forgotten land, alone and far from home. But if this red arremer was here, if he'd been drawn to this place by pure chance, then home could be a lot closer than he'd previously believed.