I - No Mercy for the Damned

Libra's POV

Another day, another corpse. That's how it's been since the fall of humanity. As a Hunter-Killer, it's my job to seek out and eliminate the assigned target. This position was unceremoniously bestowed upon me by The Observer, oracle of demon Prince Serren. My unit is lead by General Zero, a bittersweet mercenary and my commanding officer. The other two in my unit are a phantom and a baroness of hell. HK-8732 and HK-3586. As for me, it's HK-9427. Never have I been proud of taking away the lives of others, but it is necessary. Or so we've been told. I watch as the body of a woman drops to the ground and sigh, what a waste. It used to be different. Humans used to live among us as the superior race. Then one day, the demon race had enough. Lead by Prince Serren, they rounded up the humans and any other race that they deemed less than. That's when the genocide started. It was like a second holocaust.

"HK-9427, front and center."

I approach my commanding officer and stand still. Her bright yellow eyes search my person for something unbeknownst to me. A look of disgust forms and she sighs. General Crow looks over at an abandoned building, then back at me.

"HK- 9427, secure the area of that building." She orders, "If a human is spotted, kill on sight." Like a dog, I'm forced to oblige, "Understood, General." It's a five minute walk to the building. Upon arriving at the entrance, I see that the door is still intact. I don't hear any breathing yet, so I kick down the door. A figure scurries off into the other room. Instinctively, I give chase. After climbing three sets of stairs, I find myself standing in a dimly lit room. My eyes adjust and I see the figure hiding behind a storage crate.

"We can do this the hard way or the easy way. Your choice." I say flatly. The figure doesn't move or respond, but I can smell it's fear. My eyes shift as I draw my gun with a sigh, "Hard way it is."

I kick the crate aside and the figure shrieks. Aiming the gun, I watch as it shifts from a purple blob into a small boy. He puts his hands up defensively as his body shakes in fear.

"Please don't kill me." The boy says tearfully.

Usually, I would tell myself that he's just another human and pull the trigger, but that's far from the truth. I lower the gun and stare at him.

"You're not human." I say. A look of confusion replaces the one of fear on his face. He lowers hands, but doesn't break eye contact with me.

"Um, no?" He says almost like a question, "I'm a shapeshifter." I don't know if it's his voice, or his visible submission, but something about him makes me feel...different. I don't have the urge to attack him like I would with a human or another creature.

"What's your name?" I ask softly.

He must have sensed my change of tone, because he relaxes and even smiles as he answers.

"Ditto."

"HK-9427, what is the meaning of this?"

I don't respond. With the supposed target in front of me and my commanding officer behind me, I'm floored.

"HK-9427, I asked you a question." She repeats, slowly pissing me off. I'm more than just a number, I'm a fucking demon. I glance at Ditto, who shrugs nervously, then take a deep breath and close my eyes.

"He's not human." I say.

"Do you really think that matters?" She asks, "He is the target."

"The order you gave was to shoot on sight if he was human." I turn and face her, "He showed me that he's a shapeshifter out of fear."

General Crow sighs and shakes her head. She slips on a pair of brass knuckles and steps forward.

"I had a feeling you'd be too soft for this." She says with a smirk, "Allow me to give you an incentive."

CRACK. She strikes me in the jaw with a closed fist and I fall back, hitting the ground with a THUD. That's when it happens. My vision goes red and the part of me I despise takes over. I push myself up to a crouch and spit blood into my hand. My commanding officer then looks over at the phantom.

"HK-8732, eliminate the t-"

Before she can finish the order, I grab her by the throat and snap her neck like a twig. I then aim the gun at the phantom and pull the trigger. BANG. BANG. BANG. It would've only taken one bullet, but I had three and couldn't resist. Her body drops next to the commanding officer's. Throwing the gun aside, I turn to Ditto and offer him my hand. He takes it and I pick him up with ease. I carry him out of the building , stopping when a bullet flies past my head. I put Ditto down, a safe distance away beneath a tree, and face HK-3586, or as I like to call her, Pipehunt.

"Traitor." She says in a heavy Russian accent, "You kill comrades, I kill you now."

She then shows her true form. Taller than I am with a muscular body, legs and feet of a goat, and horns of a ram. Pipehunt snaps her fingers, summoning a ball of bright green fire. I crack a grin and chuckle. I roll up my sleeves and crack my knuckles, "Bring it, bitch."

She throws the ball of fire at me and I dodge. The Goliath of a woman then lets out a battle cry and charges at me. I jump up, give her a roundhouse kick to the side of her head, and land on my feet. As she stumbles back, I dash forward and strike her in the abdomen. With a groan, she falls backward and hits the ground so hard that it shakes. I sigh and climb my way up to her chest.

"You fight like shit." I say, tearing open her shirt. I then plunge my hand into her chest and rip out her heart. She cries out in pain, causing me to furrow my brow. I crush her heart, break off her horns, and stab her in the eyes. She then stops breathing. I get off of her corpse as blood flows out of the hole in her chest.

My vision then returns and I see the mess I've made. More importantly, I see the terrified expression on Ditto's face. I curse myself and slowly approach him, saddened as he recoils.

"Ditto, I'm not going to hurt you." I say calmly. Tears rush down his face as he looks up at me.

"Why?" He asks through his sobs, "Why am I a target? What did I do?" I then pause, realizing that he heard everything. I crouch, grab his wrist, and pull him into a hug.

"You did nothing." I reassure him, "Unfortunately, the demon prince is too cruel to see that not everything deserves to die."

Ditto then hugs me tighter, crying into my chest. I rub his back to comfort him and sigh. Crow was wrong about everything regarding this mission. The purpose of the mission was to hunt down a human who had been hiding for some time now and silence them. It wasn't to find a shapeshifting little boy. Crow was wrong, and I was blind.

After a few minutes, Ditto calms down. He looks up at me with his beautiful, tear filled Onyx eyes. As I wipe away his tears, he grabs my hand and holds it against his cheek. His smile returns as he leans into my touch. I then take a moment to realize how adorable this little boy is. Light purple hair, Onyx eyes, and rosy cheeks. He wears a purple shirt, black shorts, grey shoes, and a star pendant around his neck. My eyes shift back and I smile a little.

"You're fucking adorable." I say, earning a giggle.

"Well you're beautiful, HK-9427." Ditto says grinning. I chuckle, even though I'm positive that he has no idea what that means.

"Ditto, call me Libra."

"Ok, Libra."

With nightfall about 7 hours away, I decide that it's best if we find a place to rest for the night. The nearest town is 20 miles south, it would take 2 and 1/2 hours to get there on foot. Fuck it. I put Ditto on my back and start walking.

"Libra, where are we going?" He asks.

"Home." I reply.