How many times had I died? I often considered that every near miss was a split in reality, where a less lucky Eric met their demise and mine was the prime slice that persisted. I hoped as much, anyway. The thought that there might be a version of me living it large after I went for my overdue meeting with Death filled me with angered envy.

My left shoulder took the brunt of his shot, blood spraying up the very nice door as the wound continued to burn. I hissed and seethed as if I were a naughty cat, unhappy with my visit to the vet. Not that I was doing much with that arm at present. I still resented him for it.

“Lots of life in you yet, villain,” he cooed. “Once I’ve cut out the bad parts of you, then we’ll have a crack at any of the secrets you still hold.”

Not really on board with that. I wasn’t even a villain; I hoped. As he loomed in closer to the light, I got a better visual of him. Middle-aged, short blonde beard and hair lightly dusted with grays. He was wide, perhaps reasonably muscular, beneath his dark leather outfit. Straps and pouches covered his torso, alongside a belt heavily populated with more containers and storage. Prepared for anything.

“Eric Redd.” He kneeled down and pressed the end of his gun against my chest. “Heard about you. Powerful patron, although it doesn’t look like that’s working out for you too well, huh? I’m assuming you killed Isaac?”

“Sure did.” Making the excuse that I was just following orders seemed like passing the blame. He already hated me, so telling him I was acting on the instruction of the demon I loved was… hmm. Still needed to tell her that. I couldn’t die here.

He moved the weapon up and blasted another shot into my right shoulder. Painful.

“The Church has few members now, so the loss of just one wounds us greatly. I will return the favor.” He glared at me before standing up.

My body ached. So tired now, and so alone. “I’m not sure I can do this…”

His grin turned into a gleeful smile. “There will be no tapping out, I’m afraid. Once I begin you-“

“No.” I shook my head and chuckled. “I’m not sure how long I can keep the power back. I hope you’re fucking strong.” My head rose as a tear streaked down my face.

“What are you on about?” He raised the handgun toward my right leg. “Bluffing just earns you more pain until you learn humility.”

Okay, then. I let go.

He pulled the trigger and shot a chunk of stone from the floor. I hopped up to my feet. Licked my lips as his expression changed to be a little more serious. Was I even Eric Redd anymore? My thoughts seemed like my own. The pain in my head was concerning, but nothing new…

Two horns burst through my skin, erupting from my skull. Ah! There, some relief from the pain.

“You’ve lost control.”

Revolver came up as another wave of energy pushed me against the door. The radiance of it burned at my skin and forced my limbs flat against the cold surface.

“Looks like we’ll need to go straight to business.” His eyes burst into golden flame as he began to speak words that irritated the inside of my head.

I felt unable to move. Dark energy rolled around me, but struggled against his constant force. A smile lit up my face. There was more than one way to skin a human.

“Hey choir-boy,” I hissed, “dodge this.”

My ears rang. Vision blurred and blinded from the light at first, then clouds of powdered stone. So much pain, but I staggered up to my…

Well, there weren’t really much legs left to call my own. Most of the flesh and muscle had been scoured from the right one, leaving a bloodied skeleton. The left one was still meaty but worse for wear. Somehow, the demonic energy kept them both functional.

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The crater I dug with the explosion had rocked the doors from their settings, and I now had access to the room beyond. Shaking in agony, I stepped forward over the threshold.

This room was large and had white stone and brickwork around it instead of the usual gray. Steps lowered from every wall into a center podium, where a small item sat. I could feel the energy cascading from it, radiant and powerful.

I took another couple of bloodied steps before something rose from the debris at the doorway. The Exorcist, covered in dust, crimson marring down his angered face.

“Reckless demon, you dare?” He raised his handgun.

My hand went for the revolver, before I found that half of my fingers were missing and the gun wasn’t currently being held.

A blast received through my chest, lung deflated. Nearly dead. I could feel my willpower waning. Pressure again as I let the bad side take a couple extra steps towards the reins. My back burst open as large wings of black feathers grew into existence. They covered my front and absorbed the next two shots.

“You will lose your humanity, Eric.”

I laughed, a wild and cackling thing. “Humanity?” I growled as my wings parted so I could glare at him. “You don’t know who I am.”

He pulled something from his belt and went to throw it at me.

With a beat of my wings, I leaped backwards into the air, as the objects cracked across the hard floor, leaving a pool of… holy water, maybe? I hovered backwards and then dropped down beside the podium, spraying blood from my ruined limbs.

“Go ahead and touch it. It will destroy the demon within you, anyway.” It looked as though he believed what he was saying, which was a shame.

Part of me didn’t want to grab out at it. I could live as a demon now, right? No issues being in the Hells and would be closer to Pearl in a way… Org and Rodney might not be so keen. But what of fate and destiny? Fuck them.

No... Eric Redd knew when he was being manipulated, and he was no demon.

My injured hand grabbed the cup.

Then, everything changed. The hidden dam had been erased.

A surge of radiant energy flooded my body and scoured my insides. At first, it sought to overcome and wipe out any demonic energy within me. The two sides wanted to war for control of me. For a brief moment, I expected to explode and be scattered into nothing but small chunks of hubris.

Then I put a stop to it. I built a wall between them with the neutral power of the Rat God. Let the harsh waves slosh against that until they could calm.

I blinked my eyes as the horns fell from my head, clattering to the floor like shed antlers. My body warmed.

Golden light flooded the chamber, illuminating the shocked expression of the Exorcist. I stretched my arms out, my limbs repaired by glowing light.

“You really are…”

I looked to my left to see the feathered wing was now a perfect white color, but the one on my right side was still pitch black. That was it, wasn’t it? I flapped and stretched them wide.

“I am Eric Redd. Last Lantern and the bringer of balance to the mortal plane.”

He shook his head slowly. “You are an abomination and must be erased to bring back the-“

“Wrong.”

I held my hand out and the rocks beside him shook, my silver revolver sliding out from the loose rocks and spinning across the room into my grip. He seemed hesitant to fire on me, and I’d rather not spill his blood if I could help it.

My eyes narrowed. “Are you my ally or my enemy?”

His jaw worked as he tried to understand what he was seeing. A human blazing with both divine and demonic energy, seemingly not consumed by one or the other. I could see the cogs turning behind his eyes. After a moment, his mouth started to work, words slowly revealing themselves.

“What is your purpose? Who do you serve?”

Good question. While I had a handful of powers influencing my life, it was hard to say I was specifically serving any of them. In a way, they served me - although saying I was self-serving sounded a bit too big-headed. I said this as a living embodiment of other planar powers currently hovering just over the floor by large feathered wings.

“I exist to maintain the balance of Heaven and Hell, and protect the mortal plane.” That was a bit hammy, actually. Way worse than just saying nobody. One touch of radiance and I already thought I was a demi-god.

To my surprise, he kneeled. “Then I am your ally. Many in the Church won’t accept you, but your strength of conviction cannot be denied.”

“I will need a contact in the Church,” I mused out loud. As much as I was ready to have to kill him, I’d rather not be constantly assailed by their operatives when I had the Org and Hell to deal with already.

“I’m not stationed here, but I can build a task force to assist you?” He rose now and slowly holstered his pistol. Shame, as I wanted to steal it.

“Send David when you are ready. The world is in danger and I won’t be left wanting.” I wasn’t too sure what I was saying anymore… holding this form was actually incredibly agonizing, despite it trying to keep me healed up.

I turned my eyes to the side of the room where a small door sat. My feet took me across the floor to it as my power started to fluctuate. The key came up into my hand. He had said it was inert, but perhaps I could use my energy to bring it to life?

With closed eyes, I tried to focus on a door that held some emotional weight, something I could really tether it to.

Into the lock, I turned it.

I opened the door and stepped into darkness.