Theme Song: "Feel Invincible" by Skillet
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It was near midnight, light traffic on the highway. Nathan was driving out with his family to find a place to stay, far away from people. Vincent was peacefully sleeping during the drive and Adrianna was forcefully asleep- her pills maintaining her- but it was for the better. Just up ahead, a tall green sign was coming up. It had a blue picture with a white silhouette of someone sleeping on a bed. The rest of the sign read: "Lodging; Next Exit."

Nathan moved the car to the right lane, awaiting for the ramp to appear. After a minute, the "Exit" sign was visible and Nathan followed the far right lane down the ramp. To the right was a large tan and brown building that was lit up inside. The indigo sign read "Sleep Inn."

"Sleeping in sounds good." muttered Nathan, pulling into the empty parking lot.

When he found a spot in front of the building, he cracked the windows open a bit for ventilation and shut off the engine. He exited the vehicle and walked inside. There, was the lobby right at the entrance with several brown and/or tan seats. Across from them was a wide brown desk with various "Sleep Inn" logos and certificates scattered on the wall behind.

Nathan walked up to the desk and was greeted by the short man with, "You got money?"

"Well shit, I didn't even give any specifics."

"Ugh. Fine, what're you here for and how long?"

Nathan glanced at the time; thirty seconds to midnight.

"If I can stall him a little longer, he'll just pass into the next sin...Hopefully it's better than this one." he thought.

"Hello? Yes, I know the clock works, what do you want?!" the man snapped.

"Take it easy, I'll be right back in a few. I need to make sure my three-hundred dollars are in the car."

"Aw, really?! Please, hurry!"

Nathan went back to his car and entered it, making it look like he was searching for money, but really, he was only moving objects around. The employee sat back down after peeking outside to see if Nathan was lying, letting out a happy yawn.

After a moment, Nathan came back ready with an excuse, "Hi, sorry-"

"No, no...Just go ahead, I'll deal with all that math and cashier junk later, bro..." interrupted the man, suddenly over-relaxed.

"Oh, are you sure? I have money, just not three-hundred."

"Dude...just get a room. Come here, grab one of the key cards and you're good."

Nathan realized this was the Sin of Sloth and took full advantage of the opportunity. He went and grabbed the key card and went back to the car to wake his son and carry out his wife. After that, along with unloading the luggages, the Blackwoods were finally settled. They found a suite with cream-colored walls and one pea green wall where the beds were. The two queen-sized beds had a deep brown and clean white theme, with a floral black and white pattern at the end of the quilt. There was a matching long bistro walnut desk with a computer and swivel chair, and a TV propped up on the wall above it.

"I'm tired." Vincent yawned, sprawling out on his own spacious bed.

"Just unpack in the morning, I'm going to sleep too." replied Nathan, sliding into the quilt next to Adrianna.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

The Next Morning...

"Good morning, Nathan!"

Nathan awoke to the familiar voice, but was surprised to hear the positive tone.

"Addie? Are you OK? How...do you feel?" asked Nathan groggily.

"Yeah, just pretty tired. And hungry."

"How about a chicken parmesan sandwich?"

"Ew, what? Is that all they have for breakfast?"

"I don't know, I was just making sure you weren't committing that second Sin again."

"Second Sin?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Mmm...OK."

"Out of all the Sins, I think I can work with this one the most." Nathan thought.

Out from the bathroom on the side came Vincent with one sneaker on.

"Morning Daddy! I almost got a hang of tying my shoes!" chirped Vincent.

"Good! Say, why don't we get some breakfast everyone?" suggested Nathan.

"Oh, I-...Could you get it for me, baby?" asked Adrianna, sinking further into the bed.

"Right, Sloth." Nathan muttered.

"Sloth? Did you just call me a sloth? Addie's eyebrows furrowed.

Nathan didn't think she'd hear that, but he was quick to return, "Uh, yeah. 'Cause you're so cute...like a sloth!"

"That, is probably the weirdest compliment I have ever heard, but I'm too comfy right now to think of it...Oh, if they have any, bring me sugar cookies too. Please?"

"Sure, we'll be back soon."

"Thankees!"

Vincent found his other sneaker and followed his father to the dining area at the end of the hallway. They found that there wasn't anyone there at all, not even employees, and to their dismay, there wasn't even food set out.

"Life's just been weird lately." said Vincent.

Nathan thought for a moment about this curiosity. He then gave his son a nod as if he concluded something in his mind.

He knelt down to meet him eye-to-eye. "Vincent. I need you to listen to me carefully and be brave. I didn't want to tell you, but if I realized that if I didn't, you may have found out in a more difficult way. I know about what's been happening the past few days, and if I'm right, it's going to keep happening until this Saturday. Each day until Sunday, people will be acting weird like you said. Everyone's acting the same because they're human, and as you know, we're not entirely human."

"What's making everyone this weird and crazy?"

"This all has to do with Satan. He's coming back."

"Is he controlling all these people? How?"

"Satan is the king of Hell's demons. He wants to uh...'hurt' people, and lots of them. Including me. Satan is making people do horrible things so that he can act like he's going to help them, but will just hurt them when they trust him."

"Why does he want to hurt everyone? Or even you! You have to stop him Daddy!"

"I'm not allowed in Hell anymore-"

"Why do you keep saying the 'h-word'?"

"That's unfortunately the name of the place where he comes from. Anyway, I have no way of going to him myself. And, as of now, Heaven doesn't either. No one can stop him, he's...that powerful I guess."

"No! You're powerful too! You can stop him! You have to!"

Nathan took a deep breath, realizing the how inevitable everything was.
He pulled Vince into a hug. "I'll figure this all out. Don't worry, the things I'm most worried about are you and Mommy, even if she has no control of herself either."

"If it'll help, I will fight with you. You don't deserve this much pain."

Nathan recognized this boldness as his own, especially when he was younger. However, that was a different time, a darker time.

He released his son to face him, "No, you don't deserve it. Don't try and get into this, because if Satan gets you, I'll never get you back, please understand that."

"OK...just stop him, please."

"Let's go eat. Today's weirdness is 'laziness' in case you were wondering, so we can walk in somewhere and just take what they have."

"Where are we going?"

"Err...McDonald's?"

"Oooh! I want the Hot Cakes!"

"Hot Cakes it is."

The two left the inn and got in the car to find the closest McDonald's. After several minutes, they pulled up to the restaurant with only three cars parked in the lot. They entered the restaurant, where a waft of various foods and fresh coffee tempted their senses. Nathan advanced, waving his son to follow close as they snuck into the kitchen for ready-to-eat foods. Right behind the register was an employee soundly asleep on his side.

While Nathan grabbed several hash browns and started searching for the pancakes, Vince broke the silence, "So wait, is Jesus, Satan?"

"What? No, why?"

"Oh, because you said not to trust Jesus when he was on TV yesterday, and the way you talked about Satan reminded me of Jesus."

"Ohh, sorry. Yeah, the one on the TV is Satan actually. He just doesn't want to make his return known yet, he'd rather start a fight...a war. The real Jesus will come another time."

"Maybe He can help us!"

"Heh, well, that's what we're hoping for."

Nathan finally found the Hot Cakes and grabbed a few nearby breakfast sandwiches on the way out of the back.

"Grab more hash browns, then go get a fork and napkins."

Vincent hurried to fulfill the task and eventually caught up with his father outside. They both got into the vehicle and Vincent started setting up to eat. Nathan went to fish the keys out of his jeans, but suddenly, he felt his body jolt forward as well as the rest of the car, as the car was flipped up and over into the air by an outer force. Nathan noticed son was flew further, as he hadn't buckled his seatbelt yet. Nathan tried reaching for his while the car twirled in the air, but it was too late.

Nathan caught Vincent's leg right when he struck the glass, but the car finally collided with the ground directly on the windshield- smashing Vincent onto the road, along with Nathan's arm being crushed as well.

"NOO! FUCK! VINCENT!" Nathan cried out.

Something now lifted the car again with Nathan still in it to heal his mangled arm, dumping Vincent onto the road. The last Nathan saw was his body sliding out, limp and bloody-faced, unrecognizable. The vehicle was then torn completely in half in mid-air and tossed aside, the gap facing this cause of malice: the Demogorgon.

This demon is a lord of Hell, its monstrous size and appearance matching its ruthlessness. It had a massive chiseled torso of a man, tentacles for arms, reptilian legs and two matching tails, and dual-heads of baboons with beaming red eyes and deadly fangs. Nathan ignored the roaring beast for the moment and hurriedly crawled out the wreckage to his son. He nearly fell over his son to reach his side and he shook his body to try to wake him. There wasn't an answer. Nathan felt the boy's lack of inner energy; Vincent was gone.

"VINCENT! VINCENT, NO!" Nathan shouted, with a new feeling of sadness and rage within him.

This feeling wasn't native to him, because for the first time in his life, tears took form under his eyes. A tentacle wrapped around Nathan's torso and roughly pulled on him. Surprisingly, Nathan only slid back slightly on his knees. The feeling of his knees scrape was replaced by a feeling of rage within him. He felt it boiling within him, maybe even literally, as the tears that trickled down his face sizzled into nothingness, almost as if they burned there. The Demogorgon snarled and tried pulling harder, but to no avail, Nathan remained sturdy. Instead, as if overpowering the demon, he rose up on his own, turning back to it. A black aura formed around him and his eyeballs flashed violet. He gripped his end of the tentacle and only tugged it a bit towards himself, and the entire thirteen-foot giant was yanked towards him.

"You will die now, you fucking Hellspawn!" The Black Phoenix threatened.

Nathan's smoky black wings appeared and pushed Nathan off the ground, pulling the Demogorgon with him. High up enough, Nathan pulled the demon higher to his altitude, as the monster's two heads were facing the banished prince, getting close enough to snap at him. Rising closer, it opened its mouth with a roar, but when one of them bit down, Nathan was quicker to catch it by its largest tooth.

"Bitch." he mocked, ramming a concussive fist on its snout and breaking off the fang he was holding.

The Demogorgon soared back to the ground to crash into the road with a thunderous and cratering impact. Nathan dive-bombed towards it, one arm out and shooting appropriately thick bullets at the beast from his palms, keeping it grounded. He landed on it with a flip and stuck the broken fang through the same head's eye. The other head made a move and Nathan stopped it, beating and pounding at its couch-sized head, repeatedly until it no longer had the same facial features. Nathan stopped to ignite his entire arms with fire in a crescent-blade shape. He crossed them together and mercilessly slashed out at both heads, the arm-infused Blazers extending long enough to sever through their massive necks. The Demogorgon's baboon mazards spilled over with oil-like, black blood spreading about the road like tar- then instantly the whole body withered to ashes and disappeared.

Suddenly, The Black Phoenix sensed an immensely powerful energy force nearby. Before he could ready himself, he turned around to a brick red weapon that pierced him right in the abdomen and was then pinned down by a man in a white robe, holding the weapon. Nathan had no idea what to focus on more: the fact that this man was powerful enough to harm Nathan's invincibility as The Black Phoenix, or the fact that this man resembled Jesus with a pitchfork.

The man's body and clothes then burned up to transform into the being that is Satan. The black horns, the demonic yellow eyes with an iris of a reptile. The large black demon wings, muscular red body that gave off the odor of something burning, and a raised pointed tail- all the memories of Nathan's first seventeen years in Hell came back to him in that moment.

"Nine years I have waited for this, Nathaniel. I didn't suspect The Black Phoenix to be summoned to soon, but this will do!" the Demon King cackled, with his deep and fiery voice.

Nathan tried healing around his wound, but felt his power starting to dwindle. He aimed a palm at Satan's face and blasted him with a small rocket. Satan stumbled back with a growl, releasing his pitchfork. Nathan went to pry it off, but struggled with the handle burning his hands. In this pain, he felt his own energies within the trident. He now realized that it was true about his powers being stolen. Just then, a red tail stretched over to coil around the handle and removed it from Nathan's grasp, returning it to its owner.

Father and son stood facing each other once again. Satan held a grin so devious, yet so confident. Confident, because he now knows he can harm The Black Phoenix, as he weakly stood across from him, healing much slower than usual and having to hold his own open wound.

"You look like you haven't aged a bit." said Satan.

"You still look like a frog's ass." shot Nathan, still with the echo in his voice.

"Fuck you, bastard!"

"My bastardization was your decision! Not that you could marry anyway. Besides, I think I'm better off as one anyway- in fact, I think I'd like to orphanize myself."

"Choose your words wisely, boy!"

Just then, a large shadow casted over them that Nathan noticed first. A green van was flying down for Satan and struck him right before he could react. Satan however, didn't even blink or move; it looked as if the van reflected off his ten-foot figure. Satan rotated around and spotted the source: a hovering boy glowing with an indigo aura. Just then, his body dropped as if exhausted, aura fading.

"So, this is your son, my grandson? A sorcerer like Fiona!"

Nathan dashed forward at light-speed and drove his arm-blades through Satan's back, "My ass he's your grandson!"

"Agh! Damn it! I will kill you and rip that spirit from your soul! Demons, attack!" hissed Satan, disappearing in a flame.

On command, several smaller generic demons arose, burning through the surface. Nathan was ready to take them out easily, but then, spontaneous jagged rocks arose from under each demon to pierce their bodies, defeating them all at once. Nathan peered above to a familiar person in a full black suit, descending before him.

"I see you have your emotional pet bird under control now." the man teased, gracefully landing and lowering his hands to make the rocks around them sink back into the Earth's crust.

The Black Phoenix subsided again for Nathan to speak normally, "Geo!...Listen, I apolog-"

"Shh, shh, don't mention it. That's nothing to daunt on really, especially with bigger problems like your father. I need to leave now to Heaven, I need to train." returned Geo.

"What? You have access to Heaven?"

"Sorry, they restricted me from letting anyone in or out of this realm. You'd even be surprised on how many souls are being redirected to Limbo and Purgatory for the time being. Say, what's been going on with these humans lately? The CIA isn't even on their A-game!"

"Satan has every human committing the Seven Deadly Sins; one Sin per day until his arrival. Today is Sloth, which is why they're all calmer. With all this, he's trying to gain their trust as power against everything holy and serving."

"Dammit...I'm sorry I can't do more, but all of the religious gods want me to train with them in case the worst happens."

"'The worst?'"

"Classified for now. Before I go, which of these Sins are left, just so I can be ready for them?"

"There is no specific order to them, but there's three left: Pride, Lust, and-...shit, I forgot about Wrath- uncontrollable anger."

"Thanks. I must go now. I got your back Nate, I'll be seeing you."

Geo vanished in his light after that, then Nathan remembered about Vincent, running straight to him.

"Vincent! How are you alive?!" smiled Nathan.

"Daddy...I feel weak..."

"It's OK, Vin', you did good! I don't know how you did that, but you did good!"

Nathan examined his son's face, noticing a gash just closing up on its own. His son looked normal again.

"You-...You can regenerate."

"W-What about refrigerators?"

"Never mind that. Hey, wait, smile for me?"

Vincent bared his teeth and his two front teeth looked slightly bigger than the rest.

"Shit, you get your face completely smashed and here you leave with two baby teeth gone and two new ones! What a fucking day."

"D-Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Are my pancakes smashed too?"

Nathan bursted out in a blissful laugh at his son's state of mind, but couldn't have asked for anything different.

He picked Vincent off the road, "Come on kid, let's go check."

Also at that moment, Nathan's abdomen had just finished healing, realizing that he can no longer heal as fast as before.

*😥 Let me tell you, that scene with Vincent being nearly slaughtered, that was rough. I mean, not as rough as when he was stabbed in the womb, but still. It's a kid. Anyway, vote, comment, and/or share if you liked! I appreciate it...

~Four...