Heart of Darkness Hyper Super Turbo 2nd Impact Alpha

[DarkDays]

Chapter 8: Truce

“You know, we had this whole Metal Gear Solid style escape planned for you, and you jackoffs decide to blow the door up instead and create a huge ruckus,” voiced Oteki through the helmet that was meant to be part of his disguise. “If we die here, I’m kicking your ass especially, DD.”

“This isn’t the time for that!” said Wini. She was wearing the shirt that DD had handed to her to cover her chest up, which was originally Adyon’s, buttoned only to her midsection on account of being rushed. “Can you remember which way it was to get out of here?”

“Hell if I know! This place is like a goddamn labyrinth!”

Oteki was the first to turn a corner, however, what greeted him was a projectile he couldn’t see coming. The object struck the headgear, missing the opening for the visor by an inch, and bounced off to the side. The rest came from behind him to see what launched it. A small group of soldiers came into their view, brandishing all manner of weaponry and a thirst for battle. Driven by fanatical senses of justice, Testament’s soldiers had very little to fear, which made them all the more dangerous, as each of them learned firsthand.

The first to step forward was a man brandishing a claymore, shouting “In the name of God, stand down, and we’ll make certain your deaths are quick!” Behind him, another soldier was reloading a bolt into his crossbow. Another group of soldiers closed the only exit they had to their rear, each either wielding a sword or polearm. A couple men in the back wielded crossbows loaded and aiming right for the vitals of their targets. The aura that exuded from the ammunition the marksmen carried gave the idea that they were infused with holy magic, perfect for taking down demons or other dark creatures.

Tensions rose, and each of them stood prepared to fight to their last breath, before Adyon calmly interjected, both arms extended sideways, as if he was trying to call a time out.

“You know, this doesn’t really seem all that fair. You guys all have weapons and such, and we only have our bare fists. Now, what do you suppose we can do about that, huh?”

The soldiers didn’t pay any heed to what the boy was talking about. Instead, they slowly began moving in, looking to finish this quickly. Two soldiers, however, one in each of the two groups of soldiers, noticed a sudden pull on their own weapons. One was wielding a longsword, and the other a long spear. Before they knew what was happening, their weapons were pulled right out of their hands by a mysterious force. No one saw what would have been responsible for their loss of their tools, or where the sudden force came from…. except for DD and Shinrai, who noticed the pair of phantom limbs extending from Adyon’s arms.

Keeping the polearm for himself, Adyon lightly tossed the longsword to DD with a grin. “You’re proficient in those, right?”

As if taking that as a challenge, DD sped up right to the claymore wielder while the soldier was still caught in confusion, severing the head from its torso. A fountain of gore sprayed out from the open orifice, staining the white hallway walls and floor, until the body finally slumped to the ground. The young man’s face didn’t even change its shape throughout the whole process, which took less than a second to play out.

The group could only look on with awe, with the exception of Shinrai, who had the same unimpressed expression as usual. “Well, I’ll, uh, take that as a yes,” said Adyon.

The battle began at that point, with all three groups taking part in conflict. DD, slashing at any guard that came within his sights with speed and grace, worked the front with Oteki, who created pillars of cement to trap approaching opponents. Wini worked with Adyon on the rear, using martial arts techniques to flip over the group towards the crossbowmen. Disarming one with a somersault to send the weapon flying, the girl leapt onto the stunned soldier’s shoulders, placing his head between her legs, and giving a firm twist. Hopping off and grabbing the flying crossbow in midair, she aimed it towards its former comrades, and started to open fire with pinpoint precision. Adyon worked the spear with good form, utilizing his phantom limbs to his advantage in keeping his distance from opposition. Shinrai merely stood in the middle of all the carnage, waiting impatiently for someone to make an attempt at her own life, twiddling her hair out of boredom.

It only took 2 minutes for them to clear the entire hallway. Blood stained the area, while the group of unlikely allies stood untouched.

“Let’s get going,” DD called out. Everyone nodded in agreement, and began to move once more. Shinrai took a slower start than the rest, trying to find her way through the corpses that littered the hallway. It wasn’t until she suddenly felt cold steel being driven through her stomach when her facial expression changed for the first time since leaving their cell. Though it was more out of curiosity of what had struck her than anything else.

The rest of the group stopped, realizing that they were missing someone, when they too noticed what had occurred. One soldier apparently still had life left, despite missing an arm and bleeding profusely from his forehead, half of his helmet having been broken off during the conflict. Panting loudly with a large grin, the man thought he had finally achieved something, however, upon seeing the demon’s bored countenance, it quickly changed to fear.

“You humans sure are stubborn…” Shinrai then closed her eyes and began muttering something under her breath. The soldier, however, was too stunned to say or do anything, wondering frantically in his mind why his attack had no effect. Alas, he never got his answer, as the next moment he found his spinal cord getting skewered at the base of his skull by a black tendril that had appeared from the ground behind him, and coming out of his open mouth. The soldier fell to the ground with a thud, and the tendril slithered back to Shinrai’s shadow.

The group looked on with a mix of amazement, and curiosity, as well as a bit of confusion, in that she still stood there with a sword protruding through her midsection, which she callously removed with ease. The wound that was left was healed up in a matter of seconds. Tossing the bloodied blade to the ground, she looked back up at her supposed comrades with a bit of annoyance.

“What? It’s shadow magic. Now, are you going to just stand there gawking or are we going to get out of here?” Shinrai began walking past them, muttering various insults under her breath.


“Damnit… there’s just… no end to these guys,” complained Oteki, who was beginning to suffer from fatigue after punching another soldier to the ground. “We’re going to be overwhelmed if this keeps up.”

The others shared his sentiments. They had been fighting for nearly thirty minutes straight, and there was no end to the swarm of soldiers in sight. Finding a rest stop was becoming a difficult task, as nearly every corner they turned brought them face-to-face with a new group of foes. And while the type of adversaries they fought rarely varied, the sheer numbers of them was beginning to take its toll.

DD pointed out a possible solution. A clear hallway finally presented itself to them, and within it a door leading to a closed off room. “In there! Quick!”

Doing as instructed, they piled into the dark room and shut the door behind them. Oteki used his magic to construct a barricade across the door to prevent unwanted visitors, and the group finally was able to take a brief moment to recuperate in the darkness once they made sure that they were truly by themselves.

“What kind of room is this? It’s so dark I can’t see a thing. And what the hell is that smell?” said Adyon.

“Well, find the light switch then, genius,” countered Shinrai. The annoyance in her voice was clear as day, despite the expression on her face being hidden by the darkness.

Feeling around the wall, Adyon succeeded in finding his objective, flipping the switch and flooding the room with fluorescent light, causing everyone to shield their eyes momentarily until they had adjusted.

“Ah, much better. We should be alright in here for the time…”

Adyon’s sentence trailed off when he noticed the demon girl showing a look mixed with horror and disgust. At first, he thought it queer for a demon to even be able to feel such emotions. However, a quick glance at the room that they were in quickly provided the reasoning for such a rare expression from her.

In the center of the room was a large operating table. Blood had stained the once ivory surface almost completely, with traces of other organs having left their mark. Stationed above the table was a strange device. It looked like a laser of sorts, resembling something out of a science fiction novel. A tray lined with capsules was stationed right next to the device, filled with a dark, glowing substance inside most of them, which flowed through their confined quarters violently. On the table itself, a bloody corpse had been left that has begun to rot, the cause for the horrible stench that filled the room. The body resembled something obviously not human, and was torn up so much that trying to make accurate identification would be a daunting task for even the best detectives. What was identifiable on the body was a pair of sawed off horns on top, and a pair of fur covered legs spread out across the lower end. The upper body was completely mutilated, it’s chest cavity open completely, with all of its vital organs having been removed. The entire scene would have left those with weaker constitutions to be driven insane from the mere sight of it.

Oteki and Adyon arched back in disgust from the scene presented to them, while Wini covered her mouth in shock. DD’s eyes even managed to widen in surprise at the scene that laid before them. He knew of these kinds of sick experiments from what Parker told him, but he never knew that they were this brutal.

“No… this is…” Shinrai muttered, shock having completely taken over her. “Baphomet… why…” Oteki slowly approached the crushed demon and made an attempt to place his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, but was quickly knocked away. “Don’t touch me!! Do you see this!? This is why humans and demons can’t coexist! They end up just treating anything that doesn’t look like them like a goddamn science experiment, with no rights whatsoever! Do you honestly think that anyone would trust a human if they knew this was going on!?” Her gaze lowered towards the ground in sorrow. At first glance, it would almost seem that a tear was forming in her eye, though her hair was working to hide it as best as it could. “We are not even on the same level as common beasts to your kind…”

“Hey, who’s there? Are you one of those Testament assholes?” a voice called out from behind a partisan on the far side of the room, causing everyone to get into a combative stance. “Shit,” shouted Oteki. “Are there seriously more of them?”

“That voice…” said Shinrai, lifting her head up quickly. Rushing to the partisan and tossing it aside, she discovered a pair of cells with two entities in them. The one on the left seemed like a regular human, but had a pair of fairy-like wings protruding from his back. The right cage contained a demon resembling a tiger, except that its shape was that of a human male, and was even standing on two feet.

“Oberon! Ose! You’re alive!!”

“Keep quiet Lady Shinrai, otherwise the guards will be notified of your presence here,” Oberon whispered. He had an obvious air of aristocracy compared to his brash neighbor.

“What the hell are you doing here? They captured you as well?” Ose responded.

“Yes, they had me locked up in a separate area. I’m so glad you are both still okay!” For the first time in a long while, a smile had appeared on her face. “How did they get you?”

“We were on separate scouting missions.” Oberon answered. “The Testament soldiers attacked us separately, overwhelming us with numbers and strange magic. We were captured just like you were in the end, I suppose.”

The tiger demon, Ose, looked behind her to the rest of the group. “And who are these… humans? Did you take hostages?”

“As much as I would have enjoyed that idea, that’s not the case. They are merely helping me to escape from here. Once we are out, though, I have a more… personal matter to attend to…” As she said this, her gaze sharpened straight onto DD, who merely stood there with his usual neutral look. Adyon was the only other person that knew what she was talking about.

“Wait a minute…” Ose interjected once more. “Hey, kid, you with the red eyes. You’re that half-breed everyone in this place keeps talking about, aren’t you?”

DD turned his attention towards the demon that called out to him. His face never changed expressions. “So what if I am?”

“Ah ha! So you are him! You‘re the one that hurt Flauros you goddamn piece of-“

The ferocious beast made an attempt to attack through the cage, but was knocked back by a strange magical force that shocked his massive hands. He could only give a low growl in pain and frustration, as the half-breed in question looked on with the same emotionless stare, as if none of this concerned him at all.

“DD… what’s going on here?” Wini jumped in. “How do they know you?”

“Young lady,” Oberon interjected, “I’m afraid your friend has become quite notorious among the demon world. Normally our laws state that demons are to not enter the human lands without special permission. The reason for this being that if word got out about our existence after so many centuries, there would be war between our two worlds. If I remember correctly, Flauros was sent to seek out some more of our kind that had traversed into your lands, whether by purpose, or merely being stranded after many centuries. Your friend then gave him a rather rude welcoming, to put it lightly.”

“Rude nothing!” Ose interjected. “That bastard sliced off his damn arm.”

“Ose, Flauros knew what would happen to him. He may lie about the future, but in his mind he knew exactly what he was getting into. That knowledge was what allowed him to escape-“

“You think I give a shit!?” Ose’s sudden shout caused everyone else to step back, except for Oberon, who was doing his best to keep calm, and DD, who kept his eyes on the beast that may very well break his confines at any time to make an attempt on his life.

“Just tell me one thing, punk. Why did you attack him? Why did he have to lose his arm just so that he could bring our friends home? Answer me!”

“There was a campsite that was being inhabited by a hunting group in the middle of a forest. During the night, they were all attacked by a mysterious assailant. There were three fatalities, two wounded, and one missing. The missing person was never found, and thus, presumed dead. We had judged by the carnage left at the scene that it wasn’t merely done by wild animals. All of the injuries sustained were aimed straight at vital areas. There were also fourth degree burns on the dead, and up to third degree burns on the wounded. We determined that the creature responsible couldn’t be left to roam freely. I was tasked with finding, and eliminating, the assailant to prevent harm coming to anyone else.” DD recounted all of the required information as if he was presenting a written report in front of a college classroom, which only seemed to get Ose even more riled up. “Like you said, I found him, but he was able to escape after I removed his right arm. There had been no word of activity from him since.”

“Tch, well that’s all fine and dandy, but did you ever stop to think that it was those pricks that attacked him first? Flauros told me himself that those hunters shot at him while he was looking for one of our demon brothers. Do you hear me? He was completely innocent, and your kind just shot him up like he was a wild animal! He had no choice but to defend himself!!”

DD’s eyes opened up for the first time, but only barely. He wasn’t aware of the exact circumstances of the attack, but whether or not he cared was another matter. Whenever he was on a mission, completing his objective was all he cared about. The others could only gaze at him, as if he was a completely different person.

“DD…” Wini spoke first. “Is… is all of this true…?”

The red eyed young man kept silent.

“Heh, realized something there, kiddo?” Ose continued. The beast had a wide grin on his face, showing the large fangs that seemed to gleam in the lights of the room. “That’s why we demons can’t trust humans. Your kind doesn’t even think about us as being equal. You just call us monsters, and treat us worse than a stray dog left in the streets. And as soon as I find a way out of this damn cage I’m going to rip your own arm off just like you did to Flauros, so that you could feel the pain he felt.”

“I’m afraid I already have a planned engagement with someone that has the same goal as you do,” DD said as he turned his gaze to Shinrai, who had a murderous look on her own face. “If you want, however, I can make time for you as well after.”

“Heh, cocky little freak.” Ose replied.

“While we are at it…” DD continued on, raising a hand to scratch at his chin. “You can feel free to bring every demon that had someone taken from them to come after me. I’ll gladly give you all the revenge fight you want.”

The challenge DD had just put out caught everyone in the room off guard.

“Are you fucking insane, man!?” shouted Oteki.

“But, there’s one thing we need to do first. We have to be able to get out of this place. Unless we do, all of us will likely wind up dead. Once we make our escape, though, I’ll gladly take you all on. Do we have a deal?”

“Yes, I believe that right now is more important for all of us at the moment,” Oberon replied first. “We can settle personal matters later. Is that okay, Ose?”

Ose showed off his fangs with a grin that showed he was itching for a fight. “Yeah, I’m okay with that, as long as I can get a shot at your sorry ass.”

Oberon merely gave a nod of his head. “Then it’s settled. We will help you escape. However, first, we need to find way to leave our prisons. Parker used his magic to prevent us from breaking the bars with our own means.” The fairy man raised a finger to poke at the barrier that kept them inside their confinement. “Do you possibly have a means to get past this?”

Almost immediately, Oteki stepped up, removing his helmet and cracking his knuckles. “I think I can take care of this easy. Watch your feet.” The young mercenary then rubbed his hands together, placing them on the ground. A flash of light was seen, and the earth opened up under each hand, creating a trail that lead underneath the demon’s cages. This process continued until two shallow tunnels appeared leading outside of the cells, which the demons quickly took advantage of, sliding through them with ease. Adyon moved in to help Oberon out, while Wini proceeded to assist Ose, who swatted her hands away, refusing the assistance of a human. The imposing demon then walked straight up to DD, towering over him easily as he looked down to meet the blood red eyes of the young half-breed. The tension was so thick it would have required a jackhammer to get through it.

The sound of someone banging against the door was then heard across the room, breaking the standoff. Apparently the sound of the earth itself being moved was enough to get the attention of the guards and locate the group’s position. Oteki’s concrete barrier would likely hold, but it wouldn’t be very long before they brought in something that could break through it.

“Break time’s over,” DD declared. The group gave a nod in agreement.

[JBB]

...and the Kool-Aid Man pop out of the wall yelling, "OH YEAH!!!!"

[Jakar Nilson]

...and the Kool-Aid Man pop out of the wall yelling, "OH YEAH!!!!"

And then we find out that he too is a demon!

[Sokoya]

and the liquid he is full of is not kool aid...it's acid!

[Wini]

And then evryone PARTIED HARD!!

[Jakar Nilson]

Party! Woo-hoo!

[DarkDays]

A bit longer than the previous chapter, but I like how this one turned out more.

-----------------------------

Ch. 9: Of Demons and Men

“Hey! Open up in there!” the soldier shouted at the door. Their attempts to break it open by themselves ended in futility; however, they still had an ace up their sleeve, in the form of their wizard brigade.

Trained by Parker himself in the school of magic, these individuals commanded the powers of light to a destructive degree. Draped in pure white cloaks and faces covered in masks that bore the sigil of the holy cross, they were primarily used to take down powerful demons weak to their abilities. However, they had more than enough power to provide alternative uses, such as breaking down barricades made of earthly material, like the one they faced at present. The spell casters had set themselves up in an arc around the door, chanting in a strange tone.

“Alright, when they break the door down, rush in and secure the area,” the soldier ordered his troops. The wizards were nearing completion of their strange ritual. However, a sudden cracking sound took everyone’s attention away from the door they were trying to break through. They instead took notice of the splits that had begun to appear in the wall not five feet from it. By the time they had realized what was going on, the wall opened up fully, and a large tiger-like beast flew out to sink its teeth into the nearest wizard it could get to, tearing apart his throat in a matter of seconds.

As the soldiers looked on in horror, the beast stood upright, his face covered in the blood of his victim. Crimson colored fangs showed that Ose was far from finished, and in the next moment, he made a direct charge for the head soldier, dodging a sword slash with ease and swiping at his front with a set of powerful claws that could rip through steel. The carnage continued in similar fashion until not a single man was left standing, and gore had covered the hallways once more.

The rest of the group merely stood in the opening as they watched Ose take down an entire platoon by himself. “Holy shit…” Oteki was the first to comment through his helmet. “Talk about pent up rage. You sure you want to fight that thing?” He was speaking to his superior officer, who had invited the beast to settle a personal matter once they had managed to escape the facility. DD didn’t give a response, and instead turned towards the other direction, and began walking, sword in hand.

“Tch, fine, be that way,” Oteki muttered.

“It’s hard to understand,” Adyon commented. “He’s probably thinking a lot about everything that’s been going on.”

As the group followed, Adyon gave the two a brief recap of the “discussion” they had before their arrival, including the revelation that it was also DD who slew Shinrai’s friend after the two of them had slaughtered a violent gang. The important fact here was that the supposed attack on the gang was really an act of self defense, however, at the time, the mercenary wasn’t aware of that fact. In the end, he wound up killing an innocent demon, while Shinrai was able to escape. The two would have likely torn each other’s heads off if Adyon hadn’t intervened and reminded them of their predicament, and that they needed to work together in order to escape from their captors.

“How horrible…” Wini said. “It was all a misunderstanding though, right?”

“That’s how I see it, though good luck convincing her that…” Adyon cocked his head towards the demon in question, who remained silent as usual.

“Ose, are you sure you won’t reconsider fighting DD? If he knew the circumstances, then he surely…”

The imposing beast looked down to Wini. Blood stains in his facial fur from his earlier conflict gave an intimidating appearance that almost forced her back. “Does that man mean something to you?”

The only answer the young woman could give was a series of stutters, as her cheeks gained a few shades of red.

“Heh, I suppose there’s no need for you to answer,” Ose continued. “When we get out of this place, the first thing I’ll do is drive my fangs into his throat. His corpse will be a lesson to any other humans that want to mess with our kind.”

“B-but, if you do that, won’t that just cause more bloodshed? Someone else will hunt you down instead.”

“Like who? You? Ha! Don’t make me laugh. What could a pathetic human woman like you do to a proud demon like myself? The mere thought of it is humorous.”

Wini didn’t say anything in response, but her eyes took a noticeable shift from concern to annoyance.

“As far as I’m concerned, that boy is no different than the humans he lives with. The fact that he’s of demonic descent makes his crimes against us that much more severe. He is nothing but a spineless coward, a traitor, and a blemish on our entire civilization. His mere act of breathing is an insult, and furthermo-”

A cocking sound entered his ear at that moment. Shifting his gaze to the source of the sound caused him to get a full glimpse of the crossbow Wini still had in her possession, now aimed right between his eyes. The entire group stopped in their tracks.

“Little girl, do you have any idea who you’re pointing that thing at?” Ose growled.

Wini kept silent, keeping the weapon aimed at the beast that now towered over her.

“Are you saying that willing to throw your life away to protect that man?”

“DD is my superior officer,” said Wini. “…. and my friend. He gave me an opportunity to make something of myself when no one else so much as bothered to look at me. For that alone, I’m grateful to him. That is also why I can’t allow you to tarnish his name in such a manner. If you want to fight him that badly, you’ll have to fight me as well.”

Her words were filled with conviction, but the light sweat dripping from her forehead betrayed her inner fears of facing off against such an imposing creature. Would she even stand a chance against a powerful demon such as the one that stood before her?

While these thoughts raced through her mind, Wini could feel something poking at the back of her neck. Her eyes widened, but she never took them off her primary target. What was threatening to sever her spinal chord, though, was a shadowy tendril, and tracing the course of that shadow would show that it came from the young demon Shinrai.

“Go ahead and shoot him if you want to,” the demon said with a wicked smile. “A puny human such as you will barely be able to make a scratch against a demon as powerful as Ose. However, if you are so convinced that you have a chance of harming him, just know that I won’t hesitate to slice your head clean off.”

“You would be stupid to ignore me, babe,” Oteki voiced behind her. Looking behind, she realized that he had already started creating a large spike out of the floor using his own powers, and it was aimed at an angle directly for her heart. “You know, we have a rule where we come from. ‘You pick a fight with one of us, expect to fight all of us.’ Did you think I’d sit idly by while you threatened by partner?”

Adyon and Oberon could only watch as the deadly game was on, unable to do anything to stop them all from wanting to rip each other apart. Tensions were at a fever pitch, and it seemed this unlikely partnership was going to break down quicker than anyone had expected. Who would make the first move in this game of Chicken?

“That’s enough!”

That sudden outburst caught everyone’s attention, causing them to shift their gazes to the half-breed in front, whose back was still facing them.

“Wini, Teki. I appreciate that you two are willing to risk your lives for my sake. However, Ose and I will need to settle things on our own. I don’t need you two getting involved in this.”

“But DD…” Wini began to protest.

“No buts. We have more important matters to deal with right now anyway.” He then turned to face the group, making sure his eyes locked on to Ose’s. “That also means you and Shinrai both need to leave them out of our matters. If either of you two so much as harms a single hair on my subordinates, I won’t hesitate to kick your asses back to whatever hellhole you came from. Do we have an understanding?”

Ose was quick to respond with a hearty laugh. “I’d rather not dull my claws on such worthless opposition anyway. As long as I have my shot at you, nothing else matters. Just make sure they don’t get in my way.” As the beast began to walk away, everyone else lowered their arms. Wini and Oteki were left feeling irked at Ose’s attitude, and DD merely continued walking on in front of them. Shinrai followed the pair in front, muttering a barely audible “Bitch,” as she passed Wini.

“Please, try to understand,” Oberon spoke at last. “Ose is brash and arrogant, but he’s a demon of the people. He cares much for us, and strives to help protect us. I’m afraid he views your friend as a threat to not just those of us present, but all of our kind.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time someone’s had it out for him,” Oteki responded. “DD’s got a knack for getting under people’s skin, whether he tries to or not.”

“There is a story I teach the fairies of my clan,” said Oberon. “Long ago, our kind used to live with the humans in harmony. Many of them referred to our highest ranking beings deities, and worshipped them accordingly. However, at the time of the Crusades, demons were being slain left and right, whether they had evil intentions or not. The Crusaders viewed them as abominations on their Earth, minions of the Devil, and various other horrible things. Any group that worshipped them was ordered to be wiped out in the name of their God. Many of those that we had befriended ended up turning against us, swayed by promises of eternal happiness and being able to save their souls. We were forced to hide ourselves away in order to keep from being slaughtered. Over time, mankind forgot about our presence and the many religions that paid tribute, and we became the stuff of fairy tales, myths and legends. However, our prophecies foretell that a day will come when humans and otherworldly creatures can coexist once more, and peace will reign for both our worlds.

“You really think that will happen?” said Wini.

Oberon gave a light nod of his head, accompanied by a smile that belied a strong belief. “Though there are some demons like Ose that would prefer to not have anything to do with the humans because of what happened, many others still believe that that day will come. And I am one of them.”

A day where humans and demons can live in peace… thought Wini. Could such a dream truly become reality?

Her thought process was quickly interrupted when she saw a bright flash of light coming from around the corner ahead, which was accompanied by screams of pain. Rushing to the scene, what awaited them was DD writhing in pain on the floor, surrounded by a strange magical field. Ose and Shinrai were just outside of the magical perimeter, while on the other end of the hallway was another group of the wizards that were encountered earlier.

“Shit! They were waiting for us!” Oteki exclaimed.

Wini responded quickly by firing a crossbow bolt towards the wizards, however, the shot disintegrated as soon as it entered the field. Oteki made his attempt by trying to send a shockwave to the other side of the perimeter and disrupt their formation, however, the energy that arced from his hand was stopped at the edge of the magical perimeter. “What the fuck is this??” he shouted.

A boisterous laugh could be heard from behind the chanting wizards, as a large man, his body covered in bright ivory armor, and a hefty pole axe strapped to his back, stepped out into view. “Foolish heretics! You fell right for our trap. Don’t even bother trying to break past it. Anything that tries to get through that field, magical or physical, will be deterred. Surrender yourselves before the mighty paladin Xanatos, and I may grant you a merciful death. I doubt Father Parker will give you the same kind of offer.”

“Like hell we will!” Oteki shouted, this time attempting to send his magic along the ceiling, but that also was negated by the field the wizards had employed. For his efforts, a separate bolt shot out to strike him on his helmet, shattering a portion of it and knocking him off balance. The rest of the group was lost for answers, as they could only watch DD struggle inside the magic field as his body was bombarded with bolts of holy energy. “DD!!” Wini called out, about to throw herself into the field in an attempt to help him, when DD responded with “Get back!!” The young girl hesitated for a moment, but did as she was ordered.

The reason for DD’s command was evident soon enough, as he slowly started rising to his feet. A look of surprise grew on Xanatos’s face. “Well well, what’s all this then? This kind of magic is powerful enough to fell a rhinoceros in half a minute, and its power is tenfold against a creature of darkness. I can hardly imagine the pain a monstrosity such as yourself must be feeling, and yet you still stand! Such amazing endurance! No wonder Father Parker had so much interest in you.”

Despite all of the pain that was traveling through every inch of his body, DD was, in fact, on both of his feet. However, something started to change in him: His eyes had lost their color, and something else had started to pulsate from him. Streaks of black arced their way to the edges of the barrier from his person. They started off small, but grew in size and number. At long last, with a shout from the man in the center of it all, a humongous power surge caused the barrier to shatter, and coursing out all across the corridor. The wizards were knocked away from the strong blast, while Xanatos was forced to use the pole axe as a grounding tool to keep himself steady.

“I-incredible!” Xanatos exclaimed. “Such power…”

Shortly after causing such a powerful aura, DD collapsed where he stood, having depleted all of his energy just to break out of his prison. His eyes regained their crimson shade, and the black streaks disappeared. Instead, visible smoke rose from his body as a result of the burning light. Xanatos had a dastardly grin on his face at this opening that was created for him.

“You should have just stayed in that field and died, half-breed. At least that way you’d have been spared from my wrath. NOW DIE!!” The Paladin leapt into combat, pole axe in hand, and was ready to skewer the now defenseless DD. However, his efforts were thwarted when a mysterious, unseen power struck him dead on in his face, the force of which was able to send him flying back across the corridor and onto the pile of wizards, crushing them with the combination of the tremendous impact and his bulky armor.

Adyon stood in front of the group, arm still extended in front of him. If Oteki and Wini could be able to see his powers, they would have noticed a phantom arm had grown from his physical arm, and struck the stalwart warrior a powerful blow that put him out cold. “Sorry, but none of us feel like getting killed today,” said the young man.

Wini quickly took the moment to rush to DD’s aid. “DD! Are you okay?” she asked in a panic. The red-eyed youth could only provide a loud grunt in response, but she took that as a positive sign, and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Such amazing power…” Oberon commented, surprised at this turn of events.

“Bah! What use is power like that if you can’t even stand up afterwards?” Ose responded. “Now let us be off. I grow tired of these interruptions.” The tiger demon started walking on ahead, ignoring the pile of bodies in the corner of the hallway. Adyon offered DD his shoulder, picking up his discarded sword as well for him, and the group set out once more. Oteki, his helmet having lost its functions thanks to the blow he took, was now reduced to trash. He muttered a couple expletives as he chucked the remains onto the human pile.


---


After several minutes had passed, the group entered a larger corridor than the one they were just in. Wini and Oteki recognized this area from passing through earlier. It was a holding area, where lesser demons were chained up and placed behind glass walls, put on display like zoo animals until they were dragged off for Parker’s twisted experiments. Ose, Oberon, and Shinrai grew appalled at the scene that lay before them.

“Another example of human ignorance,” voiced Shinrai. “Not only do they treat us like science experiments, but they chain us up like wild beasts.” Wini and Oteki couldn’t help but feel offended for being lumped in with the group they were supposed to be working against.

Adyon had noticed DD, who was still being assisted by the youth, was looking into one portion of the glass. On the other side was a Lamia, a female demon whose lower body resembled that of a snake. A large metal collar was wrapped around her thin neck, attached to the wall behind her via a chain as thick as her own body. Upon seeing the young man’s presence, a loud hiss could be heard through the glass. That sign of violence was enough to trigger a spell from the neck clasp that DD recognized instantly, and a cry of pain was heard shortly afterward, as a powerful electric shock coursed a path through her body.

“You get away from her you son of a…” Ose began to shout, until Oberon quickly used his fairy wings to float up and grab him by the shoulder, motioning him to calm down and see what would happen.

DD stood there motionless, while the creature looked up in agony, helpless and unable to escape her confinement. Gazing down at the helpless figure, his was reminded of memories of long ago.


---


“Are you certain of this?” asked DD.

“I’m afraid so.” Jakar stood before the young man’s hospital bed, looking down at a small collection of medical papers. “Your DNA structure shares that of numerous demon samples that we picked up. And while we knew your powers were beyond that of a mere mortal, you exhibit even more power when you shift into your more violent form. On top of that, considering the fact that you were also able to recover so quickly, much less survive, getting pierced by several arrows at once, it’s fairly clear that you’re certainly not human. Your bone structure and muscle tissue, however, still resembles one, though, so we can’t fully classify you as a demon. And it’s not like you have any horns protruding from your skull either.”

It was merely two days since he was attacked by an unknown entity after losing himself to his mysterious power against Adyon. He had just woken up the day before, finding himself in a hospital bed, wrapped in bandages and connected to a life support system. It was only hours later that the life support systems weren’t needed anymore, and DD had almost completely healed from injuries that would have left a normal person at death’s door.

“While this is only conjecture that our doctors and myself came up with, barring something we discover down the road that contradicts this, there’s little room for doubt. To be honest, I knew you were different when I first saw you fight, but I’m even more surprised you were unaware of your own capabilities and where they came from.”

“Fighting is all I know,” DD responded at last. “I grew up around people with unique abilities. I figured it was just… normal.”

“Normal would be a married man with three children, a two story house, a nine-to-five job, and a golden retriever running around the front yard, which is surrounded by a white picket fence. I’m afraid to say, you are anything but normal.”

“So, when I went berserk like that against Adyon… and the time before at that party… that was…”

“Your demon blood kicking into full swing, I’d imagine. The first time, Delia had you under her control, so it seems she likely hit something in that messed up head of yours that unlocked it. As for what triggered it this time, I can’t say for certain. Only advice I can give is to keep your emotions in check so that it doesn’t pop up when you don’t want it to. Not that you have a hard time doing that already.”

Silence fell upon the room.

“Jakar,” DD spoke, using a hand to cover his face. “You remember when I told you that I couldn’t remember anything about where I was born? You have me travel all over the goddamn world, and I never argued once because I thought I’d find something about myself. I’ve been doing nothing but fighting for as long as I can remember. I don’t know who I am, where I’ve come from, where I’m going, and now you’re telling me I’m not even human?” That same hand was then used to smash a small table to the side of his bed, scattering debris about the room. “WHAT IS THE POINT OF ALL THIS!? WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR!?!?”

“For peace,” was Jakar’s answer. DD looked up to the old man in confusion.

“If you recall, I told you the very same thing the day I first hired you. The world is a cruel and relentless place. Strange things happen everyday that man cannot even begin to describe. Police can’t fight them. The FBI doesn’t stand a chance against them. Even the United States military can’t stand up to those that aren’t considered ordinary. That is why I hire people like you: To combat the unordinary.”

“However,” Jakar continued, “don’t think that this discovery changes anything. While you may be of a different bloodline, the fact remains that you are a mercenary for Eclipse, and your job is to fight to protect others. To defend those who can’t defend themselves. Whether the target is a human or demon, those that threaten the weak must be stopped, and just like there is evil in humans, there can also be good in demons. Only you can determine who is truly good, and who is truly evil. You may not think it, but you have a gift, boy. A gift most people would sacrifice their first born child for. Don’t squander it whining about petty things like ‘Who am I?’ I didn’t hire you so you could throw an ‘emo’ fit, as you youngsters seem to call it these days. Those answers will come in time. And the world needs your help now more than ever.”


---


Defend those who can’t defend themselves…

Those words echoed throughout his mind. At that moment, it seemed he finally understood the meaning of them..

“Wini, Oteki,” he spoke at last. “What was your original mission here?”

The pair looked at each other in a moment of confusion. “Well, to bust your bitch ass out of here mostly,” Oteki answered. “Now can we find a way out before we find ourselves getting crucified by a bunch of batshit crazy freaks? I’d like to get out of this stupid outfit as soon as possible.”

“Forget that mission.”

“Come again?”

“As you know, our duty is to protect those in need. These demons locked up here are no different than the humans that we work to keep safe everyday. Parker is a man out of control. If we don’t stop him here and now, it won’t just be our world that will be in danger, but their world as well…” his gaze shifted down to the Lamia, who could barely meet his eyes after getting such a powerful shock to her body. He then removed himself from Adyon’s shoulder and turned back to the others with a stern look on his face, the look that everyone knew him for. “As your superior officer, I’m giving you new orders. You are to free the captives of this facility, and take down Parker before he gains the power he seeks. That fat priest cannot be allowed to act freely any more. I’ll take the heat from Jakar for making you go against your original duties once we’re through here. Do you understand?”

The two looked at each other once more, only this time with renewed determination. They both responded with a salute, and a very vocal “Yes, sir!” The demons stood in the back with a confused look, while Adyon was already cracking his knuckles, getting ready for the brawl to end all brawls.

For a brief moment, a slight smile seemed to have formed on DD’s face, but it was gone almost in an instant. “Very good. We will start here…” As he said this, his right fist gained a shadowy aura around it, which he reared back as far as he could, and sent it straight into the glass that kept the demon prisoners in. The resulting impact shattered the wall for several yards in both directions, sending shards flying, and causing everyone to shield their eyes for protection. The security system that was set into place picked up the disturbance with the demon’s confines, and set off a loud siren that spread through out the entire facility.

Working with haste, DD grabbed the sword from Adyon and used it to break off the chain holding the Lamia in place, who reacted in a confused manner. “Help get their braces off, but be careful, they’re enchanted with magic.” The others began to follow with his commands, other than Shinrai and Ose, who couldn’t believe the events that were taking place in front of them. The man who was responsible for hunting down demons was now helping them instead.

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Shinrai shouted. “First you hunt our kind, now you’re trying to help us?”

“Psh, he’s likely trying to gain favor with us, probably so that he can somehow get out of our fight later,” said Ose, obviously not impressed with this change of behavior.

“No,” stated Wini, who was assisting in freeing a Kodama from a small glass jar that the tiny creature was kept in. “This is part of our duty. We wouldn’t be doing our jobs to the fullest if we were to leave them all here like this. DD likely understands this.”

The tiger beast quietly turned his attention back to DD, as he watched him help the Lamia right herself on her snake tail. The Lamia then smiled, throwing her arms around the young man in glee, while his face noticeably turned a couple shades of red once he had realized the creature’s bare-chested (and well-endowed) human half was pressing against his own body. Ose gave a low growl, still not convinced about the half-breed’s motives, while Shinrai twisted a few strands of her hair in quiet contemplation.

“Hey DD!” Oteki shouted from the other end of the hallway, a large troll sitting next to him. “This one says there are more prisoners not too far from here.”

“Young master,” Oberon spoke up behind DD. “Allow me to go assist in freeing our comrades. With our combined strength, we should be able to hold our own against the soldiers.”

DD gave a slight nod in response. “Do what you must. The rest of us will find Parker and free whoever we find along the way.”

“I thank you, Master…” Oberon began to reply, hesitating to complete his sentence for a brief moment. “DarkDays was it? It sounds like an alias. Is there an alternate name that I may refer to you as?”

“That’s the only name you need to know,” DD responded coldly. “Now get going.”

“I understand, Master DarkDays. Take care of yourselves.” With a courteous bow, Oberon flew off to join the released demons in their search for their kin, while the Lamia followed suit, turning a brief moment to blow a kiss to the man that broke her bonds. Ose and Shinrai started to follow the fairy king as well, but both stopped to look at the red-eyed young man with suspicious glares.

“Don’t think this act changes anything, boy,” declared Ose. DD merely responded with a nod, and the two ran off to join Oberon.

“DD!” Oteki ran up to him next. “You feeling okay?”

“I’m fine. Did you free them all?”

“Yeah, all accounted for. They’re heading off with Oberon and the others.”

Wini joined in shortly, waiting for her next orders, while Adyon was off on his own trying to decide which direction he should go in. “Adyon!” DD called out to him. “We could use your help to get through this place. Want to help out?”

“Heh, I thought you’d never ask,” said Adyon, cracking his knuckles with anticipation.

“Then consider yourself a temporary member of Eclipse. Let’s go find that fat fuck and kick his ass to heaven and back.”

A collective cheer was had by all before the group set out to their new goal: the removal of Parker, and foiling his plans.

[JBB]

“Normal would be a married man with three children, a two story house, a nine-to-five job, and a golden retriever running around the front yard, which is surrounded by a white picket fence. I’m afraid to say, you are anything but normal.”

--Jakar

U know, this is exactly what he would say, not just the character, the real Jakar.