Demon Rising

Chapter 15/2: Antidote Part 2- Second Treatment

Author's Note: Here's the second part of my the chapter, and the last of the Vermillion Saga. Damn that took a long time to write...the saga, not the chapter. Not much to say really. It's all action. That's it really. Enjoy.

Chapter 15 Part 2

BAM!

The fist slammed into Vaugn with the force of a runaway freight train and sent him rocketing backwards through the air.Blinded by the explosion of lights that filled his eyes, Vaugn felt a speeding rush of wind at his back as he ripped through the air at the speed of sound. Faster then lightning Vaugn crashed into the wall behind him like a cannon ball, his head bouncing off the concrete wall violently, the lights already filling his visions gaining new strength. Momentarily, Vaugn’s body seemed to be stuck to the wall by invisible glue, his feet floating above the ground some six inches. Gradually un-sticking from the wall, Vaugn’s body slid slowly down the concrete face, his feet touching lightly to the ground, only to give way under his weight, and bringing his body crashing limply onto his backside.

Though Vaugn was staring out over the battle field before him, his vision was nothing but exploding lights in a dazzling array of colours, his ears were ringing as if he had stuck his head in a massive bell while it was ringing, his mouth slowly flooding with the taste of blood. His body was aching- feeling just like he had been hit by a train- his muscles feeling as if they had been slowly stretched and torn apart by red hot hooks and his bones like they had been ground to dust.

Somewhere in the distance, Vaugn heard a loud, snarling voice puncturing the terrible ringing inside his ears, a voice that was calling out to him, goading him as he lay perched against the wall in his beaten state.

"Humans are so fragile and so easily broken, it’s almost sickening.", Vermillion called out from somewhere in the nest infront of Vaugn, who couldn’t see anything through the white blur that had replaced the exploding lights in consuming his vision.

"Well no matter how strong you are, this human will still kick the shit out of you!", Vaugn called out, blood flying from his mouth and running down his chin, his voice sounding more confident then he definitely felt.

"Silence worm!", Vermillion roared, his anger shaking every aching bone in Vaugn’s beaten body.

Slowly, the white blur filling Vaugn’s began to fade, being replaced by hazy, shadowy figures. In the center of his vision was a dark, towering figure, standing on two mismatched legs, the body above it’s waist bulging with muscle.

Perched against the wall, Vaugn watched as the shadowy figure of Vermillion pulled it’s whole arm back and swung it sideways through the air like a club, his fist balled like a hammerhead. At the side of Vaugn’s slowly returning vision, the balled up fist crashed into the wall and tore through the concrete like a boat cutting through the water, enormous pieces of concrete shattering and flying away from the wall tail like water from the prow of a speeding boat

Despite knowing what was coming next, Vaugn did nothing. Sitting limply against the wall, looking as if he was about to fall asleep, all Vaugn did was listen to the loud, shattering roar that drew closer and closer with each passing second and enjoy the somewhat relaxing rumble of the wall on his aching back.

Without so much as lifting a finger, Vaugn sat against the wall and waited for the fist to crash into it’s target. A moment later, an enormous weight crashed into Vaugn’s body, lifting him cleanly off the floor and launching him through the air as if thrown by a catapult.

Vaugn’s body seemed to have numbed after the last blow, all feeling having been wiped clean. He flew through the air like a lifeless corpse, his arms and legs trailing behind him like streamers on a child’s bike. Vaugn had no sense of what was up or down, left or right, or where he was. Everything had melded into a giant, weightless void that surrounded Vaugn in his pain free state as he flew through the air. There was no colour in Vaugn’s state, everything melding together in a white, somewhat relaxing blur.

In his beaten, pain free state, somehow Vaugn felt himself fall gently from the air and land on his back, which turned ice cold upon touchdown. A gentle, rolling sensation tickled Vaugn’s spine as he slid along whatever he had landed on, his limp limbs occasionally bouncing off the ground and into the air. After what seemed like a bliss filled lifetime of a gentle rolling back massage, everything came to an end as Vaugn crashed head first into a solid wall, the force of the slide continuing to push him forward, pushing his back up against the wall, coming to a rest in a comfortable looking sitting position against the concrete face. The back of Vaugn’s head was resting against the wall, looking out over Vermillion’s nest, but all for naught.

There Vaugn sat, his vision once more a giant white blur, his ears ringing, and his body aching worse then before. Gradually, Vaugn’s neck gave out and head fell to his chest, hanging limply on his shoulder. Vaugn’s arms hung limply at his side, his legs splayed on the ground, looking as if he was a sleep. All thought in Vaugn’s mind had ceased, and he was unaware of the monstrous creature that was baring down on him, readying itself to wipe him out utterly and completely.

***

Out of the corner of his eye, Vermillion watched as Vaugn crashed headlong into the hard concrete wall, sliding up the wall and assuming something along the line of a sitting position. For a moment, it appeared the Vaugn was over looking the nest infront of him, though his eyes looked strangely fogged over. Slowly, Vaugn’s head fell to his chest, all motion in his body ceasing at once.

Turning slowly on spot, Vermillion stared at the motionless form of Vaugn, as he lay perched against the wall. For a moment, it seemed as if Vermillion was unsure of what to do, but slowly his face broke into a very sour look. Something about seeing Vaugn sitting motionless against the wall seemed to enrage Vermillion.

"So this human is the one who destroyed Dogma and Eris? Pathetic!", Vermillion snarled, slowly advancing towards Vaugn with his mismatched legs, "But no matter. Those two were always weak. But why reminisce as here I stand, on the brink of destroying this mortal, and sending Jinkara to heaven forever. It seems I’ve become bored with killing humans.", he finished as the limp form of Vaugn gave a shuttering cough and spat up a mouth full of blood all over his now exposed torso and tattered pants.

Stopping several feet infront of Vaugn, casting a large, menacing shadow that covered him like a black blanket, Vermillion stared down at the fallen form before him, distaste written all over his mutilated face. Seemingly unaware of what was above him, Vaugn merely sat limply against the wall, not making any attempt to run for safety or defend himself.

"Boring as it maybe, it’s still a victory.", Vermillion said coldly as he slowly raised his arm up over his head, "Good bye Jinkara. It was truly hell serving under you.", he finished coldly, and as if he was driving poles into the ground, brought his fist crashing down through the air like a sledge hammer.

BOOM!

The fist collided squarely ontop of Vaugn. As if a powerful bomb had exploded underneath Vaugn, the ground erupted into a thick grey dust cloud as Vaugn’s limp body sunk into the large crater that had been blown around him. Like a thick fog, the dust cloud hovered motionlessly on spot, concealing both Vermillion’s fist and Vaugn’s crushed body.

There Vermillion stood, his body doubled over and his arm outstretched, the end of it completely concealed by a thick dust cloud that was hiding Vermillion’s true desire, the now lifeless body of Vaugn, the vessel of Vermillion’s once powerful leader, Jinkara.

Not a sound was made. The shattered pieces of stone fell silently to the concrete floor beneath it, the crackles and pops of the remaining fires muted, all breathing from Vermillion ceased. The nest was literally as silent as a grave, all motion coming to a gradual end.

Slowly, and with the air of victory, Vermillion face twisted into an ugly smile as he stared down at his arm completely covered a thick dust cloud. Letting out a long, slow sigh, Vermillion was positive he had flattened Vaugn completely, shattering his bones and spilling his blood and organs to the cold pavement.

"Yes…boring as it was, it’s still a win.", Vermillion purred happily, taking a deep, satisfying breath as the dust cloud slowly started to dissipate.

"Boring huh?", a cold, vicious vice called out from the dust cloud, echoing around the nest.

"What the…no!", Vermillion breathed, a look of utter confusion breaking across his deformed face, his body slowly beginning to shake with what seemed like fear.

"Well maybe this will make it more interesting for you!", the voice roared and a moment later, a dark figure exploded from the dust cloud, rocketing towards Vermillion.

In the blink of an eye, the figure shot under Vermillion’ outstretched arm, past his body and disappeared behind Vermillion.

Vermillion seemed paralyzed on spot. His arm was still outstretched as his body continued to shutter slightly. His face was stuck in a perpetual expression of confusion. Each breath was quick and shallow, sounding as if he was struggling to breathe. Slowly and heavily, Vermilliion lifted his foot and took a stumbled step forward. As if a bomb had went off inside Vermillion’s body, the side of his body tore open and exploded in torrent of blood that poured from his body like a fountain.

Gasping for breath, Vermillion fell to one knee, panting heavily as his blood splashed to the ground like a waterfall. His gasps grew louder and louder, until finally he threw his head back and let out a deafening roar of pain which shook the floor and walls.

"Was that enough excitement for you?", a voice called out behind Vermillion, sounding highly amused.

Draping a massive hand over his gushing side-wound, Vermillion slowly turned on his knee and gazed furiously behind him. Behind him, the figure that attacked him was standing tall with it’s back to him, it’s head covered in shoulder length blonde hair, looking completely relaxed.

"I should have known!", Vermillion snarled, his face contorting with rage, as his body shook head to toe with fury.

"Yes. You should have known. But you didn’t!", the figure said, turning and staring up into Vermillion’s face with red glowing eyes, "And that Vermillion…will cost you dearly!", Jinkara finished, his eyes glowing brighter and brighter with each passing second.

"So you decided to fight me after all. Did the human take to much of a beating?", Vermillion spat at Jinkara as he let the hand covering his wound drop to his side, black blood dripping from his fingers.

"Yes. He did. You yourself said that humans are squishy.", Jinkara replied with a fang filled smile, staring up into Vermillion’s rage contorted face, "I just needed Vaugn to distract you long enough so I could take a bit of a break and regain my strength. And from what I saw, he did a very good job of doing just that. Now…let’s play.", he finished, bringing his claws infront of him and sliding his feet apart, readying himself to attack.

Vermillion was livid beyond belief. He had been a heartbeat away from destroying Vaugn and Jinkara so easily, yet they managed to wriggle out of it, and were now goading him like he was a common demon.

His breathing was fast and ragged as spit flew from his mouth. His whole body was shaking from pure anger, his muscle spasming and his skin rippling. As Jinkara stared up into the rage stricken face of Vermillion, he couldn’t help at smile at the fact that there was something a little comical about how a vein was bulging somewhere near his swollen cheek.

Finally, Vermillion’s anger broke it’s damn and flood outwards.

With a massive roar of anger that shook Jinkara’s very bones, Vermillion exploded to his feet and charged like an enraged bull towards Jinkara.

The ground shook terribly with each of Vermillion’s massive steps, shaking giant pieces of concrete loose from the wall and sending them cascading to the ground.

Drawing his fist back lightning quick, Vermillion launched it forward with all is might, and in an instant, the arm exploded forth, stretching at the speed of light, Vermillion’s hand balled into a menacing club.

Jinkara watched as the fist rocketed towards him, covering the gap in mere seconds. Smiling to himself, Jinkara rose his clawed foot, and brought it crashing down to the ground, sinking his claws into the hard ground. The first rocketed closer and closer, the air off the front of the fist blowing a large rooster tail of debris into the air. With his arms readied at his side like a cowboy ready for a shoot out, Jinkara stood his ground as his hair was blown around his face from the rush of air at the front of the on coming fist.

Finally, when Jinkara’s vision was completely consumed by Vermillion’s enormous fist, he struck with alarming speed.

Gritting his teeth and roaring with fury, Jinkara took a powerful step forward as his hands shot up from his side. In the blink of an eye, Jinkara’s clawed hands crashed into Vermillion’s massive fist stopping it cold only inches before it collided into his body. As if being pushed by a speeding truck, Vermillion’s fist pushed Jinkara backwards at alarming speed, who sunk his clawed toes deeper into the hard concrete floor and held firm. Further and further Jinkara was pushed, seemingly uncaring about this fact and letting Vermillion do what he wanted unperturbed. Slowly, Vermillion’s forward attack began to slow, his once rage driven rampage slowing to nothing more then a mere shoving match.

His strength finally giving out, Vermillion gave up his futile struggle to try and over power Jinkara. Panting and sweating,Vermillion stared down at the tiny form of Jinkara, who was resting at the end of several long gouge marks in the concrete floor. Slowly, Jinkara raised his face to the ceiling and stared calmly into the bewildered face of Vermillion, smiling serenely up at him.

"Is that all you have?", Jinkara purred calmly, "If it is, I guess I’ll have to liven things up then!", he roared, and with all the power he could muster, coiled his body like a spring and twisted around on the heels of his feet.

With the force of a tornado, Jinkara spun around as quickly as he could, dragging Vermillion’s over stretched arm around into his spin. A moment later, Vermillion’s arm was jerked forward and then dragged forcefully around, his feet leaving the ground as if he weighted nothing. Like an Olympic hammer thrower, Jinkara spun around and around, building speed and power with each spin. Vermillion was helpless, as his hand was firmly seized in Jinkara’s claws, his shoulder slowly separating in a terrible tearing, stretching sensation.

With one last powerful twist of his body, Jinkara planted his clawed foot into the ground, and as quickly as if he had hit the brakes, his dizzying spin ceased immediately. Vermillion’s body continued to spin however, and the last thing he saw was Jinkara throwing his hands into the air, a superior smile on his face. From the second that Jinkara had let go of Vermillion’s hand,Vermillion rocketed away from Jinkara like a cannon ball shot from a cannon. For a slightly dizzy moment, Jinkara watched as Vermillion sped away from him like a bullet. Giving his head a quick shake, Jinkara planted his clawed foot and pushed himself forward, sprinting powerfully after Vermillion as he soared backwards.

With his head spinning, Vermillion could do nothing but rocket through the air. The nest around was nothing but a giant grey blur, punctured by the occasional streak of orange as he shot past gently smoldering piles of burning human remains. Before Vermillion could gain his barring as to what was happening, he crashed painfully into a solid concrete wall, which exploded around him in a thick grey mass of dust.

Still giving chase to Vermillion, Jinkara watched as the deformed pink body of his prey crashed into the wall and disappeared from sight in a grey dust cloud as thick as fog. With a slowly spreading smile, Jinkara took one last giant step and hurled himself into the air feet first like an Olympic long jumper, soaring through the air like a spear.

"So is that how’s it gonna be. Fine!", Vermillion spat, coughing up a mouth full of blood, blinded by the dust cloud around him.

"You’re damn right that’s how it’s gonna be!", Jinkara roared from somewhere outside of the dust cloud infront of Vermillion.

Before Vermillion could even lift a hand to defend himself, a giant shadow emerged into view in the grey dust cloud, getting larger and larger and an alarming speed. An instant later, the shadow transformed into Jinkara flying feet first at Vermillion’s face. With no time to react, Vermillion sat helplessly against the wall as Jinkara crashed feet first into his face. Effortlessly, Jinkara’s feet shattered the bones beneath the flesh of Vermillion’s face and sunk into his skull, ramming Vermillion’s head back into the concrete wall.

For a moment, Jinkara’s clawed feet were stuck in the soft, lump of flesh that was Vermillion’s face, a splash of warm blood flooding over Jinkara’s feet. Gradually, with a loud squelching sound, Jinkara’s feet slowly unstuck from Vermillion’s squashed face. Like a gymnast, Jinkara fell gently onto his back on Vermillion’s chest and rolled down his stomach ,landing softly on his feet a few gentle rolls later.

Without even taking a second to catch his breath, Jinkara pushed himself forward and sprinted back up the deformed body of Vermillion, his clawed feet slashing viciously into his soft flesh like football cleats. Drawing his clawed fist back as far as he could, Jinkara trampolined off of Vermillion’s chest and rocketed into the air head first straight towards Vermillion’s face. Like a mousetrap spring, Jinkara’s fist flew forward faster then the blink of an eye and crashed into the center of Vermillion’s shattered face with the force of a runaway truck. As if Vermillion’s face was nothing but a giant blood pack, blood exploded from all around Jinkara’s fist, spurting into the air like a geyser and hitting Jinkara in the face. For a second, Jinkara was momentarily suspended in mid air as his fist sunk deep into Vermillion’s face, his body continuing to push his fist deeper and deeper. Swinging his feet down and ramming his clawed feet into Vermillion’s neck, Jinkara drew his free hand back, and brought it rocketing forward, with all his might, ramming it deep into Vermillion’s face, his already sunk hand popping out like a cork.

Over and over Jinkara continued to bounce devastating blow after devastating blow off of Vermillion’s face, his fists nothing but blurs, spraying a mist of blood each time they were drawn back. With each blow, Vermillion’s face steadily became more and more deformed with each blow. Shards of bone gradually began tearing through Vermillion’s flesh, peppering it white, only to be covered by a slowly forming pool of blood that stuck to Jinkara’s fist like glue.

"Damn, my arms are getting tired.", Jinkara panted slightly, a small trickle of sweat running down the side of his blood covered face, continuing to pound Vermillion’s face into nothing but a bone and blood lump of mush.

"That’s why you have feet Jin.", Vaugn said from all around Jinkara, sounding sore and beaten.

"Good point Vaugn.", Jinkara panted as he straightened up and unstuck one of his clawed feet from Vermillion’s neck.

Slowly, Jinkara drew bent over as he raised his foot as high as it would go, looking something like a soccer player winding up for a very distant kick. Taking a deep breath, Jinkara pointed his clawed toes, and will all the power he could muster, brought his foot rocketing through the air.

WHAM!

Jinkara’s clawed foot thundered through the air, and crashed into Vermillion’s cheek, tearing through the skin and bone like it was nothing, ripping large chunks of flesh out that flew from his foot and splattered against the wall like raw beef. Momentarily frozen, his foot suspended in mid air with blood gently dripping from his claws, Jinkara brought his foot shooting backwards, his heel crashing into Vermillion’s other cheek, knocking large chunks of bone from his skull that tore from Vermillion’s cheek and bounced off the wall.

Back and forth Jinkara’s foot slashed, like a demonic pendulum, ripping more flesh and knocking more bone from Vermillion’s skull, spattering the earth and stone with the remains ripped from Vermillion’s body.

Long gone was the all consuming dust cloud that had hid Vermillion from sight, replaced by clean air and a thin layer of grey dust that had settled on both Jinkara and his unfortunate victim.

Completely gone was the once hideous face of Vermillion, replaced by a collapsed lump of shapeless flesh, black demon blood pooling in the bowl that it formed. Large, black bubbles kept growing and popping with each of Vermillion’s shallow, ragged breaths, his fingers twitching slightly.

Panting, Jinkara wiped the mix of blood and sweat from his face and flicked it from his hand. As if to ad insult to injury, Jinkara spat on Vermillion’s destroyed skull, showing clear signs of disgust towards Vermillion. Sliding his hands into the pockets of Vaugn’s pants, Jinkara turned on his heel and strolled down Vermillion’s chest, hopping down to the ground from his rising and falling stomach.

"You should have known that it would come to this Vermillion.", Jinkara called out to Vermillion in a casual tone as he touched down on the cold concrete ground, "No matter how powerful you are, it still wouldn’t be enough to stop me.", he finished with a grin, looking over his shoulder at the crippled form of Vermillion.

"Wanna bet you son of a bitch!", Vermillion coughed, blood spurting from the large pool where his face used to be.

"My, my. What a mouth you have. I guess I’ll have to fix that.", Jinkara said with smile.

Slowly withdrawing a hand from his pants, Jinkara bent down and grasped Vermillion’s ankle, sinking his claws deep into the flesh and bone.

As easily as if he was bowling, Jinkara’s armed arced around dragging Vermillion’s leg with it, prying Vermillion from the wall and lifting him into the air. Leaving the ground and arcing through the air, Vermillion was tossed through the room like a frisbee at lightning speed.

Like a dead body tossed from a car wreck, Vermillion sailed limply through the air as if he was weightless, blood flying from his mutilated face, spattering the floor and ceiling like spray paint. Slowly gravity caught up with him, and Vermillion crashed hard to the ground somewhere around mid-nest, and slid several yards on his back, the shattered concrete tearing and ripping the flesh from Vermillion’s back.

Sliding his hand back into the pocket of Vaugn’s pants, Jinkara casually set off through the nest, watching as Vermillion slide to a halt at the end of a large path of torn and shredded flesh, a pool of black blood slowly forming around Vermillion head.

"Get up Vermillion!", Jinkara called out to Vermillion as he continued his casual stroll towards his fallen opponent, "Do you plan to beat me laying down?", he finished, goading Vermillion, who rolled over onto his stomach and slowly pushed himself to all fours.

"No.", Vermillion snarled, his back still to Jinkara, ", I plan to beat you like this!", Vermillion roared, flipping forwards into a hand stand and spinning on his hands, landed heavily on his feet.

As expected, Vermillion’s face had began to regrow, the bone having just finished growing and filling in the emptied out head cavity. Even in the distance, Jinkara could easily see the ghostly white skull through the low light, in an unmistakable skeletal grin.

"Glad to see your face has grown back, though it’s not much of an improvement,", Jinkara called out, still strolling towards Vermillion, "But tell me…what’s gotten you so happy?", he finished, stopping in his tracks, and looking at Vermillion in mock wonderment,

"This!", Vermillion roared, and in a pink flash, his hand shot up to his shoulder with the severed arm rammed in it and grabbed the end of the severed wrist.

With one quick, powerful wrench, Vermillion ripped the severed hand out of his shoulder, and tossed it aside, blood pouring from the shoulder wound and splashing to the ground like a waterfall. Before the arm had even hit the ground, the wound on Vermillion’s shoulder widened and released a torrent of exploding maggots, rocketing towards Jinkara like shot out of a fire hose.

Caught off guard slightly, Jinkara stumbled in the face of the incoming torrent of exploding maggots which seemed to be larger and more menacing then before. Regaining his footing, Jinkara tossed himself sideways and cartwheeled out of the way, letting the maggots shoot past with only inches to spare. Touching down gracefully, Jinkara only had enough time to throw himself sideways again as he was forced to roll ungracefully out of the way of a second torrent of maggots which streaked by in a giant crimson blur. Rolling over his back and back to his feet, Jinkara had no time to recover as was forced once more to spring off his clawed hand and leap out of the way as yet another torrent of maggots splashed to the ground where he had been standing a second before. Landing on his feet, Jinkara bent low and exploded forward, running low against the ground and ducking yet another torrent of maggots, running flat out towards Vermillion.

Everything came at Jinkara so fast, that it was like dogging bullets instead of torrents of exploding maggots. In a heartbeat, a wave of maggots would rocket towards Jinkara as he dashed along the ground, forcing himself to barrel roll out of the way or be doused with the lethal mix. Touching down one legged, Jinkara was forced to leap into the air and flip head long over another wave of maggots. Touching down, Jinkara had only a second to cartwheel out of the way of yet another torrent of maggots which came within only inches of his stomach.

Everything happened so fast that it was all blurring together, into a giant crimson and grey mass, Jinkara’s feet seemingly having a mind of their own and doing as they pleased, instead of of what his brain told them to.

"If you think you can run forever you’re wrong!", Vermillion roared, his face finished healing, now back into it’s normal grotesque form.

"I’ll only run aslong as it takes to cut you down!", Jinkara roared as he slid under yet another pulse of exploding maggots like a baseball sliding into home. Digging his heels into the ground, Jinkara popped back up to his feet and launched himself into the air like a bullet, aiming for Vermillions twisted face.

The distance between the two demons shrunk so quickly that before Jinkara knew it he was within arms reach of Vermillion’s oddly smiling face, his clawed hands ready to slash it away with one swipe.

"I don’t like this Jin. Why’s he smiling?", Vaugn asked quickly as Jinkara pulled his clawed hand back somewhere even with his ear, ready to cut through Vermillion’s head with one vicious slash.

"I don’t know and I don’t care!", Jinkara roared as his arm exploded forward, his claws blurring into a steely blur, ready to deliver the final blow.

But something was strange. Jinkara’s claws had ripped through the spot where Vermillion’s head was, yet they met nothing but air. Staring back at Jinkara was the still smiling, deformed face of Vermillion, looking as if nothing had happened. It was as if Jinkara was suddenly frozen in mid air, unable to move forward.

But that wasn’t it. The room around Jinkara was still blurring, and the air was still rushing past his ears in a gentle roar. Without really knowing why, Jinkara had a feeling that if he looked down, everything would be explained

Looking down his body and between his legs, Jinkara saw that behind him, Vermillion’s mismatched feet were still firmly planted on the hard concrete ground, while his torso stretched at the waist as if made of rubber, his body expanding faster then Jinkara was flying, keeping him out claws reach by a fraction of an inch. Jinkara, unperturbed by this discovery, took another powerful slash at Vermillion’s face, yet met nothing but air once again.

"You like Jinkara? I knew you wouldn’t be expecting this.", Vermillion growled happily as he continued to stretch, Jinkara continuing to slash at Vermillion’s face but without success , "Just like you weren’t expecting this!", he roared, spit flying from his mouth and hitting Jinkara in the face

As if a speaker had been turned on, a loud, hollow, squelching sound erupted from the wound on Vermillion’s shoulder. Even though Jinkara knew what was about to happen, he couldn’t truly prepare himself for what was coming, knowing that when it finally did happen, he was going to be in a world of hurt. The squelching sound amplified into a roaring blare, and a moment later, the wound on Vermillion’s shoulder widen slightly and unleashed a crimson surge of exploding maggots, striking Jinkara in the face as fast as lightning, blinding him instantly in the crimson mess.

Beneath him, Jinkara felt a powerful rush of air blow past his body. Before he had time to reach his hands up to his face and clear away the maggots, or even take a mouthful of air- as his nose was completely covered by maggots- a loud snapping sound echoed around the room.

In an instant, Jinkara’s body was ravaged by a massive explosion, the shockwave tearing through his body, rattling his organs, and over-loading his muscle with blinding pain. As if Jinkara had been launched by a catapult, the force of the explosion shot him upwards, slamming back first into the concrete roof, driving his body deep into the concrete, blowing a crater out of the roof in the shape of Jinkara’s body. It seemed that Jinkara’s body was stuck to the roof, as he remained imprinted against the concrete mass, his body defying gravity. Slowly, Jinkara’s body unstuck itself, first his torso then his arms, and he fell heavily to the ground, crashing chest first to the hard ground a moment later, knocking what little air he had in him out.

Once again, Jinkara’s body was aching beyond baring. Each muscle screaming in pain when it was moved, preferring to throb painfully then listen to Jinkara’s brain. Once again his mind was overloaded, past and present memories flooding together in a jumble of entangled thoughts. There Jinkara layed, breathing in the smell of concrete dust in shallow, sharp breaths, his lungs feeling as if they had been ripped in half. Slowly, Jinkara’s arms twitched, and gradually he pulled them under himself, taking several deep, calming breaths as he pushed himself up to all fours with all his might.

"Okay…now I care.", Jinkara snarled, reaching a clawed hand up and rubbing his head, "Damn! That doesn’t get any easier.", he finished, and with surprising speed for the state he was in, pushed himself off the ground on all fours and pulled his legs under him, touching down lightly and spinning around, prepared himself to attack, despite his vision being badly blurred.

Swaying slightly on spot and gazing into the nest with blurred vision, all Jinkara saw was the hideous,leering face of Vermillion shooting towards him at lighting speed, his feet standing still in the distant while his body stretched. Though he was standing, that was all Jinkara could do, as his muscles were protesting their abuse by ignoring any and all signals from Jinkara’s brain.

Closer and closer Vermillion drew, his ugly face growing faster and faster with each passing second. Jinkara tried with all his might, but even in the face of the oncoming onslaught of Vermillion, his muscles still wouldn't’move. In not time flat, Vermilion had rocketed the length of the room, now only mere feet between him and Jinkara. Like a man facing the firing squad, Jinkara knew what was coming next, but was unable to stop it as the gaping wound on Vermillion’s shoulder widened, and a moment later, unleashed a surge of exploding maggots from his shoulder like a firehose.

In a heartbeat, the massive surge of maggots crashed into Jinkara with the force of a tidal wave, lifting him off his feet and sending him flying backwards. As before, the only sound that seemed to register in Jinkara’s rattled brain was a loud snapping sound, and once more, felt as his body was being torn apart by the massive explosion by the maggots that had went off like a crate of dynamite.

Flying through the air like a bullet, Jinkara’s senses were once more overloaded. The explosion had once more rattled his brain and wiped it clean, leaving him with no idea which way was up, which way was down. His ears were beyond ringing, all sound seeming to have died completely as even the after roar of the explosion seemed to have ceased. His nerves seemed to have been shocked beyond return, all pain having disappeared from his body only to be replaced by a strangely comforting tingle.

All of this changed however, when Jinkara was slammed through a thick concrete wall, blowing out a massive hole around him and crashing into the soft earth behind it like a meteorite crashing into the surface of the earth.

Not really knowing where he was, except that it was now cool and damp, Jinkara rested in this new environment, letting his muscles rest and his bones relax, both of which felt as if they were only hanging together by a thread. Though he knew that he was in the middle of a battle, Jinkara felt as if he’d like nothing better then to sit and relax within this new cocoon.

Turning his head painfully on his neck slightly, Jinkara found himself firmly imprinted in the soft earth behind the concrete wall, blood slowly trickling down from his forehead into his eyes and down his cheeks, dripping gently from his nose.

"Okay…now I’m starting to get annoyed!", Jinkara groaned sorely, un-sticking himself from his soft soil cocoon, and limping back into the gentle light of the nest.

"Still alive I see!", Vermillion laughed, his cold voice echoing around the nest, his booming voice pounding inside Jinkara’s skull, "It seems you’ve under estimated me Jinkara, and that will be your undoing!", Vermillion roared, bending low and launching his entire body at Jinkara.

Vermillion hurled through the air at Jinkara like a missile, drawing his long, muscular arm back, and with a enormous explosion of power brought his fist rocketing forward, aiming for Jinkara as he stood infront of the blown through wall.

In no time flat, the first had covered the distance between Vermillion and Jinkara, a gigantic rooster tail of dust driven into the air by the slip stream coming off the huge form of Vermillion’s fist.

Though Jinkara knew and saw the fist was coming, his blurry vision allowing him that much, he was unable to do anything about it. His legs seemed unable move, preferring to stay rigid like tree trunks then move. His arms seemed heavier then lead, Jinkara barely able to move his clawed fingers, let alone his hands. Try as he might, Jinkara was unable to do anything except stand and watch as Vermillion’s fist rocketed towards him.

Closer and closer the fist drew, the rooster tail of dust behind it completely concealing Vermillion from site. The blurriness in Jinkara’s eyes gradually cleared, but it was not as fast as the fist was closing. All the while, Jinkara struggled to regain motion in his limbs, his arms and legs shaking with the enormous effort exerted on his throbbing muscles.

There Jinkara stood, unable to move, looking like a man facing the firing squad. Rocketing towards Jinkara was Vermillion’s gigantic hand, balled into a fist as large as a minivan, ready to annihilate the paralyzed figure of Jinkara.

Finally, when it seemed that everything was over for Jinkara, his body about to be crushed with one powerful blow, it happened. When the fist closed within an arms length of Jinkara, he suddenly found his arms to be movable. Suddenly filled with a furious joy at the thought of his arms working again, Jinkara’s eyes blazed a brighter, more viciously red then ever before.

"I don’t think so!", Jinkara roared taking a long step backwards and drawing his fist back as far as it’d go.

Throwing his whole body behind his fist, Jinkara exploded forward, his fist rocketing through the air like a bullet. Faster then lightning, the two demonic fists crashed into one another with the force of two speeding semitrailers.

It was a truly beautiful site, Vaugn had to admit as he watched the aftermath.

As if watching the demolition of a building, Vermillion’s arm began to explode the second it collided with Jinkara’s fist. Vermillion’s hand exploded and collapsed under Jinkara’s attack, squashing and deforming as his arm continued pushing forward, blood exploding from under the skin like fountains. With a chain reaction of explosions all through out his arm, fountain after fountain of blood exploded from underneath Vermillion’s forearm, an enormous shockwave ripping through his arm. Deep inside Vermillion’s arm, the bones shattered as if made of glass and exploded apart, giant pieces of white bone ripping through the flesh like giant white pillars reaching to the sky, blood dripping from their tips and seeping from the puncture wounds around them.

Vermillion reeled, roaring in pain as his arm came speeding back to him, shrinking at alarming speed and returning to him as if drawn by a powerful winch. In no time flat, Vermillion’s arm had returned to it’s normal length at his side, only to flail lamely and bleed profusely which each of Vermillion’s strained roars of pain.

"You bastard!", Vermillion roared, spitting flying from his mouth in his fury, the fingers of his now broken arm twitching and jerking sporadically, "I was going to toy with you! Let you live a little longer! But now…now I’m pissed!", he shouted as his wound on his shouldered began to widen, a low, rumbling roar echoing from inside.

"I’m done playing Vermillion,", Jinkara called out to Vermillion, slowly walking forward with something like a swagger, "But my patients for traitors like you has run out, and I’m going to end this!", Jinkara roared, exploding forward and sprinting as fast as he can towards Vermillion.

"You dare insult me like that? I’ll tear you limb from limb for that!!" Vermillion roared, the gaping hole on Vermillion’s shoulder stretching wider then ever before, tearing slightly around the edges and unleashing an absolute tidalwave of exploding maggots

"If you can catch me first!",Jinkara roared as he charged towards the oncoming surge of maggots.

Smiling to himself, Jinkara barrled rolled gracefully out of the way of the oncoming torrents of maggots, which shot past only inches from his stomach. Touching down one legged, Jinkara was forced to kick off one legged and flip through the air as another torrent of maggots shot underneath him a fraction of a second later. Landing and stumbling slightly on the shattered concrete ground, Jinkara had barely a second to react as yet another wave of exploding maggots shot towards his face. Collapsing his legs, and falling to his hip, Jinkara slid swiftly under the torrent of maggots, looking very similar to a baseball player sliding into home.

Over and over, Jinkara continued to duck, weave, leap and dodge his way past wave after wave of exploding maggots, each one getting closer and closer to dousing him with their lethal mix. In the distance, Vermillion continued his relentless attack on Jinkara, firing wave after wave like a machine gunner cutting down his enemy.

"So Jin, you do have a plan right?", Vaugn asked as Jinkara cartwheeled one-handed out of the way of yet another torrent of maggots, which shot between his spread open legs.

"Nope. Not at all.", Jinkara replied as he touched down lightly and somersaulted over yet another torrent of maggots that came within a hairs width of his chest.

"Okay…but you do know what’s you’re doing right?", Vaugn asked as Jinkara slid under yet another torrent of maggots.

"Nope. Not really,", Jinkara replied lightly as he dug his heels into the ground and popped back up to his feet, pushing himself forward with all his might,"But I do, however, know one thing Vaugn.", he finished as he pirouetted out of the way of a rapidly moving torrent of maggots, landing on the ground slightly dizzy.

"And what’s that?", Vaugn asked, slightly wary as to what the answer might be.

"I’m positive when I broke Vermillion’s arm, I also broke my hand.", Jinkara replied with a small laugh.

"You mean my hand!", Vaugn snarled, enraged by this bit of news, "Damn it Jin! I warned you about shit like that!", he finished as Jinkara leapt head first over the torrent of maggots.

"You can’t make an omelet without breaching a few eggs.", Jinkara replied as quickly side stepped a rush of maggots that rustled his hair.

"Or in this case, some bones.", Vaugn mumbled, Jinkara chuckling in amusement.

"Don’t worry Vaugn, I do have an idea, you probably won’t like it, but it’s still an idea,", Jinkara purred pushing himself forward even harder and began slowly gaining speed

In the distance, Vermillion was becoming more and more desperate, his streams of maggots becoming smaller and smaller, yet firing them much more quickly, trying everything possible to drench Jinkara with his lethal surprises.

Slowly, with each failed attack, Vermillion began backing away from the rapidly approaching, rage driven form of Jinkara, who’s red eyes were seemed to be glowing brighter and brighter with each of Vermillion’s missed attacks. It seemed impossible that Jinkara was dodging each of his attacks, yet he was, and all Vermillion could do was stand by and watch as each attack missed

"It’s time to end this Vermillion!", Jinkara roared as he ducked the torrent of maggots, took a deep breath and launched himself into the air.

Covering his head with his arms, Jinkara broke through the wave of exploding maggots like a stone. It was a strange sensation for Jinkara. It was as if small, finger sized sausages covered in glue kept smacking into his body, sticking and ripping off his flesh, the constant play of slapping, sticking, and ripping off oddly relaxing.

As quickly as Jinkara had dove into the torrent of maggots, he exploded out the top, covered from head to toe in squirming and crawling maggots. Like a gigantic bird spreading it’s wings, Jinkara threw his arms away from his head, flinging maggots from his hands like rain drops. The only part of Jinkara’s body that was covered in maggots was his face, yet his face was wearing an oddly superior, almost victorious smile, his eyes glowing brighter then ever.

"You fool!", Vermillion roared, his face splitting into a maniacal smile as Jinkara broke through the top of the maggot stream, "You’ve just sealed your fate!", he laughed, as the human hand ontop of his shoulder twitched.

Everything between the two combatants seemingly slowed down, every second of time now hundreds of times longer.

Vermillion’s face was stretched into an evil, insane smile. A mixture of crimson red ooze and two inch long maggots was pouring from a wound on his shoulder like a fire hose let loose. The human hand on his shoulder was slowly coming to life, the thumb and middle finger slowly coming together, getting ready to deliver their eerie snap, the snap that would end Jinkara permanently.

Jinkara’s mind and concentration was set as he flew through the air at breakneck speak. His visions was strangely hazy around the edges like he was looking through a foggy window, while the center was clearer then crystal, giving him unprecedented clarity. His clawed hand, usually unstoppable when it came to tearing flesh, was now reaching longingly out infront of him, reaching for a goal slightly to far out of reach.

"Good bye Jinkara! You’ll rot in heaven for eternity.", Vermillion roared as the thumb and middle finger of his shoulder-grown human hand touched briefly, slid together ever so slightly, and separated, the middle finger falling like a guillotine towards his palm.

But the snap never came. All was silent, all was peaceful. Not a sound was heard except the gentle crackle of the burning human remains.

Everything seemed to pause in time.

Vermillion’s insane smile was still prominent on his ugly face, yet all life seemed to have vanished from it..His breathing had all but ceased, his jaw trembling slightly. His whole body seemed to be paralyzed, all motion in his mismatched legs and muscle-bulging arms having frozen completely. The flood of maggots pouring from his shoulder gradually died away, turning from a torrent to a mere trickle.

Slowly, motion returned to Vermillion’s body, his neck being the first to recover. As if having no desire to do so, Vermillion’s neck slowly twisted on his shoulder, revealing to him the sight he had been dreading the most.

Looking like some sort of demonic bird perched atop his shoulder was Jinkara. Jinkara was doubled over and his clawed feet were stabbed firmly into Vermillion’s flesh, sinking deeply into his shoulder. Jinkara’s arm was outstretched as far as it’d go, his clawed hand entangled firmly in the human hand growing from Vermillion’s shoulder, looking exactly like how two humans hold hands.

Letting out a long, low sigh of relief, Jinkara’s head slowly turned on his neck, his glowing red eyes staring firmly into Vermillion’s face. As the two demons stared into eachother’s vicious eyes, a small smile broke across Jinkara’s lips, growing until his fangs were bared in a dark, evil smile.

"No…impossible.", Vermillion croaked, unable to speak normally as his mouth and voice box were still clearly in a state of enormous shock.

"Impossible? Please.", Jinkara chuckled darkly, slowly sinking his claws into the back of Vermillion’s hand he was holding, blood spurting from around his claws, "Now…if you’re not going to use this, mind if I borrow it?", he asked calmly, and with an explosion of power, Jinkara pulled with all his might.

In the blink of an eye, Jinkara’s hand shot upwards and his back straightened, and faster then he could react, Vermillion’s human arm was ripped off at the elbow, leaving a bleeding, slightly twitching stump.

Vermillion roared with pain as jets of blood squirted from the severed limb like a dying sprinkler. As if trying to swat a particularly large fly on his shoulder, Vermilion’s non-shattered arm shot up into the air, it’s fingers spread wide ready to snare Jinkara and crush him into dust.

Paying the hand little attention, Jinkara bent down slightly, and pushed off backwards from Vermillion’s shoulder, his claws tearing out Vermillion’s flesh as back flipped away, leaving Vermillion’s hand to clench around nothing but his own bleeding shoulder a heartbeat later.

Still grasping the severed, bleeding human arm, which continued to drip blood gently to the ground with a soft drip, Jinkara landed a short distance ahead of Vermillion, who’s hand was firmly grasping his own shoulder, breathing heavily out of rage.

"So? Vermillion, tell me…what are you going to do now without this?", Jinkara asked, holding up the limp and bleeding arm held firmly in his clawed hand, staring up into Vermillion’s rage stricken face.

"I don’t need that to destroy you Jinkara!", Vermillion roared, pointing a long finger at Jinkara, who had begun shaking himself like a dog drying itself, his coat of maggots flying away from him like water, "With the Ring of Assention, I’m still more powerful then you! I’ll tear you apart with my bare hands!", he shouted, launching himself at Jinkara, charging Jinkara like a enraged bull.

"Just what I wanted to hear!", Jinkara roared with a vicious smile, finishing his fit of shaking and tossing the severed arm away, straightening up and staring at Vermillion.

With a roar of pure anger, Vermillion summoned an enormous amount of power, pulling his heavy form forward with a renewed intensity. Each of Vermillion’s massive, mismatched steps shook the room terribly, knocking loose large chunks of concrete from the battered walls and cracking the stone beneath his feet. His disfigured face was split in a look of utter rage, his teeth bared to their fullest.

It took Vermillion very little time to cover the distance between he and Jinkara, now within an arms length of his former master, who for one reason or another, was standing as if what he was seeing was not worth his time.

Seeing this clear sign insolence on Jinkara’s part as a taunt, Vermillion’s rage boiled over. Roaring with rage, Vermillion lunged at Jinkara with all his might, throwing all his weight behind his non-broken arm.

"This ends here!", Vermillion roared, his face livid with rage as his fist closed closer and closer towards Jinkara, preparing to crush his body with a single blow.

Yawning in a mockingly bored sort of way, Jinkara watched with a smile as Vermillion’s fist drew closer and closer, his visions completely consumed by the large pink mass. Casually, Jinkara rose his non-broken hand in front of him, looking as if telling someone to stop, and dug his clawed toes into the ground.

WHAM!

With the force of a runaway freight train, Vermillion’s fist crashed into Jinkara’s palm, pushing Jinkara back from the sheer force of the blow. Using all the strength in his mismatched legs, Vermillion began pushing Jinkara back as it was nothing. Further and further, Vermillion pushed Jinkara, clearly trying to overwhelm him with his sheer strength and gain the upperhand.

With each mismatched step however, it became increasing harder and harder for Vermillion to overpower the small figure of Jinkara, who was as before, casually holding his hand infront of him, holding back Vermillion minivan sized fist. Though his legs felt as if they were about to break from the force of pushing back Jinkara, Vermillion wouldn’t give up, not when the taste of victory was prominent in his mouth.

From a stampeding rage, to a desperate pushing match, Vermillion’s feet began slipping and sliding on the pavement, no longer the driving force of Vermillion’s last ditch cry to destroy Jinkara. Despite this, Vermillion continued to push with all his might, his muscles screaming in agony, his body starting to glisten as sweat began to pour from his skin. Finally, the strain was to much, and Vermillion’s legs gave out, the muscles seizing immediately. Panting heavily ,Vermillion fell to his knees and doubled over, sweat pouring from his face and spit flying from his mouth with each ragged breath.

"So, is that all you have Vermillion?", Jinkara purred, starring into Vermillion’s sweating face.

"You…insolent…bastard!", Vermillion panted, trying to continue to push Jinkara backwards the best he could from one knee, but only to have his foot slide hopelessly on the ground, "I’ll destroy you yet!", he coughed, trying to sound as threatening as possible, but to no avail.

"Clearly you’ll try Vermillion,", Jinkara replied, sinking his claws into Vermillion’s hand, "But this, my former follower, is where you die.", he finished calmly, smiling broadly into Vermillion’s face

With an enormous explosion of power, Jinkara threw his arm holding off Vermillion upwards above his head, dragging Vermillion’s arm behind it. A second later, Vermillion felt his body leave the concrete ground beneath him, fly upwards into the air and gradually slow to a halt upside down, gazing down at the top of Jinkara’s head. For a moment, Vermillion was suspended upside down, nothing more then Jinkara’s own arm holding his entire body up as if he was as light as a feather.

An instant later, Vermillion felt his arm twist in it’s socket before his body began spinning around like a twister, his vision blurring in whirl of grey and black. The only thing that Vermillion recognized was the top of Jinkara’s head, the hair atop of his head lifting into the air as he spun.

As quickly as the spinning started, Vermillion felt his body begin to fall to earth, the scene infront of him changing from that of the top of Jinkara’s head, turning a second later to Jinkara’s leering face, the scene behind him nothing but another grey and black blur.

With a steady acceleration, Jinkara began to spin faster and faster, Vermillion’s arm beginning to stretch and tear at his joints, feeling as if Jinkara spun any faster, it’d tear to pieces and send him flying.

Just as Vermillion’s arm was reaching it’s limits and about to tear, the pain was suddenly lifted. Just as the pain was lifted however, Vermillion saw that Jinkara was shrinking at alarming speed, as if he was running away as fast as he could. It was only a moment later that Vermillion noticed that the nest around him was a blur. With a shock of realization, Vermillion suddenly knew that the reason why Jinkara was getting smaller was because he had let go of Vermillion and sent him flying through the air like a frisbee.

Vermillion rocketed through the air like a javelin, the nest around him a blur of grey and black, streaked with the occasional flash of orange. Before Vermillion knew where he was, his body slammed into a concrete wall back first, his head crashing into it and shattering the stone behind it, splitting the back of his skull open like a melon. Slowly, Vermillion’s limp body slid down the wall and fell to the ground with a soft ‘fwump’, landing on his backside. His head seemed frozen on his neck, his glazed over eyes staring out over the nest before him, a very small figure in the distance the only sign of life in the room other then himself. Slowly, his neck gave way, and Vermillion’s head fell heavily to his chest.

"That bastard! I’ll rip him from that humans body and destroy him completely!", Vermillion snarled from his chest, spit dripping from his mouth.

"Is that so?", a vicious voice called out infront of Vermillion.

Raising his head from his chest, Vermillion stared into the nest. In a heartbeat, Vermillion’s skin blanched and his mind went blank, his body once more paralyzed by what he saw.

Mere feet from Vermillion’s face, flying through the air like a missile, was Jinkara, his clawed hand stretched out and fingers pointed, his face spread in a wide grin.

Time itself seemed to slow down as the inevitable drew closer and closer.

Hunched over and slumped against the wall was Vermillion, his deformed and bleeding body seemingly paralyzed. One of his arms was broken and shattered, shards of bone sticking through the skin as blood trickled from underneath the skin. His face was one of blank terror, his eyes staring and unwavering, his breathing seemingly ceased. Blood was oozing from behind his head, and from his ears, the aftermath of his skull slamming into the hard concrete wall.

Flying towards Vermillion like a demonic spear was Jinkara. His right arm out stretched, and his clawed hand pointed, looking as if it was readying to grab something, his left arm pinned tightly at his side. His mouth was stretched in a wide, evil grin, his fangs poking out around the edge of his mouth. His eyes were blazing like red suns, shattering the darkness around him completely.

Like a missile, Jinkara slammed into Vermillion, driving his head back into the concrete wall. Jinkara’s arm rammed into Vermillion’s face, his hand tearing straight through his forehead and burying it up to his shoulder. Like a battering ram, Jinkara’s hand exploded out the backside of Vermillion’s head in a tightly clenched fist.

Vermillion’s face was frozen in an expression of utter surprise and terror, the red glow of his eyes slowly dying away. His body was as still as a statue, not a finger twitching, not a single muscle spasming. All breathing had ceased, the once slow and steady rising and falling of Vermillion’s stopping in mid breath.

Slowly, black blood began to pour from around Jinkara’s arm that was still firmly implanted in Vermillion’s forehead. Like a waterfall, the blood cascaded down Vermillion’s face, soaking the clothes that Jinkara was wearing and running down Vermillion’s body, soaking it black.

"It’s over.", Jinkara purred as he slowly dug his clawed feet into Vermillion’s motionless chest and with some difficulty, pried his blood covered arm from the head of Vermillion, his fist still firmly clenched.

Slowly straightening up, Jinkara unstuck his clawed feet from the motionless body of Vermillion and turned around, looking out over the battlefield.

The nest,as it was, looked like the aftermath of a warzone. Everywhere Jinkara looked, the concrete was now shattered, cratered and obliterated. Craters and holes were blown in the thick concrete wall, small pieces on concrete continually raining down from the top of the holes. The floor was littered in human remains, the pile of bones and burning body parts long since scattered around from the battle. The floor was pock marked and cratered, looking like a scene after a bombing run in one of those old World War 2 movies that were usually shown on late night TV. The roof on the other hand was in perfect condition, except for one large crater in the concrete roof where Vermillion had slammed Jinkara head first.

All in all, given what past battlefields had looked liked, particularly the airport, it wasn’t to bad.

"Not to bad for a good night’s work.", Jinkara said casually as he started down Vermillion’s motionless body, strolling down his chest, down his stomach, and hopping off, gently touching down on the concrete floor, his fist still firmly clenched.

"Depends who you ask.", Vaugn replied, rather coldly as Jinkara strolled to the center of the nest and looking around as he did so.

"I was asking you…", Jinkara said simply, shrugging his shoulder as he lightly nudged a human skull by his foot, rolling it over so it was right side up.

"All those doctors who were killed. Those policemen. Those citizens on the street. And the dock workers.", Vaugn replied shortly as Jinkara studied the skull which he had kicked, and the large hole in it’s forehead, "Seems like the night wasn’t as good as you thought afterall.", Vaugn finished as Jinkara raised a foot up and brought it crashing down on the skull, shattering it instantly and grinding it to dust.

"Once again Vaugn…eggs and omelets.", Jinkara replied in an exasperated tone.

"What’s in the fist anyway?", Vaugn asked, and though he sounded annoyed, there was a note of curiosity that he couldn’t hide.

"What?This?", Jinkara asked, in an expression of mock questioning, turning his fist upwards and opening it, revealing a gently glowing blue diamond, and a gently glowing, bright white ring "Like you had to ask Vaugn.", he finished with a slight laugh.

"Vermillion’s soul shard and his ring…I should have known.", Vaugn said with a sigh as Jinkara dropped the soul shard which fell to the ground lightly, tinkling slightly as it hit the concrete floor and pocketing the Ring of Assention in what remained of Vaugn’s pants.

"Should have.", Jinkara replied, raising one of his clawed feet into the air, and smiling evilly, "But didn’t.", he finished, bringing his foot crashing down to earth ontop of the soul shard, crushing it to dust like the human skull.

The room around Jinkara was silent, except for the gentle grinding coming from under Jinkara’s foot, or the occasional crack or snap of burning human remains. It seemed that all life had finally left the a room so thick with death.

Breaching the silence for the first time since Vermillion’s death, a soft hissing, fizzing and crackling sound gently filled the air, coming somewhere from behind Jinkara

Turning around, Jinkara saw that Vermillion’s body had started to gently burn away. But it wasn’t burning away like Dogma or Eris’s body burned away.

It was burning away, there was no denying it. A gentle red-orange glow was moving like a slow moving wave from the edges of Vermillion’s body, inwards towards the center of his chest, yet the body remained. Before, when Eris and Dogma burned away, they turned instantly to ash. But it seemed that for whatever reason, this wasn’t the case for Vermillion’s body. Once the burning red-orange glow passed over the pink flesh, it merely turned a strange, dark purple colour, remaining in it’s bodily shape.

"What’s wrong with the body Jin?", Vaugn asked, confusion very prominent in his voice, "Why isn’t it burning away like Dogma or Eris?"

"I’m not sure, but I think we’re about to find out.", Jinkara replied as the burning waves of red-orange glow converged in the center of Vermillion’s chest.

As soon as the waves of burning embers merged on Vermillion’s chest, nothing happened. Vaugn and Jinkara stared at the lifeless body, waiting for something to happen, but it never came.

"Well…that’s odd.", Jinkara said, scratching his head and looking slightly puzzled, "Oh well, let’s get out of here.", he finished, turning his back on Vermillion’s corpses and starting towards the door.

Before Jinkara could take half a dozen steps, a very odd sound filled the air. It was the sound one would expect a giant bubble of thick sludge popping to sound like. Turning around, Jinkara saw that Vermillion’s lifeless body had slowly began to to swell as if being filled with air. The now dark purple skin began to expand and stretch, small tears starting to form all over the body as Vermillion’s fingers and toes bulged and swelled like balloons.

Steadily, Vermillion’s eyes began to bulge from his head before falling out of his sockets with a slightly comical ‘pop’. His nose swelled and swelled until it grew to the size of a basket ball before it burst and blowing chunks of flesh forward, popping loudly that echoed around the room.

"What’s going on Jin?", Vaugn asked as Jinkara began to slowly back away from the lifeless body of Vermillion, who’s fingers and toes had now swollen to over three times their regular size

"I don’t know.", Jinkara replied as more and more tears began to rip open on the surface of Vermillion’s flesh, "But whatever is happening I don’t think we want to be around for it.", he finished, starting to back away with more hurried steps.

As Jinkara continued to back away, a thick, purple fog began to seep from the eyes sockets, nose hole, tears in the flesh, and even the hole in Vermillion’s head. Like fog from dry ice, it began crawling down Vermillion’s body and falling weightlessly to the floor, creeping towards Jinkara. With each passing second, the fog thickened and poured from the wounds faster and faster, going from a slow crawl to a fast flow, covering the distance between itself and Jinkara very quickly.

"Let’s get out of here Jin!", Vaugn said hastily as the fog closed within spitting distance of Jinkara’s clawed feet.

"Way ahead of you Vaugn!", Jinkara replied quickly, pushing himself backwards away from the fog and starting to dash towards the entrance of the nest.

As Jinkara was reaching the exit, a thunderous boom shattered the silence behind him. Craning his neck around, Jinkara saw pieces of Vermillion’s body flying in every direction as a massive cloud of the same purple fog that had been crawling along the ground came rocketing towards him like a tsunami.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Jinkara kicked it into high gear, sprinting so quickly that he barely noticed he had left the nest and was now racing along the small lit patches of light in the dark underground parkade, the purple fog chasing him like a hungry lion.

Sprinting at top speed, Jinkara ripped around the corner he had turned down earlier in his pursuit of Vermillion, his feet sliding along the ground as if the concrete was ice. Stumbling slightly as his feet gripped the pavement, Jinkara hurled himself faster and faster through the underground parkade, the small patches of light blazing by like flashes of lightning, a dull purple glow cast infront of him as the fog continued to race after Jinkara, hot on his heels.

Everything seemed to be one big blur to Jinkara. His feet were frantically carrying him away from Vermillion’s nest, followed closely by an ominous, toxic looking cloud. To Jinkara, the underground parkade seemed a hundred times larger now, unsure of when he’d ever reach the up ramp that would lead him away from the nest and out into the safety of the dock.

Finally, after what seemed like a life time of desperate sprinting, Jinkara felt the pavement beneath him gently climbing upwards towards the surface, and with it, escape was insight.

"We’re almost there Vaugn!", Jinkara said, panting slightly, and with a final burst of speed, began his last desperate push the finish bathed in fresh air.

Gradually fading into life, a clear starry sky punctured the darkness, the shimmering stars a welcomed change from the dreary black underworld. Flooding from the top world, a wall of fresh air crashed into Jinkara, filling his lungs with the smell of life, the excitement it brought invigorating Jinkara even further. Pushing himself as hard as he could, almost taking flight with each step, Jinkara’s head broke the surface of the ground, and one last desperate push later, Jinkara went flying over the edge of the ramp like an Olympic long jumper. Stumbling slightly as he landed, Jinkara wasted no time in his desperate attempt to escape the surging mass of purple fog which was about to explode through the ramp opening.

It was a second before Jinkara realized he was running in between the rows of patients he had walked through earlier. The patients were no longer chanting, but were standing at attention like soldiers, their hands pinned at their sides, the faces oddly a light with excitement, as if expecting something. None of the patients payed Jinkara any attention as he scrambled between them, appearing to be invisible to them.

In the center of the mass of patients, the purple fog exploded from the opening in the ground, rocketing upwards in an evil mushroom cloud. Towering above the ground a hundred feet, the cloud hovered ominously above the ground before it gently collapsed on itself and floated down to earth, spreading out as landed on the ground, continuing to pursue Jinkara as it washed over the patients.

Twisting his head around, Jinkara saw the rolling cloud of purple fog was catching up to him, washing over the patients he ran past like a tidal surge. Each patient seemed to collapse when hit by the wave as if it was a solid wall of concrete, only to be engulfed and disappear from Jinkara’s sight in the thick purple mass.

"Jin! Get us off the ground and someplace high!", Vaugn shouted desperately from all around Jinkara.

"No need to tell me twice!", Jinkara growled as he passed the last patients of the rows he had been running between and emerged down a narrow alley way between two large warehouses.

With a enormous push of his powerful legs, Jinkara flew high into the air,arcing high above the dock and warehouse rooves below him. Gently falling from the sky, Jinkara floated down from the air like a leaf, landing lightly on the edge of one of the rooftops of the warehouses he had been running between moments before.

Turning around, Jinkara was able to over look the ground trailer parkade, and the ramp leading below ground. The purple fog, that moments before had threatened to consume Jinkara, was merely hovering over the ground above the ground trailer parkade. Jinkara couldn’t see any of the patients that had been standing at attention, so he figured the fog must have consumed them.

Everything was silent in the dock yard, except for the occasional groan of metal, or the gentle whisper of wind. The fog seemed unperturbed by the wind, as it continued to hover on spot, like some sort of fluid canvas top. No sound escaped from the cloud, and Jinkara had a strange feeling about it, causing the back of his neck to tingle.

Quietly, weak groans began escaping from the cloud, and gently echoing around the trailer parkade. These voices sounded human, and for the most part, they sounded sore and confused. A sign that someone was alive in the mass of purple fog.

"What do you think’s happening Jin?", Vaugn asked Jinkara as more and more voices began issuing from the cloud, mixing and jumbling with one another, forming a loud, confused din of human voices.

"I think we’re about to find out.", Jinkara replied casually as the cloud began to disappear into thin air, gradually revealing the large group of patients that it had engulfed.

Though from his high vantage point, Jinkara couldn’t tell what had happened, yet by the voices that were coming from the ground, he knew that somehow the patients who moments before had been infected with Vermillion’s plague, were now cured and back to the way they were before.

With the cloud gone, it revealed to the Vaugn and Jinkara a confused, stumbling mass of patients in their white, blood stained hospital gowns. It looked as if the patients were drunk, as they had a hard time standing, many of them leaning on one another for balance, trying to orientate themselves as to where they were.

"So. All we had to do cure the people of Tokyo was kill Vermillion.", Jinkara purred crossing his arms as he watched the patients stumble around in confusion, wondering where they were, "Seems kind of obvious now wouldn’t you say?", he finished, turning his back on the confused crowd below him and walking away along the roof top.

"It does make sense yes.", Vaugn replied in agreeance, "But what wasn’t so obvious was your concern for my body!", he finished, his voice full of annoyance as Jinkara leapt lightly from the edge of the warehouse, and sailing through the air, landed lightly on the next warehouse roof.

"What? I was concerned!", Jinkara retorted in mock outrage, "I was afraid you were going to get us killed!", he finished, and though Vaugn was upset, could help but chuckle slightly.

"What about the times I wasn’t in control huh?", Vaugn shot back as Jinkara began to jog lightly across the roof, "What about all those times you got blown up?", he asked ,as once more Jinkara leapt high into the air, sailing across several roof tops before landing once more atop a warehouse and dashing to the other side, now only a short distance from the edge of the port.

"How many times do I have to tell you Vaugn?", Jinkara replied as he leapt off the edge of the warehouse, and sailed high through the air once more, clearing the dock fence and landing lightly behind, breaking into a run as he landed on the shabby city street outside the dock, "Eggs and…"

"Yeah yeah yeah! Eggs and omelets! I get it!", Vaugn cut Jinkara off, who merely chuckled as he ran down the empty street at top speed, the patter of his clawed feet echoing off the blank walls of the surrounding buildings, "Just get me home so I can get some sleep alright?", he finished as Jinkara leapt lightly into the air towards the buildings and landed lightly ontop of a blackened rooftop a moment later.

"You got it Vaugn.", Jinkara replied as he began leaping from roof top to roof top, cutting his way home over the sleeping city of Tokyo, "And you know…all this talk of eggs and omelets has made me kind of hungry. I wonder if Coonai will be up to make us something?", he finished as he leapt lightly and silently into the dark night.

Somewhere on the other end of the city, Vaugn’s warm bed awaited him, and Vaugn couldn’t wait to crawl under the warm covers and fall asleep for a well deserved nights rest. Having his body beaten as thoroughly as it had been always has a habit of making him sleepy. Somewhere on the other end of the city, five friends were wide awake, sick with worry about Vaugn, waiting for him to return home to make sure that he was alive. And somewhere on the other end of the city, waiting next to his friends and his warm bed…a first aid kit with Vaugn’s name on it, ofcourse.


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