Anointed/Setting Sun/Nightmares 1/2

Writer's Note: To avoid further confusion for the readers, I suggest you start with Chapter 6: Decay.



Chapter Summary: As Jet finds himself in this eerie world of decay, he soon is confronted by feral demons. After the ANOINTED is captured, the demons lock him in a cell, attempting to lure the one known as the REEDEMER. Will their ploy work?

And during the wait for Jet's unexpected comrade, Murdor gives in to his temptation to kill and takes his time with Jet! Can Jet stay alive long enough for his arrival to aid him? And should he not survive, would their still be hope for Nebulan?







Chapter 7

NIghtmares





Jet kept his eyes on the still door. The cackles of Gabren echoed within it, his maniacal laughter closing in on his position. He fell to a crouch as the DARK DEMON’S voice grew to a higher volume.

Jet’s change of attitude was evident. He would usually flee to safety, but this time he welcomed the idea of such danger. Jet felt like he was literally fighting a pull as he stood there. This supernatural pull seemed to be guiding him towards the demon’s laughter.

His desire to surrender to the pull and fight the demon was incomprehensible. Just standing in his spot—waiting for his prey, seemed like he was defying the laws of physics.

“So nice of you to join us, CHOSEN—just when I was starting to get bored, too. Do you have time to play?” Gabren asked with his child’s-voice.

Jet grinned as he watched the door intently. Again, he oddly wasn’t afraid in the least. He still seemed to be looking forward to Gabren’s approach. “Normally, I’d say I have first period to run back to. But for you, I think I can adjust my schedule a bit.”

“Oooh! That’s so sweet of the CHOSEN,” Gabren mocked in a high pitch voice.

The door flew from its hinges as the snarl of Gabren rang out with malice, “But I’ve been known to play rough!” The face of the door hurled towards Jet at an incredible rate.

Jet’s smile remained as he only raised one hand to block it. The face of the metal door stopped instantly in place by Jet’s one, effortless, move. The door made a loud thud as it fell on the ground.

Both CHOSEN and DARK DEMON eyed each other, as the veiling door fell. Jet raised a brow as he saw Gabren’s ivy whips—the cause of the door’s attack—retract back into arms while Gabren glared in frustration as he saw only one of Jet’s hand stopped the rapid metal door.

He concealed his frustration and tried to keep the same calm smile the CHOSEN was baring. “Impressive. At least now you’re not sniveling on the floor.”

Jet’s grin grew. “I can’t believe I did such a thing, too—seeing as how the opponent was you.” He clenched his open palm as he glared at the now-snarling Gabren. “But this time, Gabren, you’re going to be the one sniveling on the floor.”

Gabren’s eyes widened in fury as he clenched his teeth shut. His growl erupted to a roar. “Why you impertinent fool!” He swung his arm forward, extending it to an ivy whip. The whip came crashing towards the top of Jet’s head.

Jet caught the whip with one of his hands.

Gabren snarled and swung his other arm towards Jet’s side.

Again, Jet easily caught the whip, now holding one overhead and another to his side.

Jet pulled the demon’s whip-like arms till they could be pulled no more. As he began his pull, he crisscrossed Gabren’s arms, tightening them in an x formation. He was only able to see Gabren’s glower for a few seconds before he over lapped the two twined arms with extreme speed. The motion caused Gabren to twist in midair and crash his back onto the wooden floor.

Jet’s bottom lip pursed into a pout as he mocked the demon lying on its back. “Aww…Poor baby went boom?”

“You little—”

“I know just the cure.” Jet pulled Gabren’s arms backwards, causing the demon to slide its back against the wooden floor. Jet jumped when the lying Gabren skidded close enough. He flipped in air and landed his two feet on Gabren’s stomach. The demon wheezed at Jet’s landing.

Just as quickly as his landing, Jet jumped off of Gabren, letting go of his arms and performing a flip with a half-twist to face the demon as he propelled further away from him.

When he landed on his feet he was instantly tempted to look behind him. It was the same pull he felt before. It wasn’t coming from the demon, after all. It was coming from the room the demon was in.

The pull was irresistible; he had to see what caused this illusive magnitude of gravity. He turned to see a circular table made of rusted metal. In the middle of that table was an attached hexagonal pole stretching upwards a few feet. Circled around the pole, was a beautiful golden hexagonal bracelet.

Jet’s eyes stared at the object in fascination. His eyes could barely fight off the gravity’s pull. It all became clear to him at that moment: It wasn’t the room pulling him either, it was the bracelet. It was so radiant and glorious. Jet felt an immeasurable power flowing through him just from looking at it. The accessory portrayed the epitome of hope and salvation—a far contrast when compared to the décor around it. The bracelet seemed to shine brighter as Jet approached it in a daze.

Although transfixed on the bracelet, sound was not foreign to Jet. He could hear the whipping of wind from behind him as Gabren’s arms extended towards Jet at an alarming rate.

Through his increased hearing, he gathered the angle of where the demon’s whips were moving and quickly registered Gabren’s intent. He could hear thorns piercing out of the green whips. The whips were moving to each side of him, just over his shoulders—probably to brutally strangle his neck.

Knowing this, Jet kept his back faced to Gabren as he gracefully caught the whips just passed his shoulders.

Still not looking back, he smirked. “Are you that desperate, Gabren?”

Jet squeezed Gabren’s whip-like arms, ignoring the barbed thorns now on the surface and sinking them into his skin. Strangely, as Jet’s hands bled from the piercing thorns, it only excited him. He could feel adrenaline rush to his head as the palm of his hands burned from the wound. “Are you so weak that you need a handicap?” His smirk grew as he heard the furious roar behind him and felt the whips flail from his grasp fruitlessly. “How pathetic.”

Gabren would have rippled another furious howl from Jet’s additional comment, had he the time to respond. With a simple pull from the CHOSEN, he found himself flying towards Jet at blinding speed, his arms released by the boy’s hold. He realized this too late as his stomach crushed into Jet’s hard elbow—the CHOSEN was so fast, Gabren couldn’t even register the time he was tugged though the air. All he could remember was a pull of his arms and an instant elbow in his stomach.

Gabren’s mouth opened wide as he struggled for air. His whips retracted and his hands fell to his impaled stomach, hunching forward as he tried to catch his breath. He didn’t have time to recover as he felt Jet twist around and land a powerful blow to his cheek. The move not only knocked him into the air but caused him to do two blurry twists. The wall made a loud crack as Gabren’s back sky-rocketed into it, impaling it into a wooden crater.

Jet grinned at his accomplishment, looking down at the clearly-beaten Gabren. “Well, you’re not sniveling yet but you seem down for the count. Too bad you’re not much of a fight. I wanted to test my power a bit longer.”

“How about a real challenge then,” a deep and rough voice replied from behind. It sounded as if the voice was in the room containing the bracelet.

Jet whirled around to meet eyes with another DARK DEMON. This one had short wild silver hair and red glowing eyes. It wore ripped black cargo jeans and an opened pale grey leather jacket over his tight black shirt. The sleeves on the jacket were longer than his arms—long enough to hide his hands completely.

He’d look as intimidating as a two year old trying out his father’s jacket if it weren’t for the robust bulge of his muscles showing underneath the sleeves.

Jet glared in intimidation at the smirking, burly demon that was eye level to Jet’s own. Physically he was just as tall as him, but to Jet, it felt as if he was towering over him.

He watched as the demon looked towards Gabren. “Satisfied, fool? I told you he’s out of your league.” He turned his attention back to Jet.

There was something about his expression that confused Jet—the demon’s glare wasn’t just out of anger it seemed, but out of rivalry, as if they had fought before. “But don’t get cocky, boy. Unlike him, I’ll be quite the challenge. After all, I’m not as weak as I was before, Jet.”

This threw Jet back. Was his inference of the brute’s expression correct? No! How could it be?! Jet wouldn’t have forgotten something so important. “What do you mean before?”

What a punk. If the ANOINTED thought he was going to get away with what he’d done to him and his brother four years ago just by playing dumb, he was sadly mistaken. He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t toy with me, boy. You may have grown, but your power rate is nowhere near what it was when you drove us away last time.”

“What are you talking about?! Who are you?!”

Murdor squeezed his eyes in impatience. This game was getting aggravating. “I’m Murdor, you fool! I fought with Kila. We’re the Hell Brothers.” Murdor gave a prideful smile. “Does that ring any bells?”

It was riddle after another with this guy. “Look! I don’t know you or Kila and that title of yours is news to me.”

Murdor’s eyes flared open in fury. How dare he forget their names?! “Enough!

“Now listen.” His lips rose slowly to form a challenging smile as he folded his covered arms. He cocked his head towards the bracelet behind him. “That there is the HEAVEN’S BRACELET. It is the only thing that can give you your full and true power.” Murdor stood in the frame of the doorway, smirking in condescendence. “If you can pass me, it’s yours.”

Jet smirked back in the same fashion. “How kind of you.

“Before we do this”—Jet nodded towards the passed-out Gabren. “You did see how I mopped the floor with your friend over there, right?”

Murdor scoffed in disgust, his eyes never leaving his target. “Gabren’s a pest compared to me—a harmless roach that could be squashed by my pinky toe. Not only that, but I’ve improved since last you fought with me.”

Jet’s lips curled into a competitive smile. “Is that so? Delusions must be a hobby for demons like you. Not only do you challenge me, but you keep insisting this nonsense of us fighting before.” He crouched forward like a predator ready to pounce on its prey. “Maybe I should knock you back into reality.”

Murdor’s smile grew. His finger slowly rose to his cheek. “Let’s see if you can. I’ll give you the first punch.”

Jet’s eyes popped open in surprise, then glared in anger. This punch was going to be his last! He’d teach this vermin not to underestimate him!

Jet roared as he prepared to give a hard right to his cheek. When his fist hit, he heard a stomach-churning crackle like bones shattering. He would have grinned had a sensational pain not come from the very fist that damaged Murdor’s cheekbone.

Jet backed away, crouching as he grabbed his wrist and looked at his curled fingers that now seared with pain. His knuckles were bleeding as if he had just hit hard marble.

The pain blinded him from the obvious. He wasn’t entirely conscious of what had just happened, still distracted by the searing pain of it all. When he adjusted to the pain, he realized the reason why his fingers hurt so much. It wasn’t Murdor’s bones fracturing, but his own.

When he looked up at the face of Murdor, he saw his haughty smirk. His eyes widened as he could not find even the faintest bruise on his cheek.

Still distracted by a great deal of pain, it took all of Jet’s focus to hear Murdor’s comment.

“I said I’d let you punch my cheek, not caress it.”

Jet’s eyes were wide as saucers. What was this guy made of? He put everything he had into that punch and it didn’t even faze him—on top of that, Murdor fractured Jet’s fingers just by letting him hit his cheek!

Jet looked down to his hand, trying to ignore the pain and open his balled fingers to no avail.

As his attention was on his fractured hand, Murdor kneed him in the stomach without warning. Jet gasped as the air was knocked out of his lungs, the attack lifting his very feet off the ground and more. This guy wasn’t made of stone he was made of metal!

Jet wheezed as he continued to propel upwards until his back collided into the ceiling far above them. His back ached from the contact. He felt like thousands of razors were trying to escape his throat as he coughed a splotch of blood from his mouth before plummeting back down towards Murder’s sleeve-covered hand.

Murdor grabbed the collar of Jet’s shirt in midair. He was holding Jet up a few feet from the floor with one arm—without any strain. He smiled as he met Jet’s weary eyes, catching sight of the line of blood trickling down his chin from the corner of his mouth. He was so weak. The Jet he fought before was a million times stronger. He almost felt sorry for the twerp—almost.

He watched as Jet’s battered body trembled in its agony, the boy wearily punching his stretched-out arm with his unbroken yet shivering hand—each punch took ten seconds to deliver and would have had no force whatsoever for even a human toddler. This fight was over.

He chuckled. “There’s no need to struggle just yet. Lucky for you, we can’t kill you at the moment.”

The boy’s arms fell limply. He would have appeared passed out had he not stammered, “W-why…?”

Murdor rolled his eyes. “Must I explain everything? Fine: you’re the ANOINTED. You connect all the other CHOSEN’S together—more so than any other is the REEDEMER, said to be in the same planet as the ANOINTED. Lord Phanto plans to use that fact to his advantage. When the REEDEMER senses you’re confined, he or she will try to rescue you. When they try, we’ll capture them too.”

Jet’s body trembled vigorously as he fought from collapsing. “You’ll never…get away with this…”

Murdor smirked as Jet finally passed out in his hold. He hunched him on his shoulder and began to walk out of the room.

Gabren snarled on the floor. “Wait, you numbskull!”—Murdor turned his head slightly, glancing behind at the demon reaching for him on the floor—“You forgetting something? What about me?”

“What about you?” Murdor turned his head back to where he had been looking before. “You can rot for all I care,” he answered, shrugging his shoulders indifferently. “Whether you die or not makes no difference to us.”

He grinned humorlessly. “Don’t worry your head off… Not only will you recover, but the attacks he put you through will make you stronger.

“Again though, we don’t care what happens. Your problems are your problems, not ours.”

He tried to step into the other room again but was stopped for another reason. He could hear the patter of four furry paws miles away from the mansion and closing in. He breathed in the faint scent of lilac and rose. “Gabren, can you smell that?”

Gabren seemed more worried than Murdor—which was not saying much. “I-it’s that pup!”

This was surprising. They had expected Warpup to appear in the REDEEMER’S dreams and guide him or her to the Realm of Nightmares. Instead, he plans to save Jet personally. Did he forget that his life was in jeopardy in this dimension? Must have…

His eyes found the bracelet. Or maybe Warpup’s goal wasn’t to help Jet at all. He glanced at Gabren, who was still recovering form his defeat. It could take days till he was recovered completely. He scoffed and walked out of the room, pulling the bracelet from the hexagonal pole with his free hand.

Gabren was only able to see Murdor walk towards the table where the bracelet laid. “W-what are you doing?”

Murdor spoke as he walked further away with the accessory in hand. “Taking the bracelet with me—seeing as how you are in no condition to guard it.” And with that, he made his way to the dungeons below.

During his walk, he couldn’t help thinking about the pup’s suicidal decision. True, Warpup had been more powerful than Ion—a DARK DEMON ranked higher than Murdor, himself. However, that was only in the physical world. When Warpup’s mind was sent into this dimension, his powers—which came from his physical form—diminished.

The only one who learned how to use his physical powers in other realms was the elder alpha of alphas, Galian. Over the thousands of Moon Wolves, only one was successful.

What if Warpup learned how to as well? It may have been a thousand-to-one chance, but there still was a chance nonetheless.

As he left the last bottom step of the stairs, he opened the door to the hallway filled of jail cells on either side. As he did this, he continued to contemplate the dangers of one pup. He passed a few cells then threw Jet in and closed the barred door.

He pulled a pale yellow chair up and sat down, staring at the bracelet in his hands as he thought of what his next action should be. Phanto and Zoldar probably weren’t aware of Warpup’s pursuit. To gather transgression together into physical form would take all of their focus. Should he interrupt them from their task and be punished over a pup? Or should he fight the pup by himself? It was just one canine after all—didn’t seem like much of a crises.

During his consideration, Murdor’s eyes had wandered back to Jet. Murdor felt his lips curl into a malicious smirk as he finally realized what Warpup’s approach meant. The only reason they kept Jet alive was to lure the REDEEMER in. And now that Warpup had no intentions to bring the REDEEMER to them, Jet’s fate was sealed. He watched the boy lying on his stomach, grinning malignantly. “Dream peacefully while you can, Jet. Because when you come to, you’ll find yourself in hell.”



(You think THIS is a cliffhanger? Pfft. I scoff at you! Scoff, scoff, I say! Don't forget to rate and especially review the whole chapter when done. Ones own strength is realized through others.)



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