First Demonic Dragon

Izanagi couldn't believe this turn of events.

He was somehow being threatened by the very same woman who a few millennia ago wouldn't even lift her head up without his permission.

Now she was this belligerent whorish vixen slinging nonsense about being rehabilitated from her murderous ways.

It was all a great big joke to unfunny to laugh or cry at.

"Now, if you'll excuse me…"

Izanami turned around and started walking back toward Gandora after declaring her freedom and intent to live quietly and happily with her new family.

And Izanagi, for reasons he could not explain, was going to allow her to go free.

Perhaps he just didn't want to have to look at her any longer.

But there was a moment when Izanami paused and turned around to face Amaterasu.

The current look on her face was not a smug expression or an aggressive glare. Rather, it was a warm, soft look that could only come from a woman who was at total peace with herself. And with her life.

Amaterasu thought that her mother looked beautiful. Looking back on this day a few years from now, she would regret choosing not to tell her that.

"I almost forgot to tell you. Your brother is alive. I would like for you to come and get to know him if you can ever manage to find the time."

Amaterasu was rightfully confused by Izanami's sudden revelation. She only had two brothers and she didn't really care if they lived or died. Plus she already knew them quite well.

It wasn't until a few moments later that she realized exactly who her mother was talking about. And her level of surprise was not something that could be easily overstated.

"Kagutsuchi…?"

Izanami smiled innocently at her and nodded. "We'll be waiting for you. You're welcome at any time."

As Amaterasu watched her mother start to leave, she had a great many questions that she wanted to ask.

How was her brother alive? Did he remember how he died? And if so, did he hold grudges against their father for it?

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who was thinking something along those lines…

"Wait a minute!"

Izanagi landed in front of his ex-wife as she tried to leave the scene.

"What do you mean my son is alive?! Don't tell me that you've-"

For the first time, Izanami backhanded her ex-husband and stared at him venomously.

"How dare you. You forfeited all right to be called a father when you killed my son after he was born."

Izanagi now was forming bruises on both sides of his face.

However, it was the blow to his pride that was by far the most difficult to stomach.

He lashed out. The creator god aimed to swipe his sword across Izanami's pale neck.

Amaterasu rushed to get in the middle of her warring parents before something irreparable occurred. But the Nevi'im soldiers were moving quicker than her and would likely reach her father before she could.

Amaterasu already feared she would see the worst potential outcome today.

"Father, sto-"

*CLANG!*

The familiar sound of metal striking metal rang out through the air and drew both approaching parties to a halt.

The scene below was one of a stupefying nature.

From out of nowhere, Izanami had summoned a large black sword that was even taller and wider than Izanami's own body.

The sword was designed in the shape of a downturned arrowhead with large barbs running down the edge.

Amaterasu recognized the weapon from just a glance. She had seen it hanging up in Abaddon's home.

Izanagi was unfamiliar with the blade's origin, but after his close encounter with the sword's maker, he couldn't have mistaken it if he tried.

"…I had not known that one could fall so low."

Izanami's plum lips curled into a smile. "More insults. I hope you didn't think I was just going to keep taking them lying down, did you?"

All that Izanagi heard was a single growl come from behind him before he was filled with terrible pain.

His robes and bandages were ripped to ribbons as a set of large claws tore through his back like they were made out of tissue paper.

The god screamed and embarrassingly fell to his knees.

Izanami put away her sword and hopped right over her ex-husband's body without a care in the world.

She touched Gandora on the snout affectionately and even deigned to give her a small kiss.

"My loves were right. You are indeed a very sweet girl." Izanami smiled.

Gandora made a happy noise that roughly sounded like 'obviously. I'm the best there is.'

Izanami made her way up the beast's back and climbed towards her palanquin.

Before she left, she offered her daughter a friendly smile without even bothering to spare her ex-husband a second glance.

As Amaterasu watched her mother's back disappear, and Gandora go running back across the bridge, she began to think that maybe her mother was still quite insane after all.

Though she had no idea whether this insanity was of the homicidal kind or... just the need for soft restraints kind.

- Earth: The United States of America...

A man and a woman were in a heated argument as they burst out of a home in the middle of the night.

The woman was seemingly packing things into her car in a hurry while the man was trying to stop her from leaving.

"N-Now, baby, look, it don't even have to be like this-"

"Fuck you, Nate! You ain't shit! Ya Daddy ain't shit! Ya bald-headed-ass mammy ain't shit either!"

"Girl, stop being like that, you love my momma!"

"Move out of my way, Nate!"

The woman forcefully shoved the young man out of the way and finished jamming a packed box into the trunk of her car.

Before she could get in her car and drive away, the young man wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a suave look.

"Come on, baby... don't be mad. It was just a momentary little slip-up."

"Fucking my best friend is not a slip-up, Nathaniel!"

"I thought we were on a break!"

"Don't try that 'Friends' shit with me! You know I should whoop your a-"

"Baby... hold on one second." he suddenly interrupted.

The young man named Nathaniel paused and stared out into the empty street.

His eyes narrowed as he glanced from stop sign to streetlight without making any exaggerated movements.

The woman in his arms had lost her anger and actually seemed to be the slightest bit afraid. "Nate..? D-Don't play with me right now, let me go..."

Nathaniel didn't even look down at her as he kept staring into the street.

"Baby... I need you to do me a favor."

"Nate, don't play with me, I-I told you I'm leaving. You're starting to scare me..."

"Tasha, I need you to go in the house, get my phone and call my pops."

"W-What?! I don't know the code to your phone..!"

The young man paused to offer the woman a warm smile that was unfairly charming. "It's your birthday. Now, hurry up and get inside, alright?"

Just like that, it seemed as though the young woman had already forgotten why she was even upset with her lover in the first place.

She hadn't realized it, but she allowed him to guide her right to the front door.

Nathan made sure to close and lock the front door to keep the woman inside.

Once he made sure she was at least moderately safe, he started walking across the front lawn while never taking his eyes off the street.

He lifted up his tank top and pulled a handgun out of his jeans.

"Y'all might as well come out... Cause you're real shit at hidin'."

Nathaniel blinked and suddenly the street was significantly more populated.

Ugly, horned humanoids with swarthy red skin stood as a unit of seven.

Their yellow eyes illuminated the dark street like neon lightbulbs.

When the young man realized that they were demons, he let out a low whistle and pursed his lips.

"Thought maybe it was just a haint or two... Never expected to see no demons. Heard you were all gone to glory."

"Glory was... overrated." A demon sneered.

The rest of his accomplices laughed menacingly while Nathaniel cocked his gun.

"Cute. Real cute... Mind tellin' me why y'all big ugly asses are standing outside my house at 1 a.m? Thought y'all couldn't be here." He gestured to the world around them.

"We can't..." A demon hissed.

"At least, not ordinarily..." Another smiled.

"We're walking a fine line, you might say..." A third responded.

"And our interest is hardly with one so mundane as you...!" Added a fourth.

"We have a greater interest in... the awesome power behind you." A fifth mocked.

"Tell us where to find your relics... take us to your temples... and we may not eat the woman and the child inside of her." replied the sixth.

Nathan felt his chest tighten from the off-handed comment. But just like his father taught him, he pushed it to the back of his mind so that he could focus.

Placing his finger on his trigger, he unloaded two rounds at two of the demons.

After the shots rang out, there was a small clinking noise as the bullets dropped to the street

Nathan's eyes widened slightly. "...The hell are you sons of bitches wearing..?"

"The results of arts and crafts..!" A demon laughed.

Nathan shook his head bitterly as he put the safety on his gun and stashed it back in his waistband.

"Right... Best get down to business then."

Nathaniel removed his tank top and tossed it onto the lawn, unveiling a toned physique without a single blemish.

He reached behind his back, where there was a large tattoo of a multi-headed dragon standing upright on two legs.

In an impossible scene, the ordinary tattoo began to glow from within his skin.

Nathan pulled two weapons made of mystic red energy from behind his back. One ax, and the other a machete.

"Who's first up?"