Demon Rising

Chapter 12: Resolution

Author's Note: Here it is! Finally! It's been over 2 month in the making, but finally the next chapter is ready! This chapter, and most likely the next 2-for a total of 3 chapters- are all about the same demon. I decided to break it down into smaller chapters for a reason.Had I gone with one long chapter, it would have been over 60 pages from my word document, and ad in spaces between paragraphs and well...it's best not to think about it.This chapter, is titled Resolution. The first little bit,up until the hospital scene, can sort of be over looked if you want as it's more about Vaugn's resolve, in accordance to human life and destroying the Feral Forty which will play a big role in the future chapters, not the actual appearance of the demon itself. Although, if you like blood, gore, killing and action, this chapter(a small iddy biddy bit), plus the next ones will definetly be for you! So...Enjoy!

Chapter 12: Resolution



"Tragedy over Tokyo. That is the only way to describe the sudden and terrible destruction of a large jumbo jet over Tokyo International last night. The jumbo jet, which was carrying the 300 person International Committee to resolve the Central African War exploded suddenly and without reason while on it’s final approach run to touching down at Tokyo International. The explosion was scene around the world in over 50 countries by an estimated twenty million people. An international investigation crew is currently collecting reckage of the airplane to try and discover the cause of the explosion. The Japanese government,however, is looking into a threat made by an extremist group from Central Africa. The group, which supplies guns and munitions to the warring countries of Africa, was reported to have said in an African radio broadcast ‘we shall not let outsiders interfere, and will do whatever it takes to make sure they stay away from Africa’s war’. We now go live to Hiroki Muson at Tokyo International for more."

It was Friday morning, and the Miasotos and Vaugn could be found sitting around the dining room table, eating their breakfast and watching the morning news which, predictably, was reporting on the destruction of the jumbo jet high over Tokyo.

What the news wasn’t reporting, however, was the cause of the explosion. Vaugn, Jinkara and Vaugn’s friends were the only souls alive that knew the actual cause of the airliner destruction, and that’s how they planned to keep it.

Eris,who was a giant bird demon with golden feathers and claws like steel, had destroyed the airplane in which the news was reporting on. It was only hours ago that Vaugn and Jinkara had been locked in mortal combat with Eris, fighting for their survival.

Vaugn was still pleanty furious that he had to witness as 303 people had their lives extinquinshed in a heart beat at the steely talons of Eris. Yet despite these feelings of anger, he was unexplainably feeling a slight flicker of happiness as well, though not showing it. Yes, he was happy that after witnessing Eris kill 3 people in downtown Tokyo, then 300 more as they flew without a care towards Tokyo trying to save countless others in a distant land, he was able to exact some level of retribution on Eris for her cold blooded murders.

"If it’s not an accident, it’s terrorists.", Uni said, rolling her eyes and going back to her bowl rice.

"Well they have to explain it some how Uni.", Vaugn said, as he stiffly took a gulp of his morning tea.

Apart from destroying Eris the previous night, Vaugn was now as stiff as could be while still being able to move. Having your body almost crushed ,slammed through an air traffic control tower and caught in several explosions will do that to a person, and Vaugn was no different.

Since Vaugn had lived last nights news, he really had no desire to hear what others said about it. Instead, Vaugn was thinking of the news he had learned after the fight. And thinking about how it affected him.

Mainly, the evolution of the Feral Forty from mere animal demons to something more then mere animals.

So far, Vaugn had merely faught demons who were just that, animals. But what exactly would these demons evolve into? Lucifor had mentioned something about the Forty turning into something like gods(though Vaugn doubted quite strongly they'd be actual gods).And further being able to control humans, and control time. What this meant, Vaugn had no idea, but he did know that it would certainly make for difficult battles ahead.

As Vaugn contemplatd the situation ahead, the news began to show scenes from the warzone that was formerly the Tokyo International Airport.

Now that is was morning, Vaugn could clearly see just how much damage had been done to the airport. The windows of the once artisitc terminal roof were now missing, blown away by the large explosions from the crashing airplanes that Eris had thrown at Jinkara, a large pile of twisted reckage still gently smoking in one corner of the terminal were all the remained of said planes. The airport runways were now scarred and cratored, long gouge marks torn into the pavement as if the concrete was human flesh,crators pock marking the landscape and resembling something out of black and white war films. The air tower was now nothing more then a mere whole in the ground, the tower’s remains littering the ground behind the hole. Everywhere else the camera panned to, large pieces of stone and metal were scattered about, pieces of airplane sticking out of the ground like twisted metal lawn orniments, adding an erie sence of artisticness to the warzone.

Taking it all in, Vaugn couldn’t help but be tad impressed by the fact that he, Jinkara and Eris managed to do all that.

"Geez Jin. I can’t believe we did all that.", Vaugn thought to himself as Asuke checked the clock on the dining room wall and let Vaugn know that they should start getting ready for school.

Stiffly and with great difficultly, Vaugn heaved himself to his feet and swaying slightly on his feet, limped stiffly down the hall, wincing occasionally.

"Who’s this we? I did all that. You were merely along for the ride.", Jinkara replied casually as Vaugn limped down the hall with Asuke to the coat room to get ready for school, which promised to be quite the ordeal given the state Vaugn was in.

"Well atleast you admit it Jin. Now my mind is free and easy.", Vaugn thought back as he sat down on the steps with a groan and began to pull on his shoes and jacket the best he could, and heaving himself upwards again with great difficulty, limped out the door with Asuke to school.

It was a sunny, cool morning, with a gentle breeze playing through the trees and grass. The sky was a dazzling opilescent blue, completely clear of all clouds and as perfect as a diamond. The trees were now completely changed to their autumn colours. Everywhere Vaugn looked, his eyes were met with red, gold, orange and brown. The air was full of gently floating leaves, blown away from their trees with only the slightest of breezes.

"Man Vaugn. You and Jinkara really went overboard last night.", Asuke said with a slightly exasperated tone as she and Vaugn walked down the street to school, Vaugn limping terribly with each step.

"I didn’t do anything Asuke. Jin was the one who did it all. He even admitted it.", Vaugn said innocently as he limped across the cross-walk while Asuke rolled her eyes, following Vaugn across the street.

The two friends walked and limped to school, talking about nothing in particular, enjoying the cool morning and the clean air, Vaugn taking the time to relax as much as he could before gettingt to school.

It wasn’t until Shentin, Nikkai, Kihari and Imari showed up that the focus of the conversation was steered away from supper for the night at the Miasoto household to the incedents of last night, which of course, Vaugn had no real intention of thinking about.

Limping down the street with Asuke, Vaugn was enjoying the cool morning, taking deep refreshing breaths of the cool, crisp air. Vaugn and Asuke were meandering down the road, in no real hurry, until suddenly and without warning, a very sharp bolt of pain shot through Vaugn’s already sore and beaten body.

The pain exploded in the center of Vaugn’s back, shooting down his spine and through his entire body at the speed of light, shocking his brain into something like a paralyzed state. Every part of him felt the explosion of pain, even the tips of his hair stung. The pain was so intense that the instant it hit, every muscle in Vaugn’s body seized and locked up.

When Vaugn’s brain had gotten over the tremendous jolt of such sudden pain, Vaugn returned to his sences and the world around him. Asuke, who didn’t appear to notice Vaugn right away, was now atleast five steps ahead of him, still talking about nothing in particular.

Looking beside her, doing the slightest of double takes, Asuke noticed for the first time Vaugn was no longer with her. Stopping dead in her tracks, Asuke turned with a somewhat confused expression on her face to see what the matter was.

"Vaugn, what’s the…", Asuke asked as she turned on spot and looked behind her and seeing what was wrong, her hair blowing in the breeze slightly.

Standing stalk still, swaying dangerously was Vaugn, his mouth wide open in a very silent scream, looking up slightly into the blue sky, his eyes wide with pain. Hanging off of Vaugn’s shoulder was Nikkai, his arm around Vaugn’s shoulder, smiling broadly as the rest of the group walked up behind them, also smiling broadly.

"Hey Vaugn, how’s it going?", Shentin said walking up behind Vaugn and slapping his friend on the back.

Vaugn continued to stare into the sky slightly, his mouth slowly moving, forming obvious curse words, before his head slowly lowered and he stiffly looked around and saw Nikkai hanging off of him. Looking to his other side, he saw Shentin and Imari smiling broadly at him.

"I was doing good.", Vaugn replied breathlessly, his whole body throbbing painfully, "Then you two got here.", he finished, taking several deep breaths and with obvious difficulty, starting to limp forward again.

"Well that’s a damn shame now isn’t it?", Nikkai said as he slapped Vaugn on the back again, and Vaugn, though clearly showing pain all over his face,stumbled only slightly yet continued to walk, un-detered, to school.

"So I take it you’re a little sore from last nights scuffle?", Nikkai asked conversationally as the others looked at Vaugn and smiled, continuing their slow walk to school.

"Only a little.", Vaugn said stiffly as he and the others stopped at the crosswalk and waited for the traffic to clear.

"So we all saw your handy work at the airport Vaugn. Very nice. Who would have thought our little Vaugn had something like that in him!", Shentin said, smiling broadly as he rumpled Vaugn’s hair, making it very messy as the others chuckled merrily.

"And who would have thought you could be so annoying this early in the morning?", Vaugn snapped as he and the others crossed the street and continued to walk to school, joining a gentle trickle of their fellow students walking down the sidewalk.

"Lighten up Vaugn. You’re up and walking around, you killed another demon, and to top it all off, tommorows the weekend! How can’t you be anything but happy?", Imari asked in a voice of mock wondering as the friends walked down the final stretch to school, the trickle now a river of students.

"Easier said then done Imari.", Vaugn said in an offhand voice as he and the others walked through the front gate and towards the front doors of their school.

Together, the friends walked through the front doors and down the hall do the locker room to get ready for class, talking about what they should do for the weekend. Vaugn, however, was deep in thought about what was coming next.

Yes, as Imari had quite plainly said, he had killed another demon, but he wasn’t as happy as he should be. Yes, Vaugn was in high spirits after the battle, but now, after a long nights sleep and a very sore walk to school, Vaugn's mood had faded away completely.

Walking down the hallway to their home room, Vaugn’s friends were talking about plans for the weekend. And though Vaugn would answer the occasional question about what he thought the group should do, it was only in half hearted spirit. Vaugn was deep in thought with himself, thinking about the revelations that had been brought to light last night.

With the news that Lucifor had given Vaugn, it was looking as if the future battles Vaugn was destined to fight were bound to end only after many human lives had been lost. With Eris and Dogma, their actions had been out in the open. But would the next demons be as blunt as the first two demons to escape Hell? Or would it be as stealthy as a fly in the night? But more importantly, what kind of demon would it be? Vaugn had no idea. But most importantly, to Vaugn anyway, how many innocent people were bound to die this time before the demon was stopped?

The whole time that Vaugn had been at school, Jinkara had been silent, even though Vaugn was still deep in thought. And Vaugn was some what grateful for it. He didn’t really feel like holding a conversation with a demon who felt human life was as insignificant as an ant crawling along the sidewalk.

Finally, during fourth period, in which was designated a study time period as the class had a test on Tuesday, Jinkara’s cold voice filled Vaugn’s mind for the first time that day.

For the whole period, Vaugn had been looking out the window, his eye’s out of focus, overlooking the heavily damaged neighbourhood. It had been only yesterday that Eris had attacked the jetliner high above Tokyo and let the debris rain down over Tokyo, felling trees, lightposts, and blowing out windows and doors of houses as the pieces of airplane skin crashed down from the sky. This, and the now heavily damaged airport, were the only signs that Eris ever truly exsisted.

"Tell me Vaugn.", Jinkara purred inside of Vaugn’s mind, "What are you worrying about now?", he asked, as Vaugn continued to stare out the window, showing no sign that Jinkara had even spoke.

"I’m not worrying about anything Jin. I’m thinking.", Vaugn replied back in his mind, his eyes now resting on a large whole in the roof of one of the damaged houses close to the school.

"Oh. It all seems like worryment in here.", Jinkara replied in an offhand voice, "Then tell me, what are you ‘thinking’ about?", he finished with a slight note of amusement.

"About what Lucifor said.", Vaugn replied inside his mind slowly, "About the demon’s evolving."

"What about it?", Jinkara asked, his voice suddenly cold, "Doesn’t matter what they evolve into, they’ll bleed and die all the same.", he finished as Vaugn shifted in his seat, leaning back on the two hind legs of his chair and stiffly crossing his arms.

"Are you sure about that Jin?", Vaugn asked, finally looking down at his notes in his binder, but not truly seeing them.

There was silence between the two souls, the only sounds to be heard were the occasional rustle of a piece of paper or someone asking their neighbour to explain an equation.

"What do you mean?", Jinkara finally asked slowly.

"Do you truly believe an evolved demon will be anything like what we faught before?", Vaugn asked Jinkara inside his mind while he absent-mindly flipped through his notes, "You remember the Feral Forty as animal demons,nothing more, nothing less. But you heard what Lucifor said. They have become more then mere animals Jin. They can bend time, and control humans. Can you truly say that you are prepared for what your former followers have become?", Vaugn finished slowly as the bell rang to signal the change of class.

As Vaugn listened to the rustling of papers as people packed away their notes and binders, he could sence Jinkara contemplating what Vaugn had asked him.

"To be honest Vaugn…no, I’m not ready.", Jinkara replied slowly as Mr. Kucaiko walked into the classroom, pulling behind him a TV and dvd player for the movie he was going to show the class for History, "I’ve only ever known the Feral Forty as mere animal demons. What Lucifor said made me reconsider this whole problem of ours. Before, I thought it would be as simple as us killing the Feral Forty as if we were going for a walk. But now I know that we’re facing a completely different kind of enemy. And that’s why I’m not worrying about what the next fight will bring.", Jinkara finished as Mr. Kucaiko dimmed the lights.

"What do you mean Jin?", Vaugn asked, clearly confused by what Jinkara had said.

"It’s the fact that you could die that’s bringing the best out of you. You have a desire to survive just as much as me. So the harder the fight ahead of you, the stronger your will to survive will be.", Jinkara began as the movie started, "I’m not scared because I know no matter how much stronger the Feral Forty are, I’ll always be that little bit stronger then they are. I have no desire to die at the hands of my former followers. Can you say the same for yourself Vaugn?"Jinkara asked Vaugn as Vaugn gazed absentmindly at the TV and the video playing on it.

Vaugn thought deeply for a moment, contemplating Jinkara’s question.

No. He didn’t have any plans of dying at the hands of the Feral Forty. And he also didn’t plan on watching as more innocent people -innocent bystanders unaware of the battle which has began- were slaughtered for the amusement of the Feral Forty.

"Yes. I can say the same Jin. I have no desire to die at the hands of the Feral Forty. But more importantly, I have no desire to watch as innocent bystanders are killed at the hands of the Feral Forty.", Vaugn replied, staring at the movie on the screen, yet not seeing what it was showing.

"Then what’s to worry about Vaugn? You’re mind is set. You have a desire to protect the innocent. That’s all you should be thinking about.", Jinkara replied fairly, "And me…well I just have the desire to kill my former followers and take their rings for myself...even though they won't work.", Jinkara added with a slight growl, almost as if it was an after thought.

"You still don’t understand Jin.", Vaugn replied exasperately as Nikkai started to drift off to sleep beside him, his head falling slightly only to jerk back up.

"I can see your problem is deeper then I thought. Care to explain.?", Jinkara replied, also in an exasperated tone.

"I don’t want to stand by and watch innocent people die. But the problem is that we’ll only know when another demon has escaped, is when people do start dying. So no matter what my resolve may be, I won’t beable to follow through on it. People will continue to die and it will only stop when I slaughter the demon that has escaped.", Vaugn replied seriously as he he continued to stare at the TV, as Nikkai’s head fell onto his binder with a dull thud, and he began to quietly snore.

There was silence between Vaugn and Jinkara. Each one was thinking of what the other said, and Vaugn felt Jinkara contemplating what Vaugn had just told him. After a minute, Jinkara spoke, in a voice of quiet wisedom.

"I understand what you mean Vaugn. But you have to remember that nothing can be gained without first losing something.", Jinkara began slowly, "You have to remember Vaugn that this is a war. You and me against 40 demons. And like every war, innocent lives will be lost. But you also must remember that with the loss of each life, we get closer to tracking down the demon, and with that, we get closer to destroying the demon and protecting countless more lives. Though human life still doesn’t mean that much to me, I know it means a lot to you. So, think of it like this Vaugn…", Jinkara finished, trailing off and contemplating his words carefully.

"Like what Jin?", Vaugn asked, slightly annoyed that Jinkara had just trailed off.

"If sacrifising 50 lives means saving the lives of 50 million, then would those 50 lives truly be given in vein?", Jinkara asked Vaugn in a voice of cool wisdom.

Vaugn sat there, thinking of what Jinkara had asked him, a little bit unnerved by Jinkara’s coolness.

50 lives is like a drop in the bucket compared to 50 million. Yet those 50 are still lives, Vaugn thought. Those 50 still have friends who they laugh with, and family who they love dearly. Yet, somehow, Vaugn could understand and relate to what Jinkara meant.

In history class back home, Vaugn had learned over 100,000 men gave their lives in World War Two so that back in Canada, 30 million could remain free. They had families, friends and loved ones who they left behind, yet they sacrifised their lives anyway. It was war, and those men gave their lives so they could not only protect the lives of their friends and family, but the lives of countless more back in Canada.

In this underground war of good versus evil, it was Vaugn versus the Feral Forty. Someone who wanted to protect his friends and family, aswell as the faceless, nameless strangers that he merely passed on the street everyday. Protecting them from nothing less then pure evil. Something that wanted to obliterate everything Vaugn wanted to protect and held true.

If 10, or 20, or even 50 people died, then it wouldn’t be in vein. Vaugn would see to that. Vaugn would see to it that their sacrifise would not be in vein. Vaugn would see to it that the demons were slaughtered and that all of mankind would be safe.

Finally, Vaugn could understand what Jinkara meant.

"I get it…", Vaugn breathed to himself, though no one heard him over the quiet snoring of Nikkai, Kihari starting to nudge him ever so slightly.

"Do you understand now Vaugn that for there to be life, there must be sacrifise?", Jinkara asked in a wise tone.

"I do now…I do now.", Vaugn replied back, slowly nodding his head

For some reason, Vaugn was feeling much more cheerful all of a sudden. Suddenly, the thought of people dying, though still very unpleasent to Vaugn, gave him hope. It meant that Jinkara and Vaugn would beable to track down the Feral Forty and destroy them. It meant that with each life lost, the Feral Forty drew closer and closer to their utter and complete destruction..

"But now Vaugn, I must ask you another question.", Jinkara asked slowly, as if trying to determine the guilt or innocense of Vaugn in a murder case.

"Ask away.", Vaugn replied seriosuly, beginning to finally watch the History movie being shown to the class.

"Simply put…can you let these people die so we can destroy the Feral Forty? Or will you continue to try and protect every human you can?", Jinkara asked seriously, yet his voice calm.

"If it means protecting my friends, my family, and countless others…I can sacrifise a life or two if it means the world will be a safer place afterwards.", Vaugn replied, smiling ever so slightly.

"Excellent Vaugn. I knew you’d say that. You’ll protect the humans of this world, and I’ll destroy the Feral Forty for turning their backs on me.", Jinkara growled, a prominent note of pleasure in his voice as the bell rang sounding the end of school and the beginning of the weekend as Nikkai sat bolt upright in his chair, looking very bleary eyed.

As the friends walked home in the cool afternoon air, the contrast to the morning was easily noticable. Mostly because Vaugn, who had been in a rather sullen mood was now talking normally with his friends as he limped home beside them.

He was laughing, joking, and talking about what would be on TV that night aswell as what they should do tommorow during Saturday, suggesting going to a movie would be fun.

The friends weren’t sure what had braught on the sudden change of heart for Vaugn. All day he had been in a rather quiet mood, not talking much and prefering just to keep to himself and think. But now, Vaugn was talking happily with his friends, laughing and acting completely normal. When ever the friends asked Vaugn what brought around the sudden change of heart, he'd always respond with a smile, "It’s the weekend, that’s what.".

Vaugn had to admit that the outlook that Jinkara had on the situation did have the affect of changing Vaugn’s view on the situation.

Before, Vaugn thought that innocent people were dying needlessly and were merely caught in the crossfire. But after looking at it from Jinkara’s point of view, he realised that with each death, he would come closer and closer to destroying the Feral Forty. Again, Vaugn didn’t like the idea of innocent people dying, but if it meant Vaugn and Jinkara destroyed the Feral Forty once and for all, then Vaugn would be willing to make that sacrifise.

That night, Mr. Miasoto, Coonai and Uni had decided to go out to the movies, so Vaugn and the others were left at home alone, so they and decided to order in and do some good old fashioned channel surfing.

The friends had a great time watching everything from horror and sci-fi TV shows, to funny cartoons and comedy shows while eating the food they had ordered. The friends laughed, screamed, gasped and clapped as they watched TV, having a very enjoyable Friday evening by themselves.

The friends assumed that Vaugn’s sour mood earlier in the day was due to how sore and beaten he was. They assumed that the change in his mood truly was because it was the weekend, and to them, after seeing him laughing as usual with the others, they felt they had no reason to question it as Vaugn was back to normal.

At midnight, after the friends had eaten and laughed themselves senceless, they decided that the thing they need most was rest. As it was midnight and about 9 degrees below zero outside, Asuke and Vaugn thought it would be cruel to make their friends walk home in the cold, and decided they would stay the night. After 20 minutes of getting blankettes and pillows and making up the beds in the dining room, everyone was getting ready for bed while Asuke and Vaugn were heading upstairs to their rooms.

After saying their good nights, Vaugn and Asuke headed into their rooms and got ready for a good night sleep.

Vaugn closed the door quietly and looked around the room, a gentle strip of moonlight running across the floor, before he crossed the floor and stared at the window, staring into the center of Tokyo while the trees swayed gently in the evening breeze.

"Jin…can you answer me something?", Vaugn asked quietly, speaking outloud to the room around.

"I can try…there, does that count?", Jinkara replied, his voice eminating from the desk.

"Partially.", Vaugn said with a smile, "But with what you said today, about making sacrifises for the sake of peace, is that the reason why you were so calm about the next demon that’s coming, even though it has turned into something completely different?", Vaugn finished as a shooting star slashed through the starry night sky.

Jinkara was silent for a moment as he comtemplated what Vaugn had asked, finally replying into the silent room.

"You’re a sharp one Vaugn.", Jinkara replied with a note of amusement, "I knew that with each passing death of the humans, you would get closer and closer to destroying the demon that arrived. However, you just needed a push in the right direction to see what it all meant.", Jinkara finished as Vaugn nodded slowly in understanding.

There Vaugn stood, staring out the window, a small smiling playing on his mouth.

"But you know Jin…you could have just told me why you were so happy, instead of going all Philosphical on me.", Vaugn said as he stretched his arms, yawned and started to peel stiffly out of clothes.

"I could have. But where would have the fun been in that?", Jinkara replied as Vaugn pulled back the blankettes, climbed into bed and covered himself up.

"True Jin…very true. Where would have the fun been?", Vaugn yawned.

Though it did seem strange to admit, he and Jinkara did seem to be getting along a lot better now. It almost seemed that after today, they had broke another hurdle and became something of friends. Though how close a demon and a human really could be, Vaugn had no clue.

And with that final thought, Vaugn rolled over onto his side, and fell asleep in moments.



***



The clock on the wall of the hospital break room read 1:30am.

The break room was a gently lit, somewhat relaxing, sqaure room. Slightly off to one side of the room were a couple of large tables with about ten chairs around eachone. A counter, sink, microwave and fridge covered the wall that the door was on, a window in the door looking out into the baren hall of Tokyo’s largest hospital. Taking up the rest of the room were large, squashy chairs and sofas which formed a half circle with a long coffee table with different magazines in the center of the half circle for the doctors to read, all of which was facing a large, wall sized window. The large window over looked the glowing city of Tokyo and the glowing sky above it.

The room was empty except for one man relaxing in a large leather chair, his eyes closed, his head tilted backwards, facing the ceiling.

He was wearing a white lab coat, beige khaki pants, and a light blue shirt. He had a gold and black name tag that read ‘Dr. Kuahara’. His face was on the slighly plumb side, yet he had high cheek bones, light brown hair and eyebrows.

Dr. Kuahara had his feet up on the coffee table and was sunk low in his seat. He had dark shadows under his eyes and was breathing very slowly. Clearly, he was incredibly tired, and this was the first bit of rest he had gotten in a long while.

Dr. Kuahara was sleeping soundly, his gentle snores filling the room.

Just as the docotor was shifting slightly in his seat, getting more comfortable in the squashy arm chair, a shrill beeping sound filled the air.

Dr. Kuahara grunted slightly in his sleep and with some trouble, his eyes opened, and he stared blearly at the ceiling.

The shrill beeping continued as Dr. Kuahara stared at the ceiling for a moment. Slowly, he lazyily reached a tired hand up to his face and rubbed his eyes and, blinking a few times, dropped his head down to a normal postion and looked around the deserted room.

Groaning slightly, Dr. Kuahara reached his left hand down between his body and the side of the seat and fiddled around for a moment or two before with drawing his hand. Clamped firmly in his hand, a small black box with a scrolling screen was beeping shrilly at him.

Looking at the screen, Dr. Kuahara read the messege.

"Emergency. Class 2. Patient having great difficulty breathing. Ambulance on route. Please Respond.".

Groaning once more, Dr. Kuahara pressed a small red button on the top of the pager, and the beeping died away instantly.

With a tad of difficulty, Dr. Kuahara heaved himself out of his seat, stretched his back and arms and with a lazy look around the room, slowly headed towards the door of the break room.

"Why can’t these people get sick when I’m off duty? Or when I’m not asleep?", Dr. Kuahara grumbled as he opened the door, turned to his left and hurried down the hall way.

The hall was a long, almost seemingly white tunnel. Set into the snow-white wall were many brown wood doors that had 4 brass signs on them which gave the names of the patients using the rooms. A trim of dark brown wood ran along the white wall of the hospital at waiste height, adding some colour to the blank wall. Every now and then, Dr. Kuahara would pass different machines that the hospital used which were sitting out in the hall against the wall, or a night nurse making their rounds.

Reaching the far end of the hall, Dr. Kuahara reached 3 sets of large, stainless steel doors for the elevators. Mashing the ‘down’ button to call an elevator, Dr. Kuahara waited, tapping his toe impatiently, his arms crossed in an annoyed way.

After waiting about a minute, the doors of one of the elevators silently slid open, and Dr. Kuahara walked in to join another doctor taking the elevator down aswell. Turning to the button panel, Dr. Kuahara mashed the ‘door close buton’ and the doors slid silently closed. Dr. Kuahara retreated to the back wall, leaned his back against it and took several deep, relaxing breaths.

The doctor in the elevator had black hair that was streaked with silver, aswell as a round jawline, somewhat large nose and amber coloured eyes.

"So Himoto. You got the ‘class two on route’ also huh?", the other doctor in the elevator asked, looking at Dr. Kuahara and smiling.

"Sure did Siato.", grumbled Dr. Kuahara, "Probably just another asthma attack and the patient is out of puffer medication.", Dr. Kuahara added with a slightly annoyed sigh.

"Well I guess we’ll see when we meet him.", the man named Siato replied with another smile.

With a gentle sinking sensation, the elevator stopped on the bottom floor. With a soft hissing sound, the doors slid open and together Dr. Kuahara and Dr. Siato exited to the left of the elevator and hurried down the hall to the front door.

The first floor hallway was a bit more extroverted then the upper floors where the patients stayed. There were small stores, selling magazines, newspapers, comic books, and small bags of candies for patients and visitors to buy. There were real trees along the wall every now and then that added an airiness to the hallway, along with colourful pictures decorating the walls.

Closer to the elevators were rooms with solid, white metal doors and red bar lights above them. The occasional bar light was illuminated, the words ‘E.R in use’ glowing brightly.

About halfway down the hall, the two doctors could see the undisturbed darkness of the night outside, which meant the ambulance hadn’t arrived yet.

As they were passing a large desk with many filing cabinets behind it, and several computers on the top of the desk, a nurse with a ponytail of light brown hair hurried out from behind it, file in hand and started to walk with the two doctors down the hall.

"Hello Dr. Kuahara, Dr. Yushata.", the nurse greeted the two doctors with a smile, "The ambulance is a minute away. The patients name is Rysuki Kenoro. He has no reported past history of breathing problems.", the nurse finished checking a paper file she was carrying with her.

"No past history…then we’ll treat it as a respritorial infection. I want E.R. 3 ready for the patient as soon as he arrives.", Dr. Yushata said briskly as he and the others hurried down the hall.

"Yes doctor. Right away.", the nurse replied as she pulled a radio out of her coat pocket and started to relay the command of the doctor.

The nurse and doctors reached the end of the hallyway, and pushing open the double doors, walked out into the cool night air as the sound of sirens getting closer grew louder and louder.

The hospital, which was located in the buisness district of Tokyo, was surrounded on all sides by large, darkened office buildings thirty stories high. In front of them was a large stretch of black asphalt forming a large half circle, both ends exiting onto the empty street in front of the hospital.

Moments later, flashing lights started to flash on the walls of the buildings around the hospital, and after a few more moments, the ambulance turned up the driveway and rumbled towards them, the lights flashing, the sirens wailing worse then ever now that they were echoing off the walls of the hospital.

Skidding to a hault beside the sidewalk and waitings doctors, the back doors of the red and white ambulance flew open as a paramedic came hurrying out backwards, pulling with him a large stretcher on wheels, his partner at the front of the stretcher pushing it out the back of the ambulance.

The man laying on the stretcher looked like an athlete gone slightly to seed. He had vestiges of a well toned body, yet the muscle was slightly hiden by a layer of fat. His eyes were out of focus and his head was rolling back and forth slightly. His hair was cut into a brush cut style, and he had a small beard growing in. His skin was slightly paler then what had been expected, and he was having an exceptionally hard time breathing, as if trying to breathe through a straw after running a mile. It seemed to Dr. Kuahara that he was trying to talk, as his mouth was moving ever so slightly.

"This is the class 2 I take it?", Dr. Kuahara asked the paramedic pushing the stretcher hastily, as he and the others hurried through the door into the hospital and jogging down the hall.

"Yes doctor. We’ve been keeping track of his vitals and they’re all with in healthy limits, yet we can’t explain the difficulty breathing.", the paramedic responded as they passed the nurses desk.

"Okay. Thank you men.", Dr. Kuahara said to the paramedic,"Nurse! Myself and Dr. Yushata will need more help. Please call a few more nurses A.S.A.P!", Dr. Kuahara shot at the nurse hurrying alongside them as they entered emergency room 3.

"Right away doctor!", the nurse replied hurridly as she got back on the radio and called for more help.

The emergency room was as one would expect. It was a brightly lit room with many drawers and cabinets filled with different tools for the doctors to use. There were respirators,defribulators, and heart rate monitors for patients who came in in very bad shape. There were I.V.’s to administor medication, and in one corner, a large steel cabinet with the words ‘Medication Locker’ written on the front. In the very center of the room was a large table bolted to the ground.

"All right everyone, on three!", Dr Yushata began as the stretcher was pulled up along side the emergency room table and each member of the group grabbed a handle of the stretcher, "Okay. One. Two. Three!", Dr. Yushata grunted as the group heaved the stretcher off it’s rolling base and transfering the patient to the E.R table.

"Nurse. Get me the Blood-Oxygen Saturation meter!", Dr.Kuahara ordered a nurse with jet-black hair who had just hurried into the room with one of her fellow nurses after recieving the call.

"Yes doctor!", the nurse replied and hurrying over to the corner, pulled behind her a machine that looked like a computer monitor,and sticking out the side of the monitor was a long thin rubber tupe with a long, slender needle on the end. Rasing the mans right arm, the nurse slowly slid the needle into the mans vein, the machine buzzing to life instantly.

"Saito, help me remove his shirt!", Dr. Kuahara told his fellow doctor who was hooking a heart rate monitor to the patients arm.

"You got it Himoto!", Dr. Yushata nodded and quickly retrieving a pair of scissors from one of the drawers, started to cut open the mans shirt and tear it away.

"Nurse, I want two lung-inflation probes in each of the mans lungs. We need to see if something is wrong!", Dr. Kuahara hurridly told a nurse with very light brown hair.

"Yes sir!", the nurse replied quickly turning and retrieving yet another machine from the wall that looked exactly like the Blood-Oxygen Saturation meter, except this maching had 4 small discs, each about double the size of a dollar coin with a very thin wire in the center that weren’t connected at all to the main machine.

The nurse placed each of the discs on the mans skin, two in the front, and rolling the man over slightly, two in the back and slowly slid the wire into the mans skin.

Instantly, the machine hummed to life, two blue bar graphs flashing onto the screen, under which were computer animated pictures of human lungs, showing the man breathing.

The nurse stared at the screen for a moment, her eyes darting back and forth, mouthing words to herself.

"Dr. Kuahara, his lungs are working at 82% their maximum! They’re working fine!", the nurse told Dr. Kuahara, her face showing signs of slight confusion.

"Good. What about the B.O.S.L. nurse?", Dr. Kuahara replied as he started to check the mans pupils with a small flashlight.

"B.O.S.L. is at 80% doctor! Everything is fine here!", the nurse with black hair replied, continuing to monitor her screen, though unable to hide her slight confusion

"What about his heart rate and blood pressure Saito?", Dr. Kuahara asked his friend, looking up at Dr.Yushata as he checked the screen.

"We’re at 120 over 61 Himoto. Everything’s fine…", Dr.Yushata replied a little confusedly.

Together, the doctors looked at eachother, then down at their patient who was continuing to gasp for breath, mouthing wordlessly.

"If everything is within their norm…then what’s wrong with him?", Dr. Yushata asked Dr. Kuahara, confusion written all over his face.

"I dont know… Nurse.", Dr. Kuahara shot at the nurse with black hair, "Draw a sample of blood and take it to…", Dr. Kuahara began, but stopped when he felt a sharp pull on his jacket.

Looking down, he saw the patient was pulling on his lab coat like a child does when they want their parents attention. Right as Dr. Kuahara was going to ask the patient what he needed, the man finally spoke.

"Help me…", the man gasped, clearly using any and all energy to speak.

"We’re trying sir. Just hang in there!", Dr. Kuahara replied, taking the mans hand and squeezing it in a reassuring way.

What Dr. Kuahara felt however made his skin blanch. When he squeezed the mans hand, the mans hand wasn’t solid as it should have been. It didn’t feel like it was full of bone and muscle, but instead it felt as if the hand was filled with soft bread dough that was easily squished. Even more disturbing to Dr. Kuahara was the fact that it felt like something was under neath the man’s skin, crawling and squirming around.

"Is something wrong Himoto?", asked Dr. Yushata, looking from the heat rate screen to Dr. Kuahara and being startled by the look on his face.

Dr. Kuahara didn’t know how to explain it. He looked and Dr.Yushata, mouthing wordlessly.

"What is it Himoto?", implored Dr.Yushata, a little more urgently now.

"His…his hand…it’s…", Dr.Kuahara began before the patient once again grabbed his coat and spoke again.

This time however, what the man said made everyone in the room stop what they were doing cold.

"Please help me…I can feel them…crawling and eating my insides!", the man gasped, his speech very weak and strained.

As the doctors and nurses watched the man, he slowly started to foam from his mouth, his eyes widening suddenly as a loud gargling came from deep inside his throat.

The staff in the room stared at eachother before looking down at the man, who’s mouth was suddenly foaming very thickly now, over flowing like a washing machine when to much soap was added.

"Doctor…what do we do?", one of the nurses asked Dr.Kuahara, confused and slightly scared at what was happening.

"I don’t know…Sir, you said you could feel ‘them’ crawling around inside you. What does that mean?", Dr. Kuahara asked, trying to do something even though his mind was completely blank.

"Them…like…worms inside of me. Eating my insides.", the patient replied, specs of foam flying from his mouth as his eyes grew wider and wider with what looked like complete terror.

"Okay. That’s a start.", Dr.Kuahara said to himself, "Any ideas as to what’s causing it Saito?", Dr.Kuahara asked Dr.Yushata, who’s eyes were darting back and forth, clearly meaning he was thinking as quickly as possible.

"No, none…", Dr. Yushata replied, shaking his head, unable to think of what was causing this illness.

Suddenly, the air was filled with a terrible shrieking sound.

Looking around, Dr. Yushata and Dr. Kuahara saw the nurse with light brown hair was pointing at the mans naked torso, her eyes wide with utter terror.

Looking down at the mans body, what the two doctors saw almost made them faint.

Underneath the skin of the man, it looked as if he was filled with liquid and what could only be described as bubbles rising to the surface only to pop underneath the mans skin and disappear. If this hadn’t been strange enough, it looked like small creatures, each about an inch long were crawling, tumbling, squirming and rolling around beneath his skin, looking sort of like waves in the ocean. It gave the man’s body the look of being made of wax, and the bubbles and waves were molten wax passing underneath his skin.

"Doctor..what’s happening?", the nurse who had escorted the doctors down to the entrance asked Dr.Kuahara, as she and the other nurses hurridly retreated behind Dr. Yushata and Kuahara, all their faces paralyzed with fear as if etched out of stone.

As the doctors watched, as if to emphasise the terrifying situation, the man started to scream, a horrible, blood curdling scream. The scream someone would expect if they were being tortured.

The man’s body exploded upwards as he screamed, his back arching terribly. The arch was so intense that it looked as if the man’s back bent anymore, his spine would snap like a twig. The doctors continued to watch on in horror as the man continued to scream in pain, foam flying from his mouth, his eyes almost popping from his head.

As the medical team watched on in horror, a small split tore in the mans skin. Starting in the center of his forehead, it slowly started to cut downwards from his forehead, the split growing longer and longer. The split slowly cut down to his nose, which split apart like a piece of wood cut with an axe, blood flying from it and spraying the roof of the room. The split continued to slowly cut down to his mouth and down his chin, reaching his throat. When his throat split apart, foam started to pour from his neck and the screaming stopped, replaced by a horrible, nightmarish gurgling sound.

The split continued down to the man’s body, but stopped as suddenly as it started at the man’s collar.

With out warning, as if two giant hands had grasped the mands head and shoulder and legs and slammed them together, the man’s back arched completely. The nurses covered their ears and closed their eyes as tightly as they could as the horrible sound of the mans spine being snapped in half tore through the air, echoing slightly off the wall.

The mans body fell limply onto the table, not moving, but still continuing to gargle horribly.

Suddenly,as if a giant knife had been taken to the mans body, the cut which had stopped at the mans collar, split quickly all the way down to his belt line, blood flying from the slash and splashing onto the ground, as the mans chest flew apart as if spring loaded.

The room was suddenly filled with the horrible stench of a rotting corpse, which had exploded from the cut open body on the table. The doctors and nurses covered their noses as they coughed and gagged from the smell, almost passing out from the intensity.

Their eyes waterng from the stench, they all looked at the body of the now motionless man.

One of the nurse who looked at the body swayed slightly on spot, before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell backwards. She had fainted at the scene before them, and no one could blame them.

As if to add to the already terrifying scenario unfolding,several lights began to grow brighter and brighter before they exploded above the E.R.,raining broken class down on the doctors and nurses, while the few remaining lights began to flicker on and off, bathing the ER in a terrifying glow.

Slowly, in the sporadic flashes of light,something began to rise to it's feet from the man’s split open body cavity,something un-human. Covered head to toe in blood, which glowed red in the flashing light, the creature slowly stood up. In what could only be described as it’s face -though it didn’t appear to have any distiguinshing features- glowing red eyes cut through the darkness. The body of the creature, what ever it was, appeard to be squirming and crawling, as if it was made of something other then flesh. The creature, which was standing in the mans split open torso, flexxed what appeared to be it’s fingers, before what must have been it’s mouth, spread into a wide, vicous smile.

What the nurses and doctors were watching was beyond words. This was worse then anything anyone could have imagined. This was something out of someone’s worse, most perverse, most terryifying and disturbing nightmare imaginable, yet this was clearly real.

"Himoto…what the hell is that!", Dr.Yushata gasped, staring at the scene before him, his eyes wide and terror filled as he slowly began to back away, as the thing in the mans body slowly took a step out of the hollow body cavity of the now dead patient, falling to the floor with an odd squelching sound.

"I don’t know Saito…I don’t know!", Dr.Kuahara gasped, every word he spoke shaking with pure terror, his body doing the exact same as his voice, trying to move his body but unable to.

The nurses were the first to recover, and with a burst of speed, dashed to the E.R. door, flung it open and ran screaming down the hallway, leaving the two doctors to face down he creature now slowly advancing on them, both unable to move.

The clock on the wall of Emergency Room 3 read 2:07. Little over half an hour ago Dr. Kuahara had been gently sleeping, dreaming of a white sandy beach that he was sharing with his wife.

Now however, it seemed that Dr.Kuahara had walked out of a relaxing dream, into nothing less then an ultimate nightmare. The only difference was this nightmare could not be woken up from.



***



The sun had risen over the city of Tokyo and was now shining brightly in the center of the sky and shining brightly in Vaugn’s room, it’s warm light shining into every corner.

The radio clock on Vaugn’s desk read 11:45. Vaugn was sleeping soundly on his stomach in his bed, an arm hanging limpy off the side of the bed, a small pool of drool forming around Vaugn’s mouth and soaking his pillow slightly.

Vaugn was completely at his peace. He was warm, he was comfortable, and most importantly, he was pain free, mostly.His body was still somewhat sore, but his muscles weren't stiff, and weren't spasming when moved to much..

To Vaugn, nothing could ruin this.

However, Vaugn had forgotten his friends were in the house aswell.

"Is Vaugn still asleep? Geez it’s Saturday. He should be up by now.", Nikkai said with a slight yawn as he sipped his tea.

Vaugn’s friends and the Miasotos, minus Coonai who was in the kitchen, were all sitting around the dining room table, sipping their lunch tea, waiting for lunch to be served. The rest of the family hadn’t gotten back until around 2am, so the family was a little slower to rise for the day then usual. Coonai had cleaned the entire dining room of blankettes and pillows in about 5 minutes, and was now busy cooking lunch while the rest of the household, minus Vaugn, enjoyed the newly restored dining room.

"You should talk! You were asleep no more then 20 minutes ago!", Asuke replied with a smile as the others chuckled.

"Well so were you Asuke! So who are you to lecture me?", Nikkai replied in a mockingly scandilised voice.

The others chuckled and sipped their tea as they watched Saturday morning TV.

"You know, you probably should go and wake Vaugn up or he’ll miss lunch.", Coonai called happily from the kitchen, the sound of pots clinking and the smell of cooking meat filling the dining room.

"She’s right you know.", Shentin said lightly, "I’m sure Vaugn won’t mind being woken up for food. Lord knows I wouldn’t if it was Coonai’s cooking.", Shentin finished as he and the others slowly stood up, left the dining room and started down the hall.

"Yeah. Vaugn is like a moth to flame when it comes to Coonai’s cooking.", Asuke replied, smiling and nodding as she and the others climbed the stairs.

"So what do you think we should do today?", Nikkai asked as they walked down the sunlit hall and stopped infront of the door to Vaugn’s room.

"We’ll first wake Vaugn up and then deside from there.", Kihari replied as she knocked on the door to let Vaugn know that they were outside.

Inside his room, Vaugn was sleeping comfortably, now laying on his back, his leg dangling off the side of the bed, his mouth wide open as he snored. A corner of his blankette was the only thing covering his boxers, as the rest of it had tumbled to the floor.

As Vaugn slept, his ears twitched slightly as a loud knocking sound filled the room. Grunting slightly, Vaugn payed the noise no attention until voices came through his door snapping him from his restful peace.

"Vaugn! Time to get up! Lunch is almost ready!", Asuke called through the door, knocking loudly on it to wake Vaugn up.

Vaugn grunted in his sleep and lazily raising an arm into the air, draped it over his eyes, trying to block out the light that was now startling bright through his closed eyelids.

"Vaugn! Lunch is almost ready! C’mon!",Nikkai called through the door, banging even more loudly on the door.

"Good for it!", Vaugn called back sleepily through the door, "Just save me some food and I’ll eat when I get up!", he finished, rolling onto his side and starting to fall asleep again.

The friends looked at one another before they all shrugged and pushed open the door to Vaugn’s room and walking in, only to find him sleeping on his side comfortably, facing the wall.

"C’mon Vaugn, get up!", Nikkai said as he leaned over and shook Vaugn’s leg, trying to rise Vaugn.

Vaugn merely grunted and shook his leg, breaking it free of Nikkai’s grip and rolling back onto his stomach, still facing the wall and continuing to sleep soundly.

"You can’t sleep the whole day away you know Vaugn.", Kihari said impatiently, poking Vaugn sharply in the back.

"I can sure as hell try though.", Vaugn grunted again, his eyes still closed, resting peacefully in bed on his stomach.

The others looked at eachother in an exasperated way, but seeing themselves and watching Vaugn sleep so soundly, they couldn’t help but smile.

Watching Vaugn, they all thought that maybe he did deserve to have a nice long sleep in. He did after all just kill another of the most powerful demons ever to exsist little more then 36 hours ago.

"Okay Vaugn. We’ll let you…", Asuke started, shrugging her shoulders hugely but was unable to finish as the house was suddenly filled with an ear splitting shriek of two girls coming from downstairs, the friends whipping around and staring at the door.

A dull thud echoed around the room and looking behind them, the friends saw that Vaugn had fallen out of bed, clearly from the loud, sudden scream the filled the air. Vaugn was now laying on the ground on his face and chest, his back bent at a slightly odd angel, one leg still in bed and his arms spread straight infront of him. Vaugn had obviously jumped when the screams filled the house and tried to break his fall, but to no avail.

"Are you okay Vaugn?", Nikkai asked as the screams continued to emminate from the lower level of the house.

"I was until someone started to scream!", Vaugn snarled, pushing himself up and rolling off the bed to the floor completely and sitting cross-legged on the floor, rubbing the sleep from his eyes in an aggitated way.

"It’d have to be Coonai and Uni. What they’d be screaming about so early I don’t know.", Asuke said shortly, staring at the door and to her friends slightly confused.

"Let’s go find out so I can get back to sleep.", Vaugn growled, standing up and crossing the room, grabbing a shirt from an open drawer and pulling it on as he went.

Together, the friends left Vaugn’s room, Vaugn wearing nothing but his boxers and a shirt, and headed down the hall and down the stairs, all the while the screams getting louder and louder. Emerging onto the ground floor, the friends heard the voice of Mr. Miasoto trying to calm down the screaming girls, though his voice was barely audible over the shrieks of terror.

"God what’s wrong now?", Vaugn snarled as he marched down the hall and reached the dining room in seconds.

Grasping the sliding door, Vaugn threw the door open angrily and glared into the room.

Crouching on the table, screaming her head off was Uni. Her face had blanched and her hair was standing on end all the while Mr. Miasoto was trying to calm her down, standing at the edge of the table, talking in a soothing voice.

Vaugn stood in the door way, listening to the ear splitting shrieks. Having been woken up by the very same screams, Vaugn’s annoyance was well past it’s breaking point. Vaugn took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself, but it wasn’t enough, and in an instant, his anger broke it's dam and exploded.

"SHUT UP!", Vaugn roared, his voice drowning out Uni’s screams screams completely and causing her and the others to jump terribly.

Everyone stared at Vaugn in surprise. They had never heard him raise his voice, let alone scream like that since he had been in Japan.

Looking sideways at his friends he saw that they were all wearing wide eyed expressions of surprise. Looking at Mr.Miasoto and Uni, Vaugn saw that they had the same expression as his friends, though Uni’s skin was, if possible, even whiter.

Taking several more deep breaths, Vaugn forced his voice into one of polite calmness.

"What’s going on down here?", he asked, trying to keep his voice as calm as he could.

"Rats Vaugn. Rats…", Uni said faintly, and Vaugn, despite his anger, had to admit that she looked as if she was going to faint.

"Oh geez.", Vaugn said furiously, rubbing his eyes in a very irritated way, "How many is it this time? 4? 5?", Vaugn asked angrily, clearly annoyed that something as small as rats had woken him up.

"More like 60 Vaugn.", Mr. Miasoto replied, clearly relieved that Uni had stopped screaming, but still looking slightly alarmed that Vaugn had shouted like he had.

Vaugn looked at Mr. Miasoto, clearly remembering what he had said when Vaugn was still new to Japan. Mr. Miasoto had told Vaugn that his daughters were scared of rats and mice. The first experience Vaugn had with this fear was right after a workout when he heard the girls screaming, and after running to see what the matter was, found it to be only a couple of mice running around the dining room. Vaugn had been nice enough to capture and release the mice, and from the look he was getting from Mr. Miasoto, this time wouldn’t be any different.

With a loud, audible sigh from out of his nose, he threw up his hands in a slightly exasperated way, "Okay, where are they?", Vaugn asked, looking around the room for any sign of the rats.

"They ran into the kitchen Vaugn, but I think one is still under the table.", Mr. Miasoto informed Vaugn.

Without another word Vaugn crossed the room to the dining room table and dropped to his stomach, crawling underneath it. Right in the middle of the dark shadow beneath the table was indeed a large, fat, brown rat. It’s back was to Vaugn, and it’s tail was wagging back and forth against the carpet floor in a content sort of way.

"There you are. No more scaring innocent girls for you.", Vaugn said, starting to slowly reach out his hand to capture the rat.

The rat didn’t move, or show any sign that it had noticed Vaugn. It merely kept it’s back to Vaugn, as if ignoring him.

Vaugn’s hand was inches from the rat, and with a burst of speed, his hand rocketed forward, covering the remaining distance in a flash,his finger snapping shut around the rat like a bear trap.

Vaugn pulled his hand back and brought the rat around to face him.What Vaugn saw made his breath catch in his throat.

The body of the rat, though normal was nothing compared to it’s face. It’s face, instead of having 2 black beady eyes, had 3 glowing red eyes, one of which was in the center of it’s forehead. Instead of having 2 large buck teeth in the center of it’s mouth, it was instead lined with smaller, razor sharp teeth. Poking out of it’s mouth was a long, white tongue that looked exactly like a round squirming maggot.

The rat stared up into Vaugn’s face while Vaugn stared back, clearly confused by it’s strange appearance.

"What the hell are you?", Vaugn finally breathed in a very confused voice.

As Vaugn gazed at the rat, completely mesmorised by it’s strange appearence, his vision generated a sudden echo image before his very eyes accompanied by the sound of his beating heart, and Vaugn was suddenly filled with a feeling of looming evil.

Vaugn’s breathing become very shallow, his hand bean to shake slightly,and a small bead of sweat formed on his brow.

So did this rat have to do something with the next demon that had escaped Hell? It had to be. Why else would Vaugn get a sudden feeling of evil from just looking at the rat?

Vaugn stared at the rat, looking into it’s 3 red eyes. The rat merely staring back, cool, calm, and collected.

"Jin…do you think this rat has something to do with the next demon?", Vaugn thought to himself.

As if rewarding Vaugn for his thought, the rat flashed a quick, vicous smile before opening it’s mouth wide and clamping down on Vaugn’s hand, sinking it’s razor sharp teeth deep into Vaugn’s flesh.

"You little bastard!", Vaugn roared in pain, tossing the rat aside and breaking the rats hold of him.

The rat bounced and tumbled off the ground like a rag doll before rolling to it’s feet and dashing from out from under the table. Vaugn watched it scurry away under the kitchen door, and listened as Uni began screaming again.

"Oh no you don’t!", Vaugn snarled, and in his anger, pushed himself up off the ground to his feet and hands, forgetting he was under the table and almost completely flipping the table over, Uni included, in his haste to chase the rat.

Chasing the rat into the kitchen on all fours like a dog chasing a rat, Vaugn slowly stood up straight when inside the kitchen and looked around furiously, his breathing very fast, anger running through his veins as his hand gently bled.

Looking around the kitchen, Vaugn took in everything, from the wall sized counter, full of ingredients for lunch, to the stove with a marrily boiling pot of water, to the pantry and fridge with the doors wide open, to Coonai sitting on the island in the middle of the kitchen, looking as if what was going was a slightly entertaining TV show.

"Where’s the rat Coonai?", Vaugn growled, looking around the kitchen as his hand gently bled, a steady red stream running down his fingers and falling to the floor in large, glistening drops.

"The rats all ran into the cabinets and pantry. I think they must be hungry.", Coonai replied lightly, as if they merely talking about the weather.

Without another word to Coonai, Vaugn started to slowly walk into the whole of the kitchen, not wanting to scare the rats away before he had a chance to capture them.

Just as Vaugn was stepping into the center of the kitchen, his Echo Sence went off again, this time more powerfully then ever before. The impact of the echo in Vaugn’s head was such that Vaugn’s head throbbed slightly from the hit, aswell as causing him to stumble slightly. For a moment, Vaugn’s vision went completely white from the impact of the echo, before fading back in a blur of colour that Vaugn couldn’t decipher. Once more, for the second time in 5 minutes, Vaugn had the strong feeling of looming evil that seemed to point to only one thing.

Vaugn closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to clear his mind and vision. When he opened his eyes, though still slightly out of focus, he saw that rats were pouring from the cabinets and pantry, and running towards the door, squeezing under the crack between the bottom of the door and the floor. Not wanting to miss his chance, Vaugn dashed to the door in hot pursuit on the rats.

Vaugn grasped the handle of the door and flung it open and let it bang against the wall. Vaugn emerged in the spacious backyard of the house and quickly looked around for the rats, only spotting them when the last 3 or 4 were climbing the 8 foot tall wall that ran around the whole of the backyard, and disappeared over the top. Vaugn dashed across the lawn, past the Coi pond and meditating garden, and with all the power he could muster, lept at the wall, throwing his arms and elbow over the top. With some effort, Vaugn heaved and pushed himself to the top of the wall and climbed onto the top of the wall, standing tall and looking out over the neighbourhood. What Vaugn saw just added to his confusion.

Running from every house door way and window, gutter, sewer and storm drain, and merging onto the street were rats. Thousands upon thousands of brown, fat rats, running away from the residential houses and towards the center of the city. It was as if he was looking at a furry, scurrying, squeaking river of rats. It reminded Vaugn of when all the dogs of Tokyo ran away only to run back that same night.

As Vaugn gazed over the un-ceasing river of rats, once more his Echo Sence went off, but Vaugn had been somewhat ready for this, so it didn’t come as much of a shock to him this time. Just as twice before in the house, Vaugn found himself suddenly filled with a powerful sence of great evil.

"Jin…you’re seeing this right?", Vaugn asked quietly as the river of rats continued to flow and scurry away from Vaugn and towards the center of Tokyo.

"I am indeed.", Jinkara replied slowly inside of Vaugn's mind.

"You think this has something to do with the next demon?", Vaugn asked, forgeting all pretences and getting to the situation at hand.

"It would certainly seem so. But it’s presence should have been masked by the Rings it’s using. Yet it’s aura wasn’t masked for some reason.", Jinkara replied slowly, both he and Vaugn sinking into deep thought.

"So what do you think it means then Jin?", Vaugn asked Jinkara, as the flow of rats started to thin.

"I can’t say for sure Vaugn. We’ll have to let this play out a little bit further before we know for sure.", Jinkara replied, Vaugn knodding slowly in aggreance as he crossed his arms and continued to watch the rats scurry away.

"Hey Vaugn! Did you get rid of the rats?", a voice called out from behind Vaugn.

Turning on the top of the wall and gazing towards the house, Vaugn saw Asuke and the others walking out of the kitchen door and into the yard, all staring up at him on the wall.

"Yeah. I got rid of them.", Vaugn replied to the others from ontop of the wall.

"Well then get down here before someone sees you!", Shentin called over to Vaugn, gesturing towards his boxers.

With one last look over his shoulder at the river of rats, Vaugn lept into the air away from the wall, falling gently to the ground, and landing with a gentle ‘fwump’ on the grass, began slowly walking towards the house and his friends.

"Something up Vaugn?", Imari asked as he joined the others at the kitchen door.

"Not quite sure yet Imari.", Vaugn replied, waving his bleeding hand in a dismissing kind of way, specks of blood flying away from his wound hand and spattering the wall.

"What happened to your hand Vaugn?", Asuke asked, sounding a tad concerned, as she and the others watched as his hand continued to gently bleed, leaving large red drops on the ground outside of the kitchen door.

"A little disagreement with a rat.", Vaugn said absent mindly as he and the others walked back through the kitchen with food slowly cooking in the oven and on the stove, and back towards the dining room.

"I’ll get the bandages Vaugn.", Asuke said with a sigh and rolling her eyes, "You know, you gotta start being more careful Vaugn.", she finished as she walked out of the kitchen and down the hall to get the first aid kit, leaving the others to walk into the dining room and join the others.

The Miasotos were watching TV and enjoying a cup of tea, Uni still looking quite shaken about the whole expierence, as her hands were shaking slightly while she held her tea cup aswell as still being a tad white. Mr. Miasoto looked quite relieved that she was finally calmed down and wasn’t screaming anymore. Coonai on the other hand looked completely relaxed as she was smiling, as usual, and sipping her tea normally while watching TV with her family.

Vaugn and the others walked in and sat around the table, helping themselves to the tea and joined as the others watched TV. As Vaugn was wrapping his hand in a napkin to stop from bleeding all over the table and floor, a special Saturday report cut into the show the family was watching.

"That didn’t take to long, did it Jin?", Vaugn thought to himself as the news reporter started talking to their TV audience.

"Not at all. But when there is that much vermon out on the streets, it’s bound to get someones’s attention.", Jinkara replied with a pur as the news report showed pictures taken from the street of the flood of rats..

Asuke walked in holding the first aid kit just as the TV news reporter relayed to their correspondent in the field, who appeared to be in a helicopter, looking down at the city of Tokyo.

Every street that camera focused on wasn’t the light grey of concrete that it should have been, but rather they were shiny brown, the colour of the rat’s fur. The camera focused on the street as the rats climbed over cars, knocked over mail boxes and news stands, showed as benches were covered by rats, and showed people dashing out of the way of the wave of rats, hiding inside of buildings lining the streets.

"Wow…that’s a lot of rats.", Asuke said with shudder as she started to bandage Vaugn’s hand.

"Yeah. I wonder what’s going on?", Shentin asked, confused as anyone with the strange behaviour of the cities rats.

"Nothing good is going on, that’s what.", Uni replied with a slight whimper and shudder, looking away from the TV and down into her tea cup.

"Would you agree with Uni, Jin?", Vaugn asked Jinkara as he watched the news report like the others, though deep in thought with Jinkara.

"As it is right now, I would Vaugn. But again, we’ll let this play out until we know for sure.", Jinkara replied as Vaugn nodded slightly in agreeance

"There you go Vaugn. All done.",Asuke said brightly, bringing Vaugn back to the world around him,"Now do try and be more careful from now on.", she finished with a sharp tap to Vaugn’s hand, causing him to whince slightly.

"Thanks Asuke.", Vaugn replied to Asuke with a slight nod to her, "Well I’m going to go and get dressed and ready for the day.", Vaugn said, standing up, stretching and leaving the room.

"It’s just like when Dogma first arrived huh Jin.", Vaugn asked as he walked down the hall towards the stairs.

"It would seem so Vaugn.", Jinkara agreed as Vaugn turned up the stairs and started his way upstairs.

"So…which demon do you think it is?",Vaugn asked as he emerged at the top of the stairs and started down the hallway.

"I can’t say until we see what it does. Rats could really mean anything now that the Forty have evolved.", Jinkara replied fairly as Vaugn pushed the door to his room open,walked in and started to take his clothes out for the day.

"So we just wait and see what happens?", Vaugn asked as he took off the day old boxers from yesterday he had on and slipped into clean ones.

"I think you know the answer to that Vaugn.", Jinkara replied airily as Vaugn pulled on his clean shirt, nodding in aggreance.

"Excellent. So I get a few more days rest before I have to worry about the demon.", Vaugn replied with a sigh, pulling on his clean pants and walking out of his room towards the washroom to wash up for the day.

"True enough Vaugn, you do. I suggest use it well and get ready for the next demon.", Jinkara said offhandily as Vaugn walked into the washroom and ran some water to wash up for the day, washing his face and the blood from his hands.

"Like you really need me to take it easy. That’s like telling the grass to be green.", Vaugn joked as he finished washing up.

Leaving the washroom, Vaugn walked down the hall, back downstairs and joined the friends and family in the dining room, where Coonai was just bringing in the lunch for everyone to enjoy.

Vaugn was positive that the three eyed rat was merely a warning from the demon that it had escaped Hell and was now on the loose, ready to start reeking havoc amongst the citizens of Tokyo

Oh well, Vaugn thought as he started to help himself to his lunch, I’ll rest up for now and worry about it when I have to.






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