Hinan Sekatsu
Legion
Two teenagers walk down an empty city street. The sidewalks scarred with cracks, and the shops long since abandoned. Maybe Lexitha was once a good place to live, but by this point, on June 21st, 2012, nobody really gives a damn. The remaining students of Tower Lake High School only endure each day for the far off hope of leaving this desolate place, even leaving the shattered nation it lingers in. Dreams are all that remains.
"Hey, Teruth," spoke the kid in jeans and a blue hoody, his overfilled bag hanging from his right shoulder next to his cheap aluminum practice sword in its cloth sheath, "I'm getting more and more of this all the time."
"What? You mean that ancient martial art?" Replied his friend, clothed in only black at any given time, who hauled his own load full of shuriken, a training kusari-gama crafted from wod and rope, and a katana- the real thing. "It's been dead for centuries, Kyo, not everything can be brought back from the grave."
"You're such a pessimist. Subak isn't dead, it lives on as Taekwondo, Tangsoodo, all Korean martial arts for that matter."
"I don't see why you waste your time trying to master more than one fighting style when Ninjutsu is superior to them all anyway."
"All martial arts are equal when applied correctly, and the Korean styles are the msot versatile of all, they combined the best of Japanese and Chinese martial arts-"
"No matter hwo good you are... You have to sleep sometime," Teruth interrupted.
"Yeah... But that doesn't-" Kyo was interrupted again.
"We're being followed..."
"How do you know?"
"I feel their Ki, it's surprisingly strong," Teruth remained walking but places two fingers on his forehead, "you remember how to open the third eye, I'm sure."
Kyo did the same, while keeping up his pace.
"Dont turn around..." Now the sound of footsteps became clear to both of them, their stalker approached rapidly, "NOW!" Teruth and Kyo stepped to opposite sides of the sidewalk as a knife inpaled the air between them. Teruth, on his left, took hold of the assailant's wrist with his right arm, raised the knife above his head and swung his left into the attacker's throat, then pulled back and punched to the solar plexus full force, taking him to his knees. Kyo delivered an axe kick to the back of his neck with relatively little force, bringing his face to the concrete. No consciousness left in him, and the two stood silent for a minute.
"What was that about?"
"Bastard probably jsut wanted our money. Just leave him here to rot until he awakens, it's the only way these subhumans learn the worthlessness of material posessions. In this day and age it's skill that keeps you alive, not fancy knives."
"But we use weapons also..."
"Well, if I had been wielding that knife, he would be dead and eviscerated. He had no idea what he was doing with it." The two continued their walk to the car, turning their backs to him. Neither saw the red glow in his eyes.
"Could you go any faster?" Kyo said sarcastically.
"You should jsut be greatful I drive you all the way to Cold Forest every week, its like the opposite side of the city from my house in the middle of nowhere." Driving on Eternal Circle Road was never a problem for Teruth, though everyone else complained about it. He kept to the right lane as the exit to Georgeville road approached. A white car started to pass them on the left, then suddenly pulled away and rammed into them at 60 miles per hour. Teruth lost control completely and both cars were thrown into the ditch next to the expansive fields around them. As they made contact with the ground, Teruth felt his consciousness slipping away, and embraced the dark...
When his eyes forced themselves open, Teruth looked over at Kyo, who was also awakening. "Damn..." Kyo said, looking around, "you think you're ok man?"
Teruth forced open the twisted remains of the door, Kyo opened his easily and the two stepped out, but something seemed wrong, "it's so quiet... Hey! Where's the bastard that ran us off the road?! There's no white car here..."
"For that matter," Kyo said as he climbed up to the road, "there aren't any cars here at all, Eternal Circle's abandoned."
Aside from the sudden absence of humanity, everything else remained the same, except that the sky now reflected a much darker shade of blue, and a thick fog coated the ground.
"There's noone here..." Kyo ran back down to the car and apst it into the field, "noone at all!"
Teruth followed him into the tall grass and they wandered away from the road in a daze, a bridge overshadowed the other half of the field, which Kyo examined, "hey! What's that on the bridge? A... Statue?"
"That's certainly not normally there... And what idiot puts a statue in the middle of a bridge?" Teruth looked around cautiously, "and what the Hell is going on?!" Teruth called out to the abyss. Suddenly the silence was broken; shattered by slow, deep breathing echoing from all directions. Humanoid silhouettes appeared in the fog all around. Instinctively, Teruth and Kyo took fighting stances, standing to each other's back for defence. The silhouettes became visible as they approached, the crimson glow of their eyes piercing the fog, and a fainter red aura illuminating their pale bluish skin, long white hair, and fangs that looked perfect for rending human flesh.
"Who are you?!" Kyo called out to them.
The answer cam in a hoarse, demonic voice, "we are Legion... For we are many." The creatures held their hands in front of them, as if holding something, as red light gathered between them. Kiyo looked on in shock.
"They're focusing Ki! You dont even have to use the third eye to see it!" Teruth began his own focusing technique, pulling his hands apart slowly, opening them, pushing down, then imitated the enemy's technique, "Kyo, Ki shield, now."
Both focused their Ki and expanded it to encompass their bodies in a sphere of blue light. As they finished the creatures unleased their focused Ki, their meager shield barely withstood the waves of red light striking it, they were forced to let it down afterwords.
"What now?" asked Kyo.
"What else? we fight back!" Teruth charged forward at one creature in the circle, focusing everything into his right fist and thrusting it into the beast's solar plexus, not even phaseing it. The creature stepped back and countered to Teruth's head with inhuman speed, throwing him to the ground!
"Holy shit!" Kiyo hesitated for a second before charging in himself, but the beast drove its fist into Kyo's stomach, taking him down as well.
The monsters closed in on them, as if preparing to devour them alive, then suddenly a light flashed above their head, the creatures dissolved into flame, decapitated. Behind them, a multicolored light enshrouded a broadsword wielded by a warrior in black. The swordsman turned and brushed his long black hair away from his dark green eyes.
Teruth and Kyo looked up at the newcomer with an inquisitive gaze. He wiped his sword clean and resheathed it, then spoke, "I'm Korosu. Are you Latis or Jinsen?"
"What?" Kyo regained his stance, Teruth followed.
"You're in this plane, and clearly those Demons targeted you, so I know you're adepts. Which side are you on?"
Teruth prepared to speak jsut as Korosu looked up, stepped back and drew his sword. Teruth turned jsut in time to notice that the statue no longer rested on the bridge. The ground shook violently as a massive demon with dark red skin, huge black wings, four crimson eyes and horns that could run a human through struck the ground. It held a monstruous battle axe forged of black steel, and Kyo didn't doubt that it was tempered in the fires of Hell. The beast raised its axe for a decapitating sweep, and swung jsut as Korosu pushed Teruth and Kyo to the ground. Teruth felt a hot aura emanating from the blade as it flew over his forehead.
The three of them stood, Korosu prepared to fight. "Get out of here! You're unarmed and stand no chance against this Demon!"
"But what-" Kyo was again interrupted.
"Just get the Hell away! I'll keep it occupied!"
Teruth and Kyo fled the heat of battle, "where?" Kyo asked.
"To the road I guess! Hopefully the car still works!" Teruth replied. Demonic screams of pain echoed from behind them. Soon the car became visible, Teruth ran around to the driver's side, the mangled door was still open, he got in and forced it closed. Kyo got in the other side as Teruth turned the key and, miraculously, the car started. Just as Teruth shifted to drive a shadow passed over them. Teruth floored it and jsut as they had travellend 2o feet a massive fireball collided with the ground they were on 5 seconds ago. "The damn thing followed us!" Teruth tried to get back on the road.
"It must have killed that guy!"
Teruth made it back to the empty road and took off as another fireball exploded behind them.
"Where are you going?!" Kyo said as he tried to identify their pursuer in the sky.
"I'll go downtown, maybe we can lose it amidst the buildings!" Teruth took the exit from Eternal Circle road to south Georgeville road, when a fireball hit in front of them, Teruth swerved ot the right to avoid it. "This piece of crap better hold together for a few minutes!" They sped down the abandoned road, Teruth avoiding everything the Demon sent their way. "Why doesn't he just come down here and chop up the car with that fuckin' axe?"
"Don't give him ideas, Teruth!!!"
Soon, Teruth was forced to slow down as Georgeville road merged with Main street. Towering structures began to surround them. The air currents here would make it impossible to glide to the ground, but Kyo saw him try it anyway. As Teruth made a sharp turn onto a city street, their determined pursuer couldn't reverse his momentum and crashed headfirst into a parking structure. Kyo made an expression of victory until turning to the front of the car to see hundreds of demons congregating infront of them!
"Damn! Looks like this piece of shit has to take a few more hits!" Teruth floored the gas again, charging through the wall of adversaries. Upon collision, they burst into flames and vanished, allowing Teruth to carve a path through them, and escape seemed inevitable. But to his dismay, Teruth realized he had turned into a dead end! Slamming on the brakes, he barely managed to stop in front of a concrete wall.
"Well... What now?" Kyo observed the demons in the distance.
"I guess... We stand and fight to our last breath!" Teruth forced open the door and reached back for his katana. Kyo started to reach for his dao. "That thing'll shatter against their skin, I'm confident," Teruth said, drawing his genuine hand-forged katana, his prized possession, which he'd never expected to actually use. Kyo decided against the aluminum training sword and went to face the Demons with his bare hands. But the advancing demons stopped as a shadow passed over them, and the great winged beast landed between the demons and the human army of two. It no longer carried its trademark axe, with its right arm being severed. That along with one of its horn being broken off and the many cuts and wounds covering its body suggested it was barely clinging to life as it was. Clumsily, the beast advanced and let out a breath of fire. Teruth ran to the right and Kyo to the left, both narrowly avoiding a fiery death. The dying behemoth then targeted Kyo and turned to face him as he ran around, leaving the beast's back to the car and Teruth, who instinctively climbed to the roof of the car and awaited an opening.
Kyo, faced with an opponent twice his size and no weapon, gave into a stange, primeval instince and charged at the demon! He focused his Ki, jumped and struck it right in a deep gash on its stomach, releasing all the energy he had. The creature took several steps backward and bent forward out of pain. Then Teruth saw his opening and jumped from the car onto the demon's back, raised his sword and swung it around to take the Demon's head off in one clean strike with the razor sharp blade which had never tasted flesh. The gargantuan beast fell and dissolved into flame before hitting the ground, flame that did not hurt Teruth as he fell through it. As this creature faded away, the humanoids did the same.
Teruth and Kyo embraced and laughed in rejoice.
"Take that you fuckin' minions of Hell!"
"You didn't count on meeting Kyo Hamaretsu and Teruth the Dark!" Teruth prepared to wipe his blade clean, but was shocked that there was no blood on it at all. He dismissed this as somethign Demon related and returned his prized weapon to its sheath.
"So," Kyo said, "what now?"
"I guess we'll go to your house and see if anyone knows what the Hell's going on." Teruth said, then, remembering the absence of life, "or if anyone's home." Teruth got in the car followed by Kyo. As he drove back to main street, several cars passed by them before they could turn, the first one they saw was white. He pulled back onto the road and resumed normal driving, surrounded by cars. Neither Teruth or Kyo was quite sure what to say.
They soon drove past the street where they first left their respective martial arts classes. At that point they simultaneously looked down at the clock, no time had passed since the accident, the car was the only evidence that anything out of the ordinary occurred that day.
"Hey, Teruth," spoke the kid in jeans and a blue hoody, his overfilled bag hanging from his right shoulder next to his cheap aluminum practice sword in its cloth sheath, "I'm getting more and more of this all the time."
"What? You mean that ancient martial art?" Replied his friend, clothed in only black at any given time, who hauled his own load full of shuriken, a training kusari-gama crafted from wod and rope, and a katana- the real thing. "It's been dead for centuries, Kyo, not everything can be brought back from the grave."
"You're such a pessimist. Subak isn't dead, it lives on as Taekwondo, Tangsoodo, all Korean martial arts for that matter."
"I don't see why you waste your time trying to master more than one fighting style when Ninjutsu is superior to them all anyway."
"All martial arts are equal when applied correctly, and the Korean styles are the msot versatile of all, they combined the best of Japanese and Chinese martial arts-"
"No matter hwo good you are... You have to sleep sometime," Teruth interrupted.
"Yeah... But that doesn't-" Kyo was interrupted again.
"We're being followed..."
"How do you know?"
"I feel their Ki, it's surprisingly strong," Teruth remained walking but places two fingers on his forehead, "you remember how to open the third eye, I'm sure."
Kyo did the same, while keeping up his pace.
"Dont turn around..." Now the sound of footsteps became clear to both of them, their stalker approached rapidly, "NOW!" Teruth and Kyo stepped to opposite sides of the sidewalk as a knife inpaled the air between them. Teruth, on his left, took hold of the assailant's wrist with his right arm, raised the knife above his head and swung his left into the attacker's throat, then pulled back and punched to the solar plexus full force, taking him to his knees. Kyo delivered an axe kick to the back of his neck with relatively little force, bringing his face to the concrete. No consciousness left in him, and the two stood silent for a minute.
"What was that about?"
"Bastard probably jsut wanted our money. Just leave him here to rot until he awakens, it's the only way these subhumans learn the worthlessness of material posessions. In this day and age it's skill that keeps you alive, not fancy knives."
"But we use weapons also..."
"Well, if I had been wielding that knife, he would be dead and eviscerated. He had no idea what he was doing with it." The two continued their walk to the car, turning their backs to him. Neither saw the red glow in his eyes.
"Could you go any faster?" Kyo said sarcastically.
"You should jsut be greatful I drive you all the way to Cold Forest every week, its like the opposite side of the city from my house in the middle of nowhere." Driving on Eternal Circle Road was never a problem for Teruth, though everyone else complained about it. He kept to the right lane as the exit to Georgeville road approached. A white car started to pass them on the left, then suddenly pulled away and rammed into them at 60 miles per hour. Teruth lost control completely and both cars were thrown into the ditch next to the expansive fields around them. As they made contact with the ground, Teruth felt his consciousness slipping away, and embraced the dark...
When his eyes forced themselves open, Teruth looked over at Kyo, who was also awakening. "Damn..." Kyo said, looking around, "you think you're ok man?"
Teruth forced open the twisted remains of the door, Kyo opened his easily and the two stepped out, but something seemed wrong, "it's so quiet... Hey! Where's the bastard that ran us off the road?! There's no white car here..."
"For that matter," Kyo said as he climbed up to the road, "there aren't any cars here at all, Eternal Circle's abandoned."
Aside from the sudden absence of humanity, everything else remained the same, except that the sky now reflected a much darker shade of blue, and a thick fog coated the ground.
"There's noone here..." Kyo ran back down to the car and apst it into the field, "noone at all!"
Teruth followed him into the tall grass and they wandered away from the road in a daze, a bridge overshadowed the other half of the field, which Kyo examined, "hey! What's that on the bridge? A... Statue?"
"That's certainly not normally there... And what idiot puts a statue in the middle of a bridge?" Teruth looked around cautiously, "and what the Hell is going on?!" Teruth called out to the abyss. Suddenly the silence was broken; shattered by slow, deep breathing echoing from all directions. Humanoid silhouettes appeared in the fog all around. Instinctively, Teruth and Kyo took fighting stances, standing to each other's back for defence. The silhouettes became visible as they approached, the crimson glow of their eyes piercing the fog, and a fainter red aura illuminating their pale bluish skin, long white hair, and fangs that looked perfect for rending human flesh.
"Who are you?!" Kyo called out to them.
The answer cam in a hoarse, demonic voice, "we are Legion... For we are many." The creatures held their hands in front of them, as if holding something, as red light gathered between them. Kiyo looked on in shock.
"They're focusing Ki! You dont even have to use the third eye to see it!" Teruth began his own focusing technique, pulling his hands apart slowly, opening them, pushing down, then imitated the enemy's technique, "Kyo, Ki shield, now."
Both focused their Ki and expanded it to encompass their bodies in a sphere of blue light. As they finished the creatures unleased their focused Ki, their meager shield barely withstood the waves of red light striking it, they were forced to let it down afterwords.
"What now?" asked Kyo.
"What else? we fight back!" Teruth charged forward at one creature in the circle, focusing everything into his right fist and thrusting it into the beast's solar plexus, not even phaseing it. The creature stepped back and countered to Teruth's head with inhuman speed, throwing him to the ground!
"Holy shit!" Kiyo hesitated for a second before charging in himself, but the beast drove its fist into Kyo's stomach, taking him down as well.
The monsters closed in on them, as if preparing to devour them alive, then suddenly a light flashed above their head, the creatures dissolved into flame, decapitated. Behind them, a multicolored light enshrouded a broadsword wielded by a warrior in black. The swordsman turned and brushed his long black hair away from his dark green eyes.
Teruth and Kyo looked up at the newcomer with an inquisitive gaze. He wiped his sword clean and resheathed it, then spoke, "I'm Korosu. Are you Latis or Jinsen?"
"What?" Kyo regained his stance, Teruth followed.
"You're in this plane, and clearly those Demons targeted you, so I know you're adepts. Which side are you on?"
Teruth prepared to speak jsut as Korosu looked up, stepped back and drew his sword. Teruth turned jsut in time to notice that the statue no longer rested on the bridge. The ground shook violently as a massive demon with dark red skin, huge black wings, four crimson eyes and horns that could run a human through struck the ground. It held a monstruous battle axe forged of black steel, and Kyo didn't doubt that it was tempered in the fires of Hell. The beast raised its axe for a decapitating sweep, and swung jsut as Korosu pushed Teruth and Kyo to the ground. Teruth felt a hot aura emanating from the blade as it flew over his forehead.
The three of them stood, Korosu prepared to fight. "Get out of here! You're unarmed and stand no chance against this Demon!"
"But what-" Kyo was again interrupted.
"Just get the Hell away! I'll keep it occupied!"
Teruth and Kyo fled the heat of battle, "where?" Kyo asked.
"To the road I guess! Hopefully the car still works!" Teruth replied. Demonic screams of pain echoed from behind them. Soon the car became visible, Teruth ran around to the driver's side, the mangled door was still open, he got in and forced it closed. Kyo got in the other side as Teruth turned the key and, miraculously, the car started. Just as Teruth shifted to drive a shadow passed over them. Teruth floored it and jsut as they had travellend 2o feet a massive fireball collided with the ground they were on 5 seconds ago. "The damn thing followed us!" Teruth tried to get back on the road.
"It must have killed that guy!"
Teruth made it back to the empty road and took off as another fireball exploded behind them.
"Where are you going?!" Kyo said as he tried to identify their pursuer in the sky.
"I'll go downtown, maybe we can lose it amidst the buildings!" Teruth took the exit from Eternal Circle road to south Georgeville road, when a fireball hit in front of them, Teruth swerved ot the right to avoid it. "This piece of crap better hold together for a few minutes!" They sped down the abandoned road, Teruth avoiding everything the Demon sent their way. "Why doesn't he just come down here and chop up the car with that fuckin' axe?"
"Don't give him ideas, Teruth!!!"
Soon, Teruth was forced to slow down as Georgeville road merged with Main street. Towering structures began to surround them. The air currents here would make it impossible to glide to the ground, but Kyo saw him try it anyway. As Teruth made a sharp turn onto a city street, their determined pursuer couldn't reverse his momentum and crashed headfirst into a parking structure. Kyo made an expression of victory until turning to the front of the car to see hundreds of demons congregating infront of them!
"Damn! Looks like this piece of shit has to take a few more hits!" Teruth floored the gas again, charging through the wall of adversaries. Upon collision, they burst into flames and vanished, allowing Teruth to carve a path through them, and escape seemed inevitable. But to his dismay, Teruth realized he had turned into a dead end! Slamming on the brakes, he barely managed to stop in front of a concrete wall.
"Well... What now?" Kyo observed the demons in the distance.
"I guess... We stand and fight to our last breath!" Teruth forced open the door and reached back for his katana. Kyo started to reach for his dao. "That thing'll shatter against their skin, I'm confident," Teruth said, drawing his genuine hand-forged katana, his prized possession, which he'd never expected to actually use. Kyo decided against the aluminum training sword and went to face the Demons with his bare hands. But the advancing demons stopped as a shadow passed over them, and the great winged beast landed between the demons and the human army of two. It no longer carried its trademark axe, with its right arm being severed. That along with one of its horn being broken off and the many cuts and wounds covering its body suggested it was barely clinging to life as it was. Clumsily, the beast advanced and let out a breath of fire. Teruth ran to the right and Kyo to the left, both narrowly avoiding a fiery death. The dying behemoth then targeted Kyo and turned to face him as he ran around, leaving the beast's back to the car and Teruth, who instinctively climbed to the roof of the car and awaited an opening.
Kyo, faced with an opponent twice his size and no weapon, gave into a stange, primeval instince and charged at the demon! He focused his Ki, jumped and struck it right in a deep gash on its stomach, releasing all the energy he had. The creature took several steps backward and bent forward out of pain. Then Teruth saw his opening and jumped from the car onto the demon's back, raised his sword and swung it around to take the Demon's head off in one clean strike with the razor sharp blade which had never tasted flesh. The gargantuan beast fell and dissolved into flame before hitting the ground, flame that did not hurt Teruth as he fell through it. As this creature faded away, the humanoids did the same.
Teruth and Kyo embraced and laughed in rejoice.
"Take that you fuckin' minions of Hell!"
"You didn't count on meeting Kyo Hamaretsu and Teruth the Dark!" Teruth prepared to wipe his blade clean, but was shocked that there was no blood on it at all. He dismissed this as somethign Demon related and returned his prized weapon to its sheath.
"So," Kyo said, "what now?"
"I guess we'll go to your house and see if anyone knows what the Hell's going on." Teruth said, then, remembering the absence of life, "or if anyone's home." Teruth got in the car followed by Kyo. As he drove back to main street, several cars passed by them before they could turn, the first one they saw was white. He pulled back onto the road and resumed normal driving, surrounded by cars. Neither Teruth or Kyo was quite sure what to say.
They soon drove past the street where they first left their respective martial arts classes. At that point they simultaneously looked down at the clock, no time had passed since the accident, the car was the only evidence that anything out of the ordinary occurred that day.