Free Write

  Themes: Plot, Dark, No Sex

  Summary: So I just saw KPop Demon Hunters finally. 10/10 movie, no notes. But then I thought to myself, what if I made it darker? What if the world was still saved, but nobody was happy by the end of it? And then I wrote this in like 30 minutes after finishing the movie. You 100% need to have seen the movie to enjoy this, I think. Or at least know the plot.

  EDIT: Now with a Part 2 HERE that makes things a little bit better.

  -x-X-x-

  It's both much too te and right on time when Rumi finally understands her purpose.

  It's after Jinu's betrayal. After he makes sure her demon marks are exposed to not just the world but also the two most important people in her life.

  It's after she goes to Celine and begs the woman to kill her, to remove her demonic stain from the world. After the older woman refuses but still won't look her in the eye.

  The epiphany hits Rumi after everything… but just in the nick of time to save everyone. It comes as she's making her way to the stadium. It comes as the st of the Honmoon disappears. It comes as Gwi-Ma finally gains the strength and freedom necessary to manifest himself into their world.

  It all sort of… clicks into pce just as Rumi is coming up the tunnel and making her way into the stadium proper. Jinu and the rest of the Saja Boys have dropped the act, discarding their human skins and showing their true demonic forms. They're singing to the enthralled crowd while Gwi-Ma grows and grows behind them, ready to feast upon every living soul in range.

  Rumi can't let that happen. She won't let that happen.

  "Now we runnin' wild. Get down on your knees, Ima be your idol~"

  As Jinu lifts a hand high into the air, Rumi's voice rings out and he immediately looks to her, even with the crowd blocking them. Perhaps he knows already… that they're screwed.

  "Ohhhh~"

  As all eyes turn towards her, the crowd parting to let her be seen, the corner of Rumi's mouth twitches upwards.

  "We are Hunters. Voices Strong. Sying demons with our song. Fix the world and make it right. When darkness finally… meets the light."

  Her voice sounds moduted. Overpping. Her demonic heritage has overwhelmed her at this point. Her eyes bze with orange light. But that's alright because Rumi knows what she needs to do now. She knows what she was made for.

  Gwi-Ma doesn't understand, of course. He looks at her and sees nothing but a defeated hunter.

  "You come here like this? You think you can fix the world? You can't even fix yourself."

  "I can't."

  "And now everyone finally sees you for what you really are."

  "They do."

  "And the Honmoon. Is. Gone."

  At that, Rumi tilts her head to the side.

  "Is it?"

  Her tone of voice, the questioning lilt… it gives Gwi-Ma pause. It gives them all pause. As it should, really.

  "What are you saying? The Honmoon IS gone! It has dispersed! Disintegrated! You are defenseless?"

  Taking the first of many steps forward, Rumi lets out a humorless little ugh.

  "Is that what you think happened, Gwi-Ma?"

  The Demon King snarls.

  "Do not get familiar with me GIRL!"

  But Rumi pays him little mind as she continues to walk forward, deeper into the stadium. Instead she lifts a hand and stares at her demon marks… and the colors of the Honmoon flowing through them. Out of the corner of her eyes, she can see Mira and Zoey on opposite sides of the stadium. They look at her just like everyone else does, but do they really see her? No… no, Gwi-Ma already has his hooks in them. Rumi won't allow that. She won't let him have them.

  "What… what is this?"

  The Demon King sounds confused as Rumi, complete with demon orange eyes and demon marks all across her body… glows with the light of the Honmoon.

  "This? Did you not wonder? A girl with demon marks you can't control. Did it not… disturb you? Did it not… concern you? Because it really should have, Gwi-Ma. You should never have sent the Saja Boys to Earth. You should have never pushed me this far."

  Gwi-Ma scoffs.

  "The foolish final ramblings of a panicked little girl. Am I supposed to be afraid of you? KILL HER!"

  The Saja Boys move forward. All except for Jinu anyways. He stays back, staring at her as if he doesn't know what to make of her. Funny that, because in the end… she's exactly what he made her.

  As his fellow demons close in on her, flying forward with snarls on their faces, Rumi lifts her arm… and brings it down. In an instant, all of them are bound, fttened by her power. It comes as easily as breathing, funnily enough. Her… heritage.

  "You should be afraid, Gwi-Ma. Don't you know what I am? I'm a hunter. But I'm also a demon. And that should absolutely terrify you. The Honmoon didn't disintegrate you giant fming moron… something ate it. Piece by piece. Hit by hit."

  Rumi raises her other hand then, lifting both arms high into the sky, her eyes bzing orange with demonic anger, her lips curled into a cruel smile.

  "I ate it. I consumed the Honmoon. In doing so, I let you and your kind into this world. I let you run amok. Now… now it's time for me to fix my mess."

  Gwi-Ma snarls.

  "Then I suppose I have you to thank for my ascension. Allow me to show… MY GRATITUDE!"

  A massive beam of power nces out from the Demon King's fmes, seeking to incinerate her on the spot. Rumi just holds up a hand… and catches it with a snarling grin. Baring her teeth, baring her fangs, she grips down with all her might and PULLS.

  "What… what is this?!"

  Rumi takes a step forward even as she pulls on the Demon King's power, even as she consumes it. Foolishly, he tries to send out another beam. She catches that one too, holding it fast and refusing to let go as she steps forward again.

  "I am a HUNTER!"

  Step.

  "I am a DEMON!"

  Step.

  "I am a PREDATOR!"

  Step.

  "AND YOU, GWI-MA, ARE MY PREY!"

  "No… no, no, no… NOOOOOO!!!"

  Eventually, she stands in the center of the stadium, four of the Saja Boys bound around her, Jinu hovering in the air doing nothing… and Gwi-Ma slowly but surely shrinking as Rumi eats him. There's no other way to describe it. This was her purpose. This was what she was made for. A back up pn in case the Golden Honmoon failed.

  "How is this possible?! How are you so much STRONGER than me?!"

  Rumi lets out another mirthless ugh at that.

  "How? How am I, the devourer of the Honmoon, more powerful than the Demon King who has been starving for hundreds of years? Let me think about that for a moment."

  Her taunting causes Gwi-Ma to roar in outrage.

  "I have been feasting for DAYS as you and your pathetic friends failed to stop my demons!"

  Rumi's orange eyes fsh at that and she nods at the reminder, even as she begins to search the power Gwi-Ma is unwillingly sending her way. Slowly but surely, she starts to find Gwi-Ma's most recent meals.

  It's only been a few days for most, so she's able to separate the souls he consumed, the tens of thousands of people who had gone missing as the Saja Boys abused their popurity, and puts them back in their bodies, back on Earth.

  At the same time, she offers a crooked smile to Gwi-Ma.

  "And the Honmoon has been feasting on souls for CENTURIES."

  Because that was the truth, in the end. The Honmoon only worked through the power of the soul. It only worked because everyone who listened to the songs of the hunters gave parts of themselves. Everyone working together created the barrier for their protection.

  It wasn't all or nothing like with Gwi-Ma, obviously. Mere fractions of a soul here and there. Small enough portions that nobody was hurt in the process. But hunters had been building the Honmoon for a long time now. Centuries, as she'd told Gwi-Ma. Centuries of power, Centuries of soul energy… all of it now flowing through her.

  "… m-mercy… I submit… please… mercy."

  Rumi jolts at the quiet, pathetic voice. Only then does she realize she's done it. As Gwi-Ma begs for his life, as the Demon King asks for mercy, she knows she's won. Letting out a soft ugh, she shakes her head.

  "I'm a hunter and a demon, Gwi-Ma. Neither part of me knows the meaning of the word mercy."

  Then, true to her word, she ends it. She consumes what's left of Gwi-Ma. She makes him a part of her, just as she made the Honmoon a part of her. His power is fleeting compared to that though, amusingly enough. She's several times stronger than their greatest enemy EVER was.

  "Wha… what happened? What's going on?"

  "Where are we? How did we get back here?"

  "Uh… I think it was a Saja Boys thing?"

  "Like… an extra song?"

  "RUMI!""RUMI!"

  And that's her cue. With Gwi-Ma vanquished and the Saja Boys (mostly) in chains, the people in the stadium begin to break free of their enthrallment. Including Zoey and Mira. Rumi doesn't look at them though. She knows if she did, she wouldn't be strong enough to do what needed to be done next.

  Instead… she look to Jinu. Their demonic eyes meet as Rumi reaches out with her power and PULLS. Him, the rest of the Saja Boys, every other STINKING demon still on Earth… and of course, herself. In an instant, they all sink through the ground and come up on the other side in the demon world.

  Rumi finds herself standing atop a pyramid, or perhaps just an incredibly rge dais. The five Saja Boys are around her, and every other demon is at the foot of the pyramid, stretching out for miles and miles before her. Rumi looks at them all and sneers. Gwi-Ma could control every demon he ever created. And now that he's a part of her… so can she.

  "Listen carefully. None of you are ever to try to go to the human world EVER again. Or I will burn you where you stand. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!"

  She's tempted to kill them all anyways. So very tempted. But… they don't give her a reason unfortunately. En masse, they all drop to their knees and prostrate themselves before the pyramid, pressing their foreheads to the ground and begging for mercy, saying they understand.

  Rumi scoffs at them all and turns away. With a fsh of her hand, she creates a throne for herself on the dais where Gwi-Ma once held court. Before she can move to sit on it however…

  "My Queen."

  Her eyes narrow as Jinu and the other four Saja Boys all bend the knee to her, dropping down and bowing their heads. Only, Jinu can't help himself. He lifts his head… and dares to have a smidgen of hope in his eyes. Hope. Him.

  Stalking over, Rumi reaches out and runs her fingers along Jinu's chiseled chin. And then she grabs him by the jaw and squeezes.

  "You gambled it all and lost, Jinu. You were prepared to sacrifice the entire human world just to be able to forget your past crimes."

  His eyes begin to widen with panic as Rumi forcibly turns his head to the side so she can see his ear. It twitches wildly as the voices he told her about… increase in volume.

  "You failed, Jinu. Did you really think that wouldn't have consequences? That I would just… forgive you?"

  She lets go of his jaw and watches as he falls from his knees to the ground, colpsing forward and then slowly curling into the fetal position. Tears stream down his cheeks, hands cw at his ears… but it won't make the voices go away. His mother. His sister. The women he betrayed just like he betrayed her. Let him suffer their recriminations and cries for the next thousand years as punishment.

  Rumi's eyes slide over the rest of the Saja Boys, but as much as she hates them… it's not personal like with Jinu. So she ultimately ignores them and finally makes her way to her throne where she takes a seat at long st.

  She only has to keep the demons in check long enough for a new Honmoon to be constituted. It might not be Mira and Zoey but while Rumi could never count on Celine's love, she knows she can count on the woman's pragmatism. Celine is still young enough that she can recruit a new set of girls and train a new group of hunters.

  Together, they will form a new Honmoon… one that will not just help Rumi protect the human world for the rest of time but also nourish her. Because unlike her predecessor, Rumi can feed directly from the Honmoon. Just a nibble, here and there, will be enough to sustain her.

  … She does hope that Mira and Zoey will be alright in the long run. Rumi doesn't bme them for hating her. Hopefully they can move past this. Hopefully Bobby can as well.

  Really, it's not a happy ending for anyone involved, least of all herself. But then what else could Rumi expect?

  After all, demons… demons… don't get happy endings.