Demon Rising

Chapter 9: First Contact

Chapter 9: First Contact.



Walking downstairs and to the dining room, Vaugn stood outside, getting himself mentally prepared to act as normal as usual. Taking several deep breaths, he slid the door open, and walked in to find not only the whole Miasoto family there, but Shentin, Nikkai, Imari and Kihari. Everyone was watching TV and eating their dinner.

"Hey everyone, what’s up?", Vaugn greeted them, slightly taken back by everyone being here, but sitting down on his cushion between Nikkai and Shentin and pulling a bowl of noodles towards him and starting to ladle noodles into his bowl.

"Hey Vaugn. We were wondering where you were. Shentin and Nikkai came back to school and you weren’t with them.", Asuke said, looking quizically at him, but yet with a slightly accusing stare.

"Oh…um,...I was just at the store. I was really hungry.", Vaugn replied, thinking as quickly as he could, still ladling noodles into his bowl.

"Oh…I see. And it couldn’t have waited for us?", Imari asked with a raised eyebrow, looking away from the TV and looking at Vaugn.

"Well, if you’ve ever seen me when I get really hungry, you’d understand why.", Vaugn replied, with a curdious little nod and smile as he started to wolf down his noodles.

"I can tell you’re still hungry. Mustn’t have been a very big snack if you’re that hungry.", Kihari said, also looking away from the TV and watching Vaugn eat.

"Nope, it wasn’t.", Vaugn replied

The girls looked at one another, rolled their eyes, and went back to watching TV, occasionally shooting Vaugn a suspicous look.

"Hey!", Vaugn hissed, leaning over and whispering to Nikkai, "You didn’t tell them what I was doing and what we saw, did you?"

"No we didn’t. We told them you went on ahead and would meet us all here. We didn’t tell them anything about what we saw, but we have a feeling they know.", Nikkai replied, as Shentin nodded.

"Ah.", Vaugn replied with an understanding nod, and going back to his dinner.

"So did you all have a good time at the game?", Mr. Miasoto asked, turning away from the TV and looking at the group of friends.

Vaugn was glad that the girls were the ones talking. Anything to stop them from shooting suspicous looks at him was fine by him.

As the girls finished the story, the nightly news came on. This is one of the things that Vaugn was dreading. Predictably, and horribly, they started with the story that Vaugn had lived.

"Tonight, the city is realing after 3 horrific killings. 3 men were killed, and then eaten by packs of feral dogs.", the news reporter started, and Vaugn could tell he was having a little trouble talking about it, "The men all showed signs of the same trauma. They appeared to have had their throats ripped or slashed, and bled to death before the dogs started to eat their bodies. Their bodies weren’t completely consumed, but atleast 45% of each body was eaten, leaving the rest on the steet. No living dogs were found near the sight of the slayings, but eye witnesses say that they saw several dogs running from the scene. At one scene, a dog was found with 4 large slash marks stretching the entire length of the dogs body. Police are unsure what has caused the sudden vicous streak of the city’s dogs of the past few days, but if it continues, the mayor will be forced to pass a city wide ban on all dogs.", the reporter finished, and he was looking slightly green.

There was silence in the room. Everyone in the room was shocked and terrifed, their eyes wide, their mouths hanging open. Shentin, Nikkai and Vaugn looked shock aswell, though they had seen the carnage in person.

The smile that Coonai always had on had been replaced by a shocked expression. Everyone was staring at the TV that was now showing the sight of the 3 killings, with the bodies covered by a black sheet, though still laying in a large pool of blood. Though Vaugn looked shocked like all the others, having lived the story, the shock had worn off slightly.

After 10 minutes of silence, listening to the news reporters and an information line phone number, Coonai left the room with the dirty dishes, while Mr. Miasoto left for the study, and Uni went upstairs to do homework, the friends were left alone in the dining room, watching TV.

Slowly, the girls all turned to face Vaugn, not with an accusing stare, but rather a questioning stare.

Vaugn looked from one quizzical look to another, looking perfectly innocent,before Asuke spoke.

"So is that where you were Vaugn?", Asuke asked, fixxing Vaugn with a slightly excited look.

Vaugn looked from one quizzical face to another before he nodded.

"I knew it! What happened out there Vaugn?", Imari asked in a somewhat excited voice.

Vaugn proceed to tell the girls about what happened. He told them about sencing the demon’s aura, told them about finding the dogs and the body, told them about how one dog tried to attack and kill Vaugn and how Jinkara took over to save Vaugns life, and then about the voice that called the dogs off.

When Vaugn finished his story, there was silence as absolute as when everyone found about the killings.

"A voice called the dogs off?", Nikkai asked finally, his voice confused, but yet with a hint of curiosity.

"Yeah. It said that it wanted to be the one to kill me.", Vaugn started, placing his elbows on the table and leaning on them, "And after hearing that, the dogs just walked away.", Vaugn finished slowly.

"So, that was the demon then huh? The one that’s escaped hell?", Asuke asked, her eyes wide with shock, yet blazing with excitement.

"I’m positive that it’s the demon that’s escaped hell. Who else besides these demons wants to kill me?", Vaugn replied, looking around at his friends.

"And you said that Jinkara took over your body?", asked Imari, unsure if what she heard was true or not.

"Yeah. He took over when the dog was attacking, and he killed it. Not to sound melodramatic, but I kind of owe my life to him.", Vaugn replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"But last time Jinkara took over, you became a monster. What was different this time?", asked Kihari, clearly remembering last time Jinkara took over Vaugn’s body.

"I don’t know. I think he did it so that I wouldn’t be killed there. He’s mentioned that he wanted to see his follower again. He’s probably waiting until the demon shows itself. I don’t know what good it’ll do as Lucifor said that the Feral Forty want to kill him as much as they want to kill me.", Vaugn replied as a shudder of fear went through the room.

There was silence in the room, in which everyone stared at everyone. After a minute, the silence was finally broken.

"So what are we going to do?", asked Nikkai, looking at Vaugn.

Vaugn looked at Nikkai for a moment or two, taken back by this question before recovering, "What do you mean ‘what are we going to do?", asked Vaugn slowly, clearly believing he heard Nikkai wrong

"What do you think? We’re your friends, so we’re going to stand by you any way we can.", Nikkai elaborated, with nods from Shentin and Imari.

Vaugn looked around, from one friend to another, before he started to slowly shake his head, which got faster and faster.

"No. No no no no. You guys aren’t helping me.", Vaugn said with a slight laugh.

"Why not? We want to help!", Asuke said angrily, as Nikkai and Kihari nodded in aggreance.

"Why not? Because this is something that you can’t help me with. This is something to dangerous for you all. I have to do this all by myself.", Vaugn replied wisely, saying every word slowly so that it was clear as day to them all.

"And why do you have to do this by yourself?", Shentin asked staring Vaugn in the eye.

"Because I was the one who was chosen to bare this curse. The prophecy said that I would be the one to hold Jinkara with in my body for all my life. And with that prophecy, I have to take everything that comes with it, the good and the bad.", Vaugn said, determined to make his friends understand,his friends starting to look slightly upset,"This is something that is way to dangerous for all of you. Hell, it may be to dangerous for me, but since it seems that it’s something I can’t escape, there’s no reason to drag you into this and take a chance on you all getting killed! The prophecy is set, and no where does it say that I’d be getting help from my friends.", Vaugn finished, looking at his friends in turn, each of them now with a very upset look on their face.

There was silence between all the friends. The only sounds to be heard were coming from the TV, and the occasional clinking of pans from the kitchen. Vaugn stared at his friends, determined not to get them involved in this war that could be the death of him. His friends stared back, all of them with stubborn and upset looks on their faces. Clearly they wanted to help Vaugn, and were determined to help him anyway they could. After what seemed like a life time, Shentin spoke in a voice of calm thinking.

"Vaugn, you said that the prophecy was set. But if I remember correctly, the prophecy said that the one who was destined to bare Jinkara would be pure of heart, and Jinkara would be trapped forever. If I remember correctly, this is the 3rd time Jinkara has taken over your body. So the prophecy has been broken long before now. And with the prophecy broken, it doesn’t matter what we do now. So we can help all we want." Shentin said calmly, with approving nods from the others.

Vaugn leaned back on his cushion and crossed his arms, looking at Shentin, who stared right back. Both were staring eachother in the eye, not showing any sign of backing down, each showing their stubborness to eachother. Finally, Vaugn took a deep breath and spoke.

"And what if you get killed? Did you ever think of that?", he asked Shentin and the others.

"Well if what we heard was true, if the Feral Forty escape Hell and kill you, the rest of us won’t be far behind. So it’s dying later, doing nothing, apposed to dying while trying to do something.", Nikkai replied casually, yet in a voice that was stubbornly set.

"Okay…but what do you think you can do? I have Jinkara on my side. What do you have?", Vaugn asked, trying to cover every possible angle so as to not get them involved.

"We don’t have anything. I thought that was obvious.", Asuke replied simply, "But that doesn’t mean we can’t help. We’ll find other ways to help that doesn’t involve fighting, like we know you’re planning to do.", she finished with a small smile.

"Planning to fight? I’m not planning anything! I’m planning to stay here in Japan, live a normal life, finish my schooling, graduate, and get a job! No where in my plan does it say ‘Fight demons who want to kill me and save the world’!", Vaugn finished angrily, looking into the stubborn, yet smiling faces of each of his friends.

"You’re a bad liar Vaugn. We know you’re excited about fighting these demons. So there’s nothing you can say to change our minds.", Kihari said stubbornly, yet smiling all the same.

Vaugn sat there, his arms crossed, looking from friend to another. Vaugn was frowing, his eye brows contracted, giving him the look of a hawk. His friends all had the same stubborn look of determination on their faces, all of their eyes on Vaugn.

The silence was so thick that it seemed that they were breathing the very silence itself. The friends sat stock still, not even moving a single hair. The sound of the TV itself seemed to be drowned out by the silence between the group.

Finally, Vaugn took a long, slow, deep breath, before letting out a long audible sigh and throwing his hands up in an exsasperated way.

"Fine. Fine. You guys want to help, fine.", Vaugn said finally in an annoyed tone, "But don’t say I didn’t warn you!", he finished, shaking a warning finger at them.

"Don’t worry. We hadn’t planned on it.", Asuke replied with a smile.

The friends all turned back to the TV and watched the game show that had came on after the news, all of them grinning broadly.

Though Vaugn had a look of deep annoyance on his face, like that of someone who just lost a very important argument, he was secretly happy about it. His friends were offering to help him try and stop these demons that were trying to escape. Though they didn’t have anything special on their side, like Vaugn having Jinkara, he was still happy to have them, and he was sure they’d be useful in the future in the upcoming battles. With something as serious as this, any and all help that could be found would be a huge advantage to Vaugn.

And Vaugn did have to admit that he was secretly excited about the up coming battles. Though Vaugn knew he shouldn’t be, he couldn’t help but feel a spark of excitement at the thought of the upcoming battles.

Yes, though Vaugn appeared upset on the outside, he was secretly happy for his friends offering to help him…though he’d never tell them that.



***



When Thursday dawned, the fear in the air could be felt by everyone. After what had happened the previous night, with scenes of it splashed across every newspaper and magazine, the tension level of the city now seemed to be overflowing.

As the friends walked to school, the streets were completely bare. No one was out going for a morning walk, doing their morning shopping, or doing light yard work. Even the mail carrier was absent from from their usual routes. It was as if the city had been deserted over night.

Occasionally, the friends would see someone peeking out through their curtains, as if making sure everything was safe. Admitedly, Vaugn did think that the populace of Tokyo was being a tad paranoid over this. It was as if they were expecting an army of dogs to come marching down the street, break into their houses and kill them.

It seemed that if people did have to go somewhere, their cars were the only choice they had. The traffic jams were so long that the somewhat busy street that the friends usually crossed on their way to school, was now bumper to bumper as far as they could see, the exaust of the cars forming large smog clouds above their heads, turning the sun a slight brownish colour.

As the friends walked down the street towards their school, it seemed that many of the students were just as scared as the adult. Either they were traveling in massive groups, like they did when the cats were killed, or else being dropped off by their parents in front of the school.

"Man, this is pathetic.", Vaugn said warily as they walked up to the front doors of the school, after watching some 30 students get dropped off by their parents.

"Well can you blame them Vaugn?", Asuke asked, holding open the door for all her friends.

"Sure I can.", Vaugn replied in a slightly exasperated tone, as the group of friends walked down the hall to the locker room, "They’re acting as if dogs will come bursting up behind them and kill them right there on the spot."

"Well try and be a little bit fairer towards them,", Imari said as she and the others pulled on their shoes, "They don’t have a demon sharing their soul to protect them if they do get attacked.", she finished, as they put their outdoor shoes in their lockers, locked them safely inside, and walked down the hall towards homeroom.

"Yeah yeah, I know. Just don’t go spreading it around though.", Vaugn said in an offhand voice, "Changing gears now…when are we heading out for the resturant tonight?"

"We’ll be leaving at 5 tonight Vaugn", Kihari replied as Nikkai held open the classroom door and all of them walked in, taking their seats at the back of the class.

"How will we be getting there?",asked Shentin, as the group of friends sat down at their desk and stretched out.

"The subway.",Kihari replied, with a slight grin and sideways glance at Vaugn who had just rolled his eyes, "My parents wanted to drive us, but I told them we’d be fine by ourselves. They’re one of those people that are paranoid today.", Kihari finished, rolling her eyes aswell.

"Ofcourse we’ll be fine by ourselves, because after all, we have Vaugn with us.", Nikkai said with an air of it being as obvious as two plus two, while the others all chuckled.

"Thanks for the confidence vote, Nikkai. Really appreciate it.", Vaugn replied with a smile as the others laughed.

Walking down the hallway to class 15 minutes later, Vaugn and his friends seemed to be the only ones in something other then a scared state of mind. Indeed, they seemed to be the only ones talking normally and who were smiling. All the students had distinctivly worried looks on their faces, their eyes darting back and forth, jumping at the slightest noise made. Vaugn did have to admit that it was pointless to be scared like this. But then again, when you’re going out for a friends birthday, it’s kind of hard not to smile, regardless of what the mood is like around you.

The day passed as normally as ever. The teachers taught, Mr. Kucaiko still wincing with his arm bandaged up, and they gave homework as usual. Students were given detentions, gossip was passed from girl to girl, fun was had in gym class. Nothing out of place, nothing out of the usual.

By the end of the day, many students had moved past their fear, and were acting as normal as could be expected given the mood at the beginning of the day.

As the friends walked home, they noticed that people were out and about. finally doing their shopping and the mail was being delivered. Admittedly, people were still looking a tad wary, but atleast they were out.The friends walked past several dogs with slight trepidation, but were surprised to see the dogs acting friendly and curious, sniffing trees and sniffing people.

"The dogs seem to be acting normal now.", Kihari said, as they looked over the shoulder at a dog who had just walked by with it’s owner.

"Yeah, I wonder why though.", Vaugn replied slowly, watching the dog look at his owner, it’s tail wagging and tongue hanging out.

"Wonder later Vaugn. We’re going out for dinner, and the only thing you should be wondering about is what you’re going to eat.", Asuke said briskly as they waited at the crosswalk to cross the street to head home.

"Good point Asuke.", replied Vaugn, as they crossed the street home.

The rest of the walk was very enjoyable. The friends talked about the food at the resturant, what Kihari had asked for her birthday, and what they were doing after their meal. Vaugn was talking merrily with his friends, but he was still thinking about the dogs acting normally.

Maybe the demon had no more use of the dogs. Maybe the dogs were acting normal, like before, and are waiting to attack the humans again. What ever the reason, it does seem strange that the demon would stop using the dogs all of a sudden, when they were doing a good job at causing so much fear amongst the citizens of Tokyo.

Oh well, Vaugn thought, I’ll worry about it later, I’m to hungry right now to think about demons.





***



At five o’clock, after everyone had showered and changed into their best clothes, the group set off down towards the subway terminal. The sun was setting now and it was giving off a gentle ruby red glow, streaked by orange, while the city of Tokyo glowed orange and red, reflecting the the sky in it’s many windows. It was very relaxing to look at, and many of the residents of Tokyo must agree.

The streets were now alive with activity. People going for jogs and walks, doing light yard work, and finishing their shopping for the day. Everyone seemed to be in a very good mood, as the fear that was clearly visible earlier in the day was gone now, replaced by smiling faces and laughing people.

"Well, atleast people aren’t scared anymore.", Shentin said as they passed a laughing group of girls about their age.

"Yeah, I guess it is. I guess people finally realized there wasn’t really anything to be scared of.", Vaugn replied casually as they crossed the road to school, and passed another group of friends that were out and about, laughing and ejoying the night out.

10 minutes later, they emerged in the large buisness area with the subway terminal beneath it. Everywhere the friends looked, life was abound. People were clothes shopping, getting groceries, buying things at the pet store, and the resturants that were there were packed full of happy and laughing customers, enjoying a nice evening out. The air was full of laughter and talk, a stark contrast to the morning hours, where barely a whisper could be heard.

Walking down the terminal stairs and paying for their tickets, the friends joined the very large queue on the platform and waited for their train.

"I guess now that people aren’t scared, everyone wants to get out.", Vaugn said as he and his friends were jostled by more and more people joining them on the platform every second, waiting for the train.

"It sure looks like it. Man, the train is going to be packed.", Shentin replied, as the train pulled up, and the doors hissed quietly open.

And the train, was indeed, packed. Every seat was taken by the first riders closet to the door, and the rest were forced to stand. Vaugn and his friends were standing by the doors, and it was so packed that the doors pinched Vaugn on the backside when they hissed shut.

"So, where’s this resturant again?", Vaugn asked, rubbing his back side, while his friends laughed.

"The resturant is in the Peace Garden section of Tokyo. It’s quite beautiful there.", Imari replied, being the first to recover from laughing at Vaugn.

"That’s good. Lord knows we could use a peaceful night after the week we’ve had.", Vaugn said, still rubbing his back side, while the others still grinning, nodded in agreement.

Though the Peace Garden promised to be peaceful, the train ride was anything but. So many people were riding the train, that Vaugn was pushed against the door, and when people would embark or disembark, Vaugn would always be squished against the wall, his feet getting stepped on everytime.

8 stops later the friends were disembarking, Vaugn limping slightly from being stepped on some 300 times, and making their way up the stairs to the surface, they emerged in the Peace Garden, and Vaugn saw that it lived up to it’s name.

The exit to the subway emerged onto a large, raised, round dais with steps leading to it from every direction. The dais seemed to be overlooking a very large, square, green field, with one, large path running through the center, lights along the edge of the path every 10 feet,and branching off into 3 smaller paths further along. On either side of the paths, large rows of flowers were in their final days of full blooms, giving off a magnificent array or orange, red, yellow, blue, and purple. Behind the flowers, short, deep green grass blew gently in the wind. Near the edges of the trees, the Cherry Trees were loosing their blossoms to the wind, so the air was filled with pink blossoms that reminded Vaugn of snow falling gently. Behind the Cherry Trees, large Oaks, Maples and Poplars were losing their leaves aswell, occaisonally losing their gold, red and orange leaves to the wind. As Vaugn looked out over the scene, he did have to admit that is was very beautiful and calming.

"Come on guys. Let’s get going.", Kihari said, smiling at her friends and leading them down the dais steps and down to the path.

Walking along the path, chatting and laughing with his friends, Vaugn was surprised at how relaxing the park was. There were no sounds from cars or trucks, no dogs barking, no nothing to spoil the peace and quiet.

Although it seemed peaceful while Vaugn was chatting with his friends, he had the feeling that something was watching him. Maybe it was just the effect of the perfect quiet around him, but it gave Vaugn the feeling that there was something in the trees watching him, lurking just out of sight. He also thought that he heard the occasional whisper from the trees.He couldn’t explain it, but he just had one of those feelings. He put it to the back of his mind, not wanting to spoil the happy mood.

Twenty minutes later, the friends emerged on the other side of the park, walking out under a large iron arch way and onto a busy sidewalk, and what met Vaugn’s eyes made him forget about his strange feeling twenty minutes earlier.

They had emerged onto a brightly lit street, full of arcades with flashing lights and laughing people; dance clubs full of people dancing and enjoying the evening; and all kinds of kiosks and street booths selling trinkettes and snacks to the passing people. Everywhere Vaugn looked, he saw smiling, happy people, again, a very stark contrast to the morning’s mood.

Vaugn was taking in the lively scene infront of him before Nikkai snapped him back to his sence by shaking his shoulder.

"Oh, sorry.", Vaugn said, looking around and seeing his friends walking away from him across the street, and dashing to catch up.

Walking down the street with his friends, Vaugn could tell this must have been some sort of amusement center of the city. Now that Vaugn and his friends had travelled further into the center, he could see it more clearly. Vaugn counted no less then 5 arcades, all with large TV screens outside showing screen shots and action from different video games being played. Dance clubs, 6 stories high,flashing red, blue, purple, and many more clours, were filled with happy and laughing people, the music filling the air outside of each club. Cafés were abound in the center, strong smells of cakes, coffees and teas wafting out of them, mixxing together, giving the area a truly amazing smell. Neon signs, glowing red, orange, blue, purple, green, and yellow, lit up every inch of the center. Resturants were abound, many of them with outdoor dining areas, the smell of freshly cooked food mixxing with the coffee and tea. Vaugn noticed that every single attraction seemed to take up buildings atleast 6 stories high. Looking up, Vaugn could see on the very top floors, people dancing, or playing video games, or eating and laughing. What Vaugn thought was the best part of the area was there were no cars to get in ones way, instead, the streets were all covered in stands selling even more trinkettes and snacks. Needless to say, Vaugn was very impressed

While Vaugn was admiring the many attractions, his feet and friends lead him to the center of the fun center. They were now standing in front of a large, 7 story building, painted gold and red. It had large windows that Vaugn could see people eating their food from their tables by the windows. It appeared that the building must be big on atmosphere, as the people serving the food and customers were all wearing brightly coloured Kimono’s.

"We’re here Vaugn.", Asuke said, snapping Vaugn back to his sences and, looking at the sign above the door, read the words ‘Rawuri Resturant’.

"Talk about atmosphere.", Vaugn replied, as he and the others made their way to the door.

Opening the door, they emerged into a large carpeted room, full of large round griddles, with 2 men standing in each one, the customers sitting around each one. The room was red and gold, full of pictures from accient Japan, with statues of dragons and warriors. The walls were red and gold, and the chandaliers hanging high above the floor were covered in chains made of red and gold plastic stones that amplified the air of atmosphere. Immediately infront of them was a small desk, where a woman was standing, smiling at them. She too was wearing the same Kimono as the servers Vaugn had seen from the street, blue with stripes of red, orange and green all over it. To the left of her, was a large red and gold spiral stair case that must lead to the higher floors.

Walking over to her, she bowed to them, which they returned before Kihari spoke.

"Hi. Kihari Takoshi, party of 6.", she said, smiling at the woman, who ran her finger down a small sheet.

"Ah yes, Miss Takoshi, party of 6. You’re table is on floor 7. Please follow me.", the woman replied, picking up 6 menus, and leading them to the large spiral stair case, started to climb up, leading them to their table.

"Kihari Takoshi?", Vaugn asked, looking at her smiling, as they passed the first floor.

"Yep. It’s been the family name for 10 generations. Didn’t you know that was my last name?", Kihari asked in mock surprise.

"Umm…no. Can’t say it ever came up in our normal day to day lives.", Vaugn replied lightly, as he and the others laughed.

Finally reaching their floor, the waitress lead them to their table, or rather, griddle, which was near the window. Looking out the window, Vaugn could not only see the glow of the neon lights from the buildings below, but he could stare right into the heart of Tokyo. He could see the neon signs lighting the city, he could see the office buildings still alive with life as people worked late. In the center, the imposing building that is the Kojuni office building. Kojuni, where Jinkara made his first appearance to the world, and if Vaugn was correct, it wouldn’t be his last.

Sitting down at their griddle, Asuke to his left, Nikkai to his right, Vaugn stared down at the menu which their hostess passed to them. It was the largest menu Vaugn had ever seen. Though it was only 3 pages, every inch of the pages were covered in different names of foods. Vaugn stared at the menu, trying to figure out which he’d have for supper. Though Vaugn was usually good at making up his mind, somehow he found it difficult to make up his mind. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he was faced with so many foods he had never heard of before.

After they had decided on what they were going to have, Vaugn deciding on the spicy beef and pork Okinomiyaki, 2 chef’s dressed in white and blue robes crawled into the center of the griddle, and started to cook their meal.

Vaugn and his friends had a great time watching the chefs cook their meal. Not only was it like watching a well corigraphed dance, the way they stirred the vegetables and noodles, flipped the Okinomiyaki and added the sauces on the griddles, making the different dishes, but they were also quite chatty, talking with all the friends as they cooked, telling jokes and singing little songs. It was a shame, thought Vaugn, when they finished, because they were having such a good time with the two cooks.

The rest of the night passed very joyfully. Not only was the food delicous, but Asuke and Imari arranged for all the cooks in the building to sing Happy Birthday to Kihari, which they did fantastically off key, Kihari turning a brillant shade of red. They had a great time trying the dessert selection that was offered to them, aswell as listen to several cooks do stand up comedy for the whole floor.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable night out. The friends were in very high spirits, smiling broadly, as they made their way down the stairs, paid for their meal, and walked outside into the brightly lit fun center.

Walking down the street, everything was calm. The friends were merrily talking, joking, and wondering what Kihari was going to get for her birthday tommorow. Nothing, in Vaugn’s oppinion could ruin this night. As the friends walked, the fun center was still full of life, even though it was past ten o’clock now. Laughter could still be heard from the resturants, and shouts of excitement from the arcades. Clearly, everyone was enjoying the newly restored peace that had befallen the city.

Crossing the street and walking under the archway, the friends entered the cool darkness of the Peace Garden, the path being gently lit by the lights around the edge.

"Man, that was so good! I’ve never tasted anything so good in my life!", Vaugn said dreamily, thinking of the meal he had just had.

"I know. Rawuri has the best food in the city.", Kihari replied, stretching out her arms.

"Oh,Kihari, I just remembered! Your present is at home.", Asuke said, smiling at Kihari, as a gentle breeze rustled the leaves and grass

"Oh you guys! You didn’t have to!", Kihari said excitedly, beaming at her friends.

"Ofcourse we did!It’s not everyday that our little Kihari is the big 1-7. So we just had to get you a gift.", Shentin said, as Nikkai, Imari and Vaugn chuckled.

As Kihari was wondering outloud what her friends had gotten her, the scene around Vaugn suddenly produced the same echo as before, accompanied by the sound of Vaugn’s beating heart, and the sudden feeling of something evil near by.

Vaugn stopped dead in his tracks, his breathing faster, his eyes wide and staring, sweat quickly forming on his brow. This couldn’t be. Not here, not now. Not with his friends around.

Vaugn’s friends, noticing that he was no longer with them but fifteen feet behind them, stopped and looked back at him, though they couldn’t see his face due to the darkness around them.

"Come on Vaugn! We’re gonna miss the train!", Nikkai called to him merrily.

But Vaugn wasn’t paying attention. This echo sence of Vaugn’s was getting faster and faster. The sound of his heart beat getting louder and louder, so much so his head was starting to pound from the sound. The feeling of an approaching evil aura was getting stronger and stronger, making him sick and wanting to vomit. The pain was so intence, Vaugn grabbed his ears, dropping his head ,looking down at the ground and shutting his eyes tightly,hoping to drown out the sound of his beating heart, and trying to stop his head from splitting apart but to no avail. The sound seemed to be inside his very skull.

"Vaugn! Is everything okay?", Asuke shouted, as she and the others ran towards Vaugn who started to stumble back and forth, trying to keep balanced.

The pain was more then Vaugn could stand. He wanted to scream, but his throat seemed frozen, unable to make a sound. He felt a pair of hands grab his shoulders, and looking up, saw that it was Nikkai, his face white with fright, his friends looking no better. As Vaugn looked up at his friends, his eyes streaming slightly from the pain in his skull, the pain and feeling of lurking evil stopped as suddenly as it began.

Vaugn stared at his friends, while his friends stared back, unable to say anything. Vaugn stood straight up, shaking slightly from what he had just gone through, his breathing fast and ragged, sweat running down his face, his eyes darting back and forth.

"Vaugn, is everything okay?", Asuke asked, scared at what she had seen, concern written all over her face.

Vaugn looked from one face to another, all of them looking scared and concerned. Finally, finding his voice and swallowing, he spoke.

"It’s coming.", Vaugn said quietly, his voice wavering.

"What’s coming?", Shentin asked hurridely, as Nikkai and Asuke exchanged puzzled looks.

"The demon. It’s coming.", Vaugn replied quietly again.

There was silence following Vaugn’s statement. Everyone stared at Vaugn. Vaugn stared at his friends, their eyes wide and confused, but fear flickering in their eyes. The only sound was Vaugn’s ragged breathing, and the occasional whisper of wind.

"The demon? It’s coming?", Imari finally asked in a scared whisper.

"Yeah. We have to get out of here!", Vaugn said quickly, his friends nodding in aggreance,but before any of the friends could take a step, the earth gave a mighty shake, the trees creaking and swaying on spot.

The friends stood rooted on spot, to scared to move. Their eyes darted around, trying to find what had caused the quake, when the ground shook violently again. Again and again, the ground shook, each quake getting stronger and stronger, the time between each shake getting shorter and shorter. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of the ground shaking, as if a giant was walking towards them, it stopped completely. The friends waited with baited breath, still to scared to move.

"Vaugn, what was that?", Imari asked in a scared whisper.

"That’s the demon Imari. It’s here. Right now.", Vaugn replied, and he started to look quickly around for any sign of it.

"Well what do we do?", Asuke asked desperately, clearly not wanting to be anywhere near a demon.

"We get out of here. Right now!", Vaugn said, an edge to his voice.

The others nodded, and with some difficulty, Vaugn got his friends to start walking again. They had taken 5 difficult steps, when a voice rang out all around them.

"He’s here.", a voice said all around them, as if the trees them selves were speaking.

"Jinkara?", Vaugn spoke out loud, "Who’s here? Tell me!", Vaugn finished, turning around and looking behind him,forgetting about trying to get his friends to walk, though it didn’t really matter as they froze on the spot when they heard Jinkara’s voice. Clearly, they remembered it from the last time they were face to face with him.

"My follower is here Vaugn. The one who escaped Hell. The one who has been causing the chaos of the past few days.", Jinkara replied, his voice full of joy, "It will be good to see him again. He’ll beable to help me escape your body. With his help, I’ll be free to destroy mankind", Jinkara finished, his voice purring with glee.

Before Vaugn could remind him that the demon was out to kill Jinkara as much as Vaugn, one of the girls screamed.

"Vaugn! Look! In the trees!", Imari yelled, pointing into the trees, fear etched all over he face.

Looking at the spot where she was pointing, 2 large red slits could be seen, glowing through the darkness. As the friends watched, 2 very large clawed hands slowly emerged between two quite large trees into the low light, their thumbs pointing down. Slowly, the hands wrapped around the trunks of the very large trees, it’s claws sinking into their trunks, and the creature, whatever it was, began to pull the trees apart, their trunks snapping and their roots being ripped from the ground. When the trees were snapped and pulled apart wide enough for 2 elephants to walk through comfortably, a face slowly began to emerge from the gap, and Vaugn knew exactly what this was.

Slowly emerging from the shadows was a head of dog, only enlarged. It had long fangs visible around the edge of it’s large jaws. It’s nose was twitching, as if smelling for something. It’s ears were perched ontop of it’s head twitching aswell, picking up any and all sounds from around it. It’s eyes were black with red slits for pupils, full of anger and hate. While taking in the figure of this monsters head, Vaugn noticed that there was a light blue, diamond shaped jewel about the size of a lemon in the creatures forehead between it’s eyes.

The friends started to slowly back away as the creature started to step through the opening, revealing it’s arms, legs and body. It’s arms and legs were skinny and bony, like a dog’s. It’s body though had slight details of that of a mans, it’s chest and stomach barely visible through it’s coat of fur.

The creature stepped out onto the grass, and Vaugn saw that it walked on the balls of it’s feet, just like Jinkara did. Vaugn was right all along, this demon was a dog demon. This demon was the reason why all the dogs had turned violent and vicous.

The demon stood before them on the grass, it’s breathing loud enough to hear as it sniffed the air. It didn’t seem to notice the friends. It continued to sniff the air, it’s ears twitching. The friends started to slowly back away,when the demon spoke in a low, rumbling growl full of evil.

"Jinkara, I know you’re here. Show yourself.", it growled, the edges of it’s mouth twitching.

"It’s looking for Jinkara.", Asuke squeaked in a terrified whisper to Vaugn as they continued to slowly back away.

The demon, most likely hearing Asuke’s terrifed whispers, slowly looked down at them and fixxed them with it’s vicous stare. There the friends stopped and stared back into it’s vicous red eyes. The demon started to quietly snarl, and took three large steps towards them.

"You…girl. You spoke of Jinkara. Where is he?", the demon snarled at Asuke.

Asuke didn’t answer, to scared to speak, only able to stare terrifed at the demon, her eyes wide with fear.

"I asked you, where is he?", the demon asked again, taking several steps towards the group of friends, the boys stepping infront of the girls, unsure if the demon was going to attack them or not.

The demon stopped and stared at the friends, looking from one friend to another. When it fixxed it’s gaze on Vaugn though, it stopped and stared at him, unblinking. There Vaugn stood, staring the demon in the eye, the demon staring back at Vaugn. The edges of the demons mouth slowly pulled back, showing it’s very long, very sharp fangs in an unmistakable smile.

"You.", the demon growled, pointing a long clawed finger at Vaugn, "You are the one, are you not?", it finished still staring at Vaugn.

Vaugn didn’t answer. It seemed his voice was lost all of a sudden. He couldn’t make the slightest noise at all.

"Yes,", the demon snarled, "I see the truth behind your mortal eyes. You are the vessel the prophecy foretold of. Jinkara is bound to your soul for the duration of your pathetic life. To think, a mere mortal like yourself able to overcome and subdue the greatest demon of all time. No matter, when you are dead, Jinkara will be purified, and our vegence will be complete.", the demon finished, starting to walk slowly towards Vaugn and his friends, all the while flexxing it’s long claws.

Vaugn started to push the girls back and grabbing Nikkai and Shentin's shoulders, started to drag them back aswell, clearly wanting to put as much distance between themselves and the advancing demon.

"Run if you will. You will only prolong your death. To me, it makes no difference.", the demon said, now a mere 10 feet from Vaugn, "I would have prefered more of a challenge, but no matter. My duty is complete. Good bye ape.", the demon finished, raising one of it’s clawed hands high above it’s head, and with a vicous smile, brought it slashing down through the air, aiming right at Vaugn.

"Dogma! Stop!", a voice rang out from the trees. A voice full of anger and hate.

The demons hand stopped, mere feet from Vaugn’s head. The demon stood stalk still, bent over from slashing down at Vaugn. Not moving, barely breathing. Slowly, the creature withdrew it’s arm, and slowly stood up, looking around, it’s fangs bared, clearly more angry then before.

"Jinkara! Where are you hiding? Answer me!", Dogma roared to the sky, spit flying from it’s jaws.

"I’ve been in front of you the whole time.", Jinkara replied, his voice echoing around them, "I am, as you said, sharing the soul of this mortal."

Dogma looked down at Vaugn, if possible, more vicously then before, "So it is true then. You are bound to this mortals soul. You failed to escape, and are bound for life to him."

"Yes, it is true that I am bound to this mortals soul, but with your help, and with the help of the rest of my followers, I shall escape this vessel, regain my body, and together destroy mankind.", Jinkara said to the demon called Dogma.

Dogma merely looked at Vaugn, and suddenly threw his head back and laughed out loud, "Your followers? You think that we will still help you! Ha!", Dogma said, his voice full of laughing malice.

There was a pause that nothing could be heard but the quiet laughter of Dogma, before Jinkara spoke, "What do you mean Dogma?", Jinkara asked slowly.

"I see that you have become as dumb as this mortal you share a body with!", Dogma laughed again, his laugh echoing off the stone path, grass and trees.

"What are you talking about Dogma? Tell me!", Jinkara said, his voice as cold as the first time Vaugn met him.

Dogma stared at Vaugn, licking his fangs with his long tongue, contemplating what Jinkara had said.

"Guys, take the girls and get out of here! I don’t want you anywhere near here! Don’t argue this!", Vaugn hissed to Nikkai and Shentin who, after staring at Vaugn for a moment or two, did as they were told, grabbing the girls hands and putting about 20 feet between themselves and Vaugn before the demon responded.

"1000 years ago Jinkara, we followed you because you were strong. The strongest deamon ever to reside in Hell. You were able to slaughter 100 demons and angels alike with a single wave of your hand. We followed you because you were powerful. We wanted just a taste of your power for ourselves. When Lucifor and the forces of Heaven overpowered you and imprisoned you in that accursed jewel, we continued to fight. We knew that you would escape and continue your battle, and free us, your loyal followers.But alas, you were sealed by the prophecy that the angel Fate made. Our spirits were broken, and myself and my Feral brothers and sisters were locked in the Western Prison of Hell for 1000 years.", Dogma said, each word growing more and more furious, his long claws flexxing and unflexxing.

Dogma took a deep breath and continued, "There we stayed, 1000 years in darkness. All we thought of was how you were beaten and sealed away, never to know freedom again. We felt your pain. We looked up to you as a leader. A leader who had never lost. But here you were, locked away, just like us. For 1000 years we stayed in the darkness, brooding about how Heaven and Lucifor had beaten you. All we thought of was how when we’d escape, we’d free you from your prison, kill Lucifor, kill the angels, and destroy mankind!", Dogma said, his voice rising more and more, the anger now palpable.

"Then, the faithful day came, where the prophecy was fulfilled. You were sealed in the body of a mere mortal. All we thought about was when that faithful day would come when the Angels of Redemption would come and claim his soul, and you would be purified. Our leader, who we would follow to the ends of exsistence, beaten by a mere mortal. But it wasn’t so.", Dogma growled in pleasure, "For you began to fight. You began to seap into this mortals soul. He began to feel your anger and joy. We started to feel hope again. You were showing signs of strength. We knew that it would only be a matter of time before you escaped. We watched and felt as you grew stronger and stronger, until you were reborn. When you were reborn through this mortals soul, our strength returned. We escaped the prison and set out to rejoin you when you were fully reborn."

There was silence except for the snarls and breathing coming from Dogma. He stared at Vaugn, who stared back, Vaugn’s friends rooted on spot, listening intently to Dogma’s story.

"When you were passing over, we knew our leader would be reborn…but then it happened. This mortal,", Dogma spat at Vaugn, "somehow stopped you, and bound you permanently to his soul! The most powerful demon ever subdued and defeated by a mere ape!", Dogma finished, his eyes blazing even more, his voice even more furious then before.

"We had faith in you Jinkara, and you let us down! We suffered in darkness for 1000 years for you only to witness you beaten by a mortal who I could crush with one finger!You were supposed to lead us to the annialation of mankind, Lucifor and the angels! And yet you couldn’t escape the body of this human!", Dogma roared, looking down at Vaugn, who was rooted on spot, unable to move.

"Dogma, surely you and my followers must have known of the prophecy?", Jinkara said in a voice of calm sence.

"Your followers?", Dogma howled with laughter, "The prophecy? You are dumber then we thought! You broke the prophecy by being able to take over this mortals body! You should have easily escaped this humans body when the prophecy was broken, but you didn’t! You are weak! You’re no leader for us. Unlike Culra."

"What!", Jinkara roared, the trees around Vaugn seemed to tremble with anger themselves, "You’re following Culra! You mongral bastard! How dare you turn your back on me!"

"As far as we’re concerned Jinkara, you are nothing more then a common demon now. Undeserving of mercy or life. We waisted 1000 years in solitude for you. If you were a true leader, you could have easily escaped. All the time we spent, thinking of the day of your return, the time spent brooding, planning our revenge on Lucifor! For what? Nothing!You failed us, and for that, there is no forgiveness! We have found a leader who will lead us to our ultimate goal. And his first order is destroy you and your vessel, so you may witness our true power from heaven. Good bye Jinkara.", Dogma finished, and his hand quickly shot upwards, and slash downwards at Vaugn.

Vaugn had barely a second to react. The clawed hand was inches from Vaugn when motion finally came back to his legs. Vaugn stumbled backwards and the clawed hand merely caught the front of Vaugn’s shirt, leaving huge claw marks in the fabric. The clawed hand slashed into the ground, shattering the stone pavement and leaving huge gouge marks in the path, dust gently rising into the air.

Dogma recovered quickly and took another massive swipe at Vaugn, who rolled to his right, ducking under the massive clawed hand, but feeling the air rush over his back and hair as the hand passed quickly over him.

Vaugn quickly looked at his friends, who hadn’t moved at all during the story, "Run! All of you! Get the hell out of here!", he shouted, and without another word, he ran at Dogma, ducking another swipe of the demons massive clawed hands and sprinted at top speed down the path, but not before the demon swiped at Vaugn again, Vaugn feeling a white hot pain on his back.

Sprinting into the darkness off the path and hiding in the thick of trees, Vaugn leaned against a large tree and caught his breath.

"Damn, that thing slashed me. Bastard!", Vaugn spat, as he heard the unmistakable sound of large feet trampling towards him.

Leaning around the edge of the tree, Vaugn saw Dogma stop on the path and look around for him, Dogmas breathing very fast, spit flying from his mouth, his fangs bared.

"Where are you Jinkara? Is the mortal you’re using a coward? Then I guess you two are perfect for one another!", Dogma called out, his voice full of goading malice.

"I’m a coward? Tell me, why did you have the dogs of this city attack the humans for you? To scared to show yourself.", Jinkara said from all around Vaugn, goading Dogma back.

"Ah yes, the dogs. You may not have a problem with it, but full demons such as myself cannot survive on this plain of exsistence. To much love, happiness and joy in the air. My body started to burn away the second I planted my feet. So I sealed my soul away in my soul shard.", Dogma said, pointing to the jewel on his forehead, smiling very broad,and looking around for Vaugn, "But I still needed a body that could last, so I had the dogs of the city collect the two ingredients for my rebirth: Blood and Flesh. I wanted to be as strong as possible, so I controlled the dogs and had them attack the humans, collecting their blood and flesh in their bellies. But the dogs, like humans, have love in them aswell. I had to coax them to attack their masters, the ones they loved. I had to coax them to maul the humans and spill their blood. It was much easier when they tasted blood and flesh. Yesterday, I had the dogs kill the humans, and devour their flesh. I was reborn and ready for my vegence. I am more powerful then I could have ever imagined! The blood of the humans makes me immune to the love and happiness that fills the air. I’m unstoppable! Now show yourself Jinkara, so I may kill your vessel!", Dogma roared, flexxing his long claws and staring wildly around.

"And what about the cows you killed? Did you make the mistake and think they were the strongest beings on this plain?", Jinkara said out loud.

Vaugn and Jinkara heard Dogma chuckle, "No Jinkara, I was merely hungry. Being locked away for 1000 years will do that to a demon who has their body. You wouldn’t know anything about that though.", Dogma finished, snarling, and continuing to look around for Vaugn.

"Vaugn, you know you can’t fight him.", Jinkara said in Vaugn’s mind.

"What? And you can? Or have you forgotten that this thing is a demon out to kill you?", Vaugn thought back desperately, as he snuck further back into the trees, hiding in the darker seclusion that it offered.

"I’m a demon too. I’m just trapped in an apes body. If he wants to turn his back on me, fine. I’ll kill him for it. All I need is your body Vaugn.", Jinkara said to Vaugn, and Vaugn could feel Jinkara’s anger starting to rise.

"Yeah, like that’s going to happen. Last time you did that, I wound up ontop of the tallest building in Japan feeling like had been beaten with a baseball bat. I’m not letting that happen again.", Vaugn thought back angrily, starting to think clearly now.

"You can’t run from him forever. You’ll die before he tires. The only way to protect you and your friends is to let me take over.", Jinkara pressed on, "I’m the only one who can kill him. You’re to weak. Let me do it Vaugn.", Jinkara finished, and Vaugn could feel his pleasure rising. The thought of regaining control of Vaugn’s body must have been more then Jinkara could stand.

"Come out Jinkara! Control that mortals body and fight! If you won’t provide me with fun, I’ll go after those five other mortals I saw with your vessel! Maybe they’ll put up a fight!", Dogma roared to the park.

Sticking his head around the tree for a better look at Dogma, Vaugn saw him turn around slowly and start to walk back in the direction they had ran from. He wasn’t joking. He really was going after Vaugn’s friend. Fear rose as quickly as a bubble in a bucket of water.

After thinking desperately for a second, Vaugn finally submitted.

"Fine! You want to settle this little quarel yourself, fine! But don’t you dare screw with me on this Jinkara!", Vaugn thought furiously, feeling Jinkara’s pleasure reach it’s breaking point.

Without another word, Vaugn felt a whooshing sensation and suddenly Vaugn found himself with the same feeling of looking from the sidelines. Jinkara had taken over, as Vaugn saw him looking at and flexxing his clawed fingers.

"Remember what I said Jinkara. Don’t screw with me.", Vaugn said inside his mind.

"We’ll see what situation dictates.", Jinkara thought back with a growl of pleasure.

Bending down, and covering his head with his arms, Jinkara pushed off the ground powerfully, crashing through the branches, jumping some 70 feet in the air and sailing high over the park.

Dogma turned at the sound of the noise to see Vaugn’s body leap high into the air, his arms stretched wide like wings, his claws ready to strike.

Dogma merely stared as Vaugn’s body came flying towards him, and only realized what it was when he saw that his eyes were black with red pupils, and the edge of his mouth was pulled back, revealing large pointed fangs.

"No!", Dogma shouted, but it was to late.

Jinkara had hurled towards Dogma like a bullet, and when he was in arms reach, he braught his right arm back and slashed vicously at Dogma’s chest. Dogma stumbled back and Jinkara draged his claws through Dogmas chest and stomach, blood spurting from the wound ,landing on his feet, his claws slamming into the pavement and causing it to explode in a mist of dust. Out of the dust, another clawed hand shot upwards, slashing vicously,clearly trying to gut Dogma, who jumped back some 20 feet, landing on his feet, and raising a hand slowly to the newly inflicted wound.

Jinkara straightened up, and looked up at the figure that was Dogma, his hand covering part of his wound which was bleeding quite bad. Vaugn saw through his own eyes that the blood seemed to make everything around it glow. It seemed to be black as pure darkness, and was slowly oozing out of his wound, running through his fingers.

"You bastard! So, you want to die fighting? Fine! It’s nothing less then I expected of our former leader!", Dogma roared, and ran at Jinkara, pulling his hand back, balling it into a fist, and swinging it down at Jinkara.

Dogmas fist collided with the pavement with such furosity that stones exploded several feet away from where it hit, covering everything in a thick fog of dust. Dogma smiled, clearly satisfied that he had just crushed Jinkara under his massive fist.

"To bad. Mortal bodies are so soft, and easily squished.", Dogma snarled through the cloud of dust.

"They maybe squishy, but they have their uses.", a voice said through the cloud.

"What? No!", Dogma snarled as the cloud cleared, and revealed Jinkara standing on Dogma’s wrist, his arms crossed and his legs together, looking completely relaxed.

"To bad you chose to try and kill me. I would have been glad to except you back. But I have been bored, not getting to kill. You’ll do for now.", Jinkara said calmly, before quickly bending down, and jumping at Dogma’s face, his arms and claws ready for another attack.

Dogma ducked the attack, but not before Jinkara slashed furociously at Dogma’s face, slashing his eye and cutting his ear off.

Dogma howled with pain, realing backwards from Jinkara, who landed lightly on his feet. Dogma stumbled backwards and fell to one knee, holding his eye as blood poured from his severed ear, snarling in pain.

"Do try and hurry Jinkara. I’m getting bored not having use of my own body.", Vaugn’s voice spoke from around Jinkara and Dogma.

"In due time Vaugn. I must first punish this traitor for his discent. Then you’ll have control of your body back."

"Is that so Jinkara?", Dogma growled, rising to his feet again, "I’m not finished yet!", he roared and lunged at Jinkara, slashing madly with both hands, not caring if he hit skin of stone.

Jinkara was leaping backwards from Dogmas on slaught, each attack though getting closer and closer to it’s mark. Several times Dogma’s claws grazed Jinkara’s arms, scratching him slightly. On one such attack, Dogma slammed his fist into the pavement, sending dust flying into the air, blinding Jinkara. Jinkara couldn’t see anything until a giant black fist came shooting out of the cloud of dust and slammed into Jinkara’s entire body, sending him flying back some 40 feet, bouncing off the ground limply like a rag doll.

Jinkara layed motionless on the ground, but felt the earth shaking from Dogma’s massive feet, and raising his head saw Dogma leap into the air and coming flying down, his feet together, aimed at Jinkara like some evil hairy missile.

Jinkara rolled backwards onto his hand and pushed off as hard as he could as Dogma landed, creating a massive crator where he had landed and again being enveloped by a giant cloud of dust.

"This is senceless, each time he misses, he’s hidden by the dust.", Vaugn said to Jinkara, as the cloud discipated and revealed Dogma in the center, bleeding and furious.

"Well what do you suggest then?", Jinkara said back, as Dogma launched a fresh wave of attacks, Jinkara ducking, spinning and wisting, barely dodging each massive punch and slash that Dogma threw.

"Run to the large field we passed earlier tonight.", Vaugn said as Dogma missed Jinkara again, slamming his fist into the pavement and being concealed by another large cloud of dust.

"You better be right about this Vaugn.", Jinkara thought back as he lept back, and turning in mid jump, landed and ran away from Dogma as fast as he could.

Several moments of desperate sprinting revealed the large, now very dark field close to the subway entrance, Dogma in hot pursuit

Turning, Jinkara saw the massive figure of Dogma running towards him, his hands clenching and drawing back, ready for another attack.

"Running won’t save you now Jinkara!" Dogma roared as he started to slash and tear at Jinkara, who lept lightly backwards, rolling away and ducking under his massive hands.

"Hold still!", Dogma snarled as he grabbed at Jinkara, his fist wide open as if trying to catch a fly.

"Fine.", Jinkara said calmly, holding still.

Dogma’s hand shot straight at the still figure of Jinkara, but before Dogma could clasp around Jinkara, Jinkara’s hands shot out and grabbed Dogma’s claws, holding him off as if it was a test of strength.

There the two demons stood, locked in a shoving match, neither giving an inch to the other, each trying as hard as they could to win, neither speaking a word. A look of raw fury on Dogma’s face. A look of utter contempt on Jinkara’s face. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of testing eachother’s strength, Jinkara was the first to speak.

"I see that Culra has taught you something, but it’s not enough for the master of demons.", Jinkara said, and suddenly, his face contorted with rage, as with 2 massive twists of his hands, Jinkara snapped off two of Dogmas clawed fingers and tossing them aside, blood seaping from each of them.

Dogma realed, screaming in pain as more blood spurted from his snapped off fingers. Craddling his bleeding hand, Dogma backed away, snarlng in fury and sinking to one knee again.

"You son of a bitch! Do you think I’ll be that easy!", Dogma roared as more of his black blood seaped onto the ground, giving it the appearance of glowing in the dark night.

"Yes, I do in fact my old friend. You may have turned your back on me, but I’m still as strong as ever.", Jinkara said calmly, crossing his arms, "Culra maybe your new leader, but he’s nothing compared to me. You always were the runt of the group", Jinkara finished with a goading laugh.

"Is that so?", Dogma asked, looking Jinkara in the eye and smiling evily, still holding his bleeding hand and standing up straight, "You may think he is nothing, but he did teach me this!", Dogma roared, flicking his bleeding hand at Jinkara and splashing him with blood.

"What’s this? Is that what he taught you?", Jinkara laughed, looking at himself covered in Dogma’s blood, but suddenly stopped, as the blood started to burn and smoke, and Jinkara started to scream in pain.

Jinkara dropped to his knees, the smoke getting thicker and thicker. The pain was as if every nerve ending was slowing being burned from his body.

"Yes, now you see!", Dogma snarled happily, watching Jinkara screaming in pain on his knees, "When a demon is possessing a human, like you are now, it can’t be touched with pure demon blood. The human body is to pure, and when the two clash, it causes the demon unimaginable pain. You’ll be dead with in the minute.", Dogma finished happily, as the blood started to smoke even more.

"You bastard.", Jinkara snarled from his knees, looking up into Dogma’s face, Jinkara’s eyes burning with rage, smoke rising thickly off of his skin, "Vaugn! Take over!"

Vaugn, who had been watching the battle was suddenly whisked back into the drivers seat. Looking down, he found himself on his knees, covered in black, smoking demon blood. Looking up, he found himself staring into the face of Dogma, the demon who Jinkara wanted to kill.

"Vaugn, you have to fight him from here on out. What ever you do, don’t lose.", Jinkara said in Vaugn’s mind, and Vaugn heard a slight note of concern.

"Don’t worry. I don’t plan to lose.", Vaugn thought back, standing up tall as he did, but thinking desperately about what he should do.

"Now now now. What ever shall you do, mortal?", Dogma asked tauntingly, slowly walking towards Vaugn, flexxing his long claws, "Now that you don’t have Jinkara fighting for you, your death is guarenteed!", Dogma roared, lunging at Vaugn, his clawed hands spread wide, ready to impale Vaugn.

"Oh s..", Vaugn gasped, ducking and rolling out of the way just in time and running across the field,ran deep into the woods, and hiding amongst the branches and leaves.

Vaugn watched as Dogma came to the edge of the trees and stared into the darkness, trying to find Vaugn.

"I’ll find you ape, even if I have to rip every tree out of the ground!", Dogma roared starting to slash and tear every tree he could.

"Great, now what do I do?", Vaugn gasped, leaning against a tree and listeing to the sound of the rampaging demon, but suddenly realing as his back gave a massive throb of pain, "Damn, my back’s sore from where he slashed me."

"So what are you going to do Vaugn?", Jinkara asked inside of Vaugn’s mind, "Without me fighting for you, we stand no chance of surviving. Better to die fighting then hiding."

"True, but first I want a plan to die by,", Vaugn replied, as his back gave another massive throb, "Damn it! What the hell is wrong with it!", Vaugn said angrily as he reched around to rub his back, but stopped when he felt what was there.

Vaugn stared straight ahead into the darkness, unable to believe what he was feeling. His hand had grasped a cool, slightly vibrating handle of a sword. Looking down behind him, he saw that it was a silvery-white old style handle with what appeared to be a blue opel on the end. Though the sword was glowing, it didn’t light up the leaves, ground, or even Vaugn’s hand.

Vaugn stared, confused and amazed at the sudden appearance of this sword handle.

"Jinkara…what am I looking at?", Vaugn asked breathlessly.

"That Vaugn...maybe the way to defeat Dogma.", Jinkara replied, and Vaugn heard that he sounded amazed.

Pulling the sword out, Vaugn saw that it had a long, slightly curved, broad blade, atleast 4 feet long. It was glowing silvery-white, and despite it’s size, seemed as light air. Vaugn stared transfixed at the blade, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"What is this Jinkara?", Vaugn asked, continuing to stare at the blade.

"This Vaugn...is the Kochoro. The Heaven Blade of Nightmares in demon tongue.", Jinkara replied in a stunned voice.

"The what?", Vaugn asked, excitement and hope starting to rise inside of him.

"We demons call it The Purity, or just Purity for short. It’s a blade forged of the purest elements known to exsist: Angel blood and Angel hair. The handle is angel hair spun together. It’s lighter then air, but stronger then diamond. The blade is crystalised angel blood. The purest substance known to exsist. This blade can purify even the most evil of evil. It would have been my fate, had I not been imprisoned in the jewel.", Jinkara replied with a growl yet still sounding stunned.

"How did I get it then? Why do I have it?", Vaugn asked, sounding confused, but feeling his confidence and hope rising even faster.

"That, I don’t know. But what matters is you have it now, and you can use it.", Jinkara replied.

Vaugn sat in silence, listening to Dogma tear and snap trees in half, thinking and staring at the blade. Finally, after what seemed like a life time, Vaugn thought to himself, asking Jinkara what he had been wondering since Dogma first appeared.

"Jinkara, answer me something.", Vaugn thought to himself.

"What is it?", Jinkara replied slowly.

"What’s with the sudden change of heart? Before, you would only call me mortal. Or ape. You even tried to kill me before to escape. But now you’re using my name, and trying to help me survive. Why?", Vaugn asked to himself in a curious tone.

There was silence between them, all the while the sound of breaking trees could be heard, before Jinkara replied.

"When I had my body and I was trying to escape Hell, the Feral Forty were my friends if you will. Even though they were my followers, I trusted them like friends. Impossible though it may seem, demons still can make friendships. All I thought of while trapped in my prison was escaping and being reunited with my followers and friends. But when you prevented that. I blamed you for it Vaugn. I was enraged. Forced to stay bound to your soul until you died.", Jinkara said, as Vaugn listened intently, still leaning against a large tree, "When I heard the Feral Forty had escaped, I was excited. My followers, and the ones I considered friends, had escaped. I knew they would escape and try to rejoin me, regardless of what people said about them turning against me. I had faith they would remain loyal and try and help free myself of you. But tonight...tonight, it appears my friends have turned on me. My followers deserted me. They want to kill me and you. I’m helping you because our goal is the same. You want to live, and I want to punish my former followers for deserting me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not considering you a friend, quite the contrary, but you have to sometimes put grudges aside to meet your ultimate means.", Jinkara finished, Vaugn staring into the darkness.

"I see. It makes sence Jinkara.", Vaugn replied, nodding his head slowly, staring into the silent darkness in front of him.

"If your friends turned on you...can you say that you wouldn’t want to kill them?", Jinkara asked Vaugn, his voice monotone and cold.

Vaugn thought for a moment or two, before he slowly replied, "If my friends turned their back on me...I can honestly say that yes, I would want to kill them.", Vaugn replied.

Neither of them spoke. Dogma was still tearing trees apart, but he was getting farther and farther away. Vaugn stared into the darkness, still holding Purity, but looking past it. After moments of silence, Vaugn finally spoke.

"Lucifor was right,", Vaugn said with a slight snort of laughter, "Our attitudes are changing towards one another. I do have to admit, I’m not exactly pleased that we’re sharing my soul, but you helped me protect my friends, and helped me fight this demon for as long as you could, and for that, I do have to be grateful. I don’t like you, but I’m willing to put that aside if it means killing this demon and protecting my friends.", Vaugn finished with a smile.

"Enough talk Vaugn. Go and finish Dogma off. I grow tired of his presence.", Jinkara said, back to his usual cold voice, and back to his usual self.

"I thought you’d never ask.", Vaugn said, standing up and shouldering his blade.

At first, Vaugn felt something strange rise up inside of him. It wasn’t hope or courage, but rather confidence. Confidence? Yes. The blade was vibrating more, and with it, his confidence seemed to grow. Somehow, Vaugn suddenly knew what to do. As if skills from generations of warriors had been passed down to him, he knew how to wield the sword. Knew how to use it. Knew what he had to do.

Smiling to himself, Vaugn bent low, his blade still shouldered, and pushed off lightly. Vaugn felt his body rise, the branches above him cracking and snapping, and felt his head break the tops of the trees. Vaugn, just like Jinkara, had jumped atleast 70 feet in the air, and was gliding over one field of grass and the path, and falling down towards the field of grass, opposite the side he had lept from. Vaugn was preparing for a painful landing, but yet when he landed, it was as if he had landed on a cloud. Touching down gently, Vaugn turned, his blade shouldered all the while, and turned to face the savaging beast that was Dogma.

Smiling, Vaugn called out across the field, "Hey, Dogma! Over here!"

Turning his head slowly, Dogma looked behind him. Across the field was Vaugn, calm and confident, a large sword over his shoulder. Tuning to face Vaugn properly, Dogma flexxed his clawed hands, enraged more then ever.

"Play time is over! I’ve had it with you! Face me one on one and die like a good ape!", Dogma roared at Vaugn, the trees shaking with the echo generated.

"I’m not going anywhere. Come and get me.", Vaugn replied calmly, smiling at Dogma.

Dogma bared his fangs before roaring at Vaugn, and sprinting towards him, pulling his fist back as he did.

Vaugn grabbed the handle of his sword with both hands, and holding the sword to his side, ran all out at Dogma.

The two beings were running at one another as if driven by rockets. On one side, a large, dog demon, full of hatred and evil, ready to tear Vaugn apart. On the other side, a small human, brandishing a sword, running all out at the large demon.

When Vaugn was in arms reach, Dogma struck, his fist shooting out at Vaugn. Vaugn jumped and barrel rolled into the air as Dogma’s fist sank into the soft grass. As Vaugn spun, he swung the sword outwards, and struck, slicing Dogma’s arm halfway up his forearm, and landing lightly on his feet, still running flat out.

Dogma howled in pain, straightening up, blood shooting from his severed arm, but Vaugn took no notice. Vaugn’s aim was his leg. Not to cut, but to climb. Vaugn lightly stepped onto Dogma’s foot, and ran up Dogma’s leg as if it were a ladder.

As if in slow motion, Vaugn reached Dogma’s chest, leaned inwards to his chest then quickly back flipping and kicking off of his chest, drove his foot forcefully into Dogma’s jaw. Vaugn heard the sound of his foot impacting Dogma’s jaw, and the sound of breaking teeth.

Landing cat like on his feet, grabbing his sword with both hands, and leaping into the air, Vaugn saw Dogma stumble backwards before falling onto the ground trying to get back up but failing.

Taking aim, Vaugn raised his sword high over his head as he started to plummette back to earth, aiming for Dogma’s head, ready to cut it in half.

Falling at break neck speed, Vaugn saw that Dogma was having trouble focusing. This was what Vaugn had been waiting for. Grinning, he pulled the sword behind his back, ready to deliver the killing shot.

"This is where you die!", Vaugn shouted some 10 feet above Dogma, and mustering all his strength, braught the sword slashing down infront of him.

In the split second there was, Dogma regained his focus enough to dodge the attack, rolling to his right and the sword sinking deep into the ground. Vaugn had been ready for this. Summoning all his strength again, he swung the sword sideways at Dogma, as if swinging a tennis raquette. Dogma rolled away again, but not before Vaugn lopped off his other ear.

Dogma roared in pain and quickly scrambling to his feet, lunged at Vaugn, his claws pointed like a spear. Vaugn lept lightly back as Dogma missed his attack, his arm sinking up to his elbow from the force. Vaugn leapt several more times backwards, stopping 60 feet away from Dogma.

"Admit it Dogma! You can’t win! Give up now, and I’ll make your death quick!", Vaugn called confidently to Dogma, who extracted his arm from the ground, pure fury etched all over his face.

"You cocky bastard! You may have a sword, but you are still no match for me!", Dogma snarled, and he started to swell with fury.

He was swelling as if being filled with air. He kept getting larger and larger, until his stomach resembled a small hot air balloon. Inside his stomach though, Vaugn could see motion. Something seemed to be crawling around inside, the bodies of whatever they were brushing against the inside of Dogma’s stomach giving faint outlines of themselves.

"Jinkara..what the hells is happening?", Vaugn asked disgusted, slowly grasping the sword handle with both hands and holding it infront of him.

"I have no idea...", Jinkara replied, as the swell in Dogma’s stomach started to shrink, but move slowly up to his throat, giving him the impression of a very large frog croaking, it’s throats swollen to an unimaginable size.

Vaugn stared, disgusted at what he was seeing. His hands tightened on the handle of his sword, ready to strike should anything happen.

"Prepare for death mortal! You stand no chance now.", Dogma shouted, his head pushed back due to the size of his throat, but his eyes looking down, fixxing Vaugn with their furious stare.

The swell, whatever it was, slowly moved into Dogma’s mouths, his cheeks swelling so much it looked as if his cheeks would tear wide open. Dogma stared at Vaugn, and then smiled a very evil, toothy grin, before opening his mouth wide and vomiting, something very ugly spilling out and landing in a large tangled pile

But he wasn’t vomiting. Instead, what had come out were several large, furry dogs, covered in Dogma’s spit. The dogs disentangled themselves, stood up and shook themselves dry, all staring at Vaugn. All the dogs looked the same, sort of like large German Shepards, but they were all jet black, and had 3 red eyes, the third being in the center of it’s forehead.

The dogs turned their heads in unison, looking at Dogma, like dogs looking at their masters.

"You see mortal. You lose. Go my children. Spill his blood to the earth, and send his soul screaming into the light!", Dogma roared, and all at once, the dogs sprinted at Vaugn, roaring in fury, their eyes fixxed on Vaugn’s throat.

"Okay, now what do we do?", Vaugn asked Jinkara, readying his sword.

"Try and stay alive.", Jinkara replied as the dogs came pelting towards them.

"Easy.", Vaugn replied as one of the dogs lunged at him, it’s front paws outstretched, it’s mouth wide open, revealing rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth.

Instantly, Vaugn pulled his sword back, and swung it at the dog one handed, tennis raquette style, slashing at the dog. In the blink of an eye, the blade and sliced cleanly through the dogs neck. Vaugn spun out of the way as the corpse of the demon dog flew by, landing on the ground 10 feet away, it’s head continuing to roll away as blood poured from it’s severed neck.

Behind Vaugn, he heard the sound of roaring getting closer. Spinning around, Vaugn saw another dog leaping at him, it’s mouth wide open, only 6 feet away. With out thinking, Vaugn vicously slashed his sword in front of him at the dogs open mouth. Vaugn saw it all in slow motion; the blade cut into the dogs cheek, carried on cutting through it’s shoulder, it’s ribs, and out through the other side cutting it in half the entire width of the dog, the bottom half landing next to Vaugn, the top half landing 3 feet behind him, blood pouring from the two severed halves of the dog.

To Vaugn’s right, another dog jumped at Vaugn, Vaugn fixxing it with an eagle like stare.When it was close enough,Vaugn shot out his hand, grasping the dog around the throat, picked it up into the air as high as he could reach, and slammed it vicously to the ground, the sound of bones breaking filling the air. He grasped his sword with both hands, raised it high above him, and swung it down as hard as he could, cutting the demons head in half, the blade sinking deep into the ground.

There was another roar infront of Vaugn. Looking up, Vaugn saw a dog hurling towards him,it’s mouth wide open, just as it’s fallen commrades had lunged at Vaugn before it. Vaugn merely smiled. He jerked the sword out of the ground, grasped the sword with both hands, and when the dog was close enough, thrust his sword at the dog, ramming his blade all the way down the dogs throat to the hilt,and slicing it out of the dogs back, the dogs body being cut in half down the spine, and falling onto the ground like a cut open chicken.

On and on the battle raged. Every time Vaugn would destroy one pack of dogs, Dogma would generate another, and Vaugn would slaughter that wave aswell. Each dog seemed fearless and uncaring. No matter how many of their commrades they witnessed being killed, the dogs would still lunge at Vaugn, and Vaugn killing them all in turn.

Despite the dogs constantly being reborn, Vaugn noticed that they were getting smaller, and the packs were getting smaller and smaller aswell.

Though Vaugn was busy trying to fight for his life, he did notice that for one reason or another, he was having fun. Everytime he destroyed a pack of dogs, he was finding himself wanting more to come out, but no more came.

Vaugn slowly turned, having just sliced a dog cleany down the center, and faced Dogma. Vaugn was covered in demon blood, the blood slowly dripping off of his body.

If someone were to walk up the stairs from the subway, they may well have thought they had walked out into a battle field.

Everywhere, dogs layed sliced in half, their front and backends feet apart; sliced down the middle, laying on the ground like a split open coconut. Others had been decapitated, their bodies still twitching, some had been gutted, their organs ripped out and scattered across the field. Some had their heads split in half so violently that it was hard to tell whether it was a head or not; some had the sides of their bodies cut wide open like a fish being cleaned.

The only two standing figures in the field were Vaugn, covered head to toe in black blood, holding a long, silvery-white sword. On the other side, a tall black demon, that looked like a dog, bleeding from many wounds on it’s body.

Vaugn stood there, panting slightly, staring at Dogma. Dogma stared back, panting from the effort of producing all the demons.

Neither of them spoke, but merely stared, contemplating what to do next. All was silent, except for the gentle drip of blood from the dead demon dogs. Finally, after an enternity of silence, Jinkara spoke.

"So...you learned a new trick, you filthy animal.", Jinkara said from around all of them, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Yes. Culra taught me that. He’s taught me more then you ever did Jinkara. He is a true leader.", Dogma snarled back, smiling broadly.

"So easily impressed, the feable.", Jinkara goaded Dogma.

"Feable? You are to much Jinkara. Your vessel is weakening, while I am still strong.", Dogma goaded Jinkara back, pointing at Vaugn with a clawed finger and smiling.

"Yes, he maybe weakening, but I think he has enough to kill you.", Jinkara retorted, a note of pleasure in his voice.

"A mortal? Kill me?", Dogma laughed heartily, "I don’t think so! He may have gotten lucky, but his luck has just ran out!", Dogma roared,suddenly running straight at Vaugn, the ground shaking with each of his monstrous steps.

"It’s over.", Vaugn said quietly, planting his feet and grasping the handle of his sword tight in front of him, readying himself, a look of steely determination on his face.

"Prepare to die mortal!", Dogma screamed, pulling his hand back, pointing his claws at Vaugn, and shooting his hand at Vaugn.

Vaugn stood there, watching the hand flying at him, not moving, barely beathing. When the hand was close enough, Vaugn struck.

Pushing himself forward, slashing the sword as he went, the blade sliced into Dogma’s palm, and cut through it, splitting his fore arm in half, and slicing clean out of the side of his arm.

Landing,Vaugn pushed himself powerfully off of the ground, leaping high into the air, as Dogma realed, howling in pain. Looking down, Vaugn saw that he had cut Dogma’s arm in half, the arm splitting the length of his forearm, falling open like a banana peel, blood gushing from the wound.

"You son of a bitch! I’ll kill you! Where are you!", Dogma roared furiously, looking around for Vaugn.

"Right here!", Vaugn shouted from above.

Dogma looked up in time to see Vaugn falling towards him, his sword pulled high over his head. Dogma had no time to react. Before he knew what was happening, it was to late.

Vaugn swung the sword down with all his strength. The sword sliced through the center of Dogma’s forehead, slicing the jewel in his forehead in half, down the center of Dogma’s head, down through the center of his neck, his chest, his stomach, and out through his groin.

Vaugn landed lightly on his feet, the sword cutting into the ground, before Vaugn lept back, landing yards from the figure of Dogma.

There Dogma stood, stalk still, looking up at the night sky. Breathing and a slight gargling coming from him were the only signs that he was still alive, if a demon could truly be alive.

"He...did it. He actually did it.", Vaugn heard Dogma breathe, still staring at the spot in space.

As Vaugn watched, a bright white light erupted from every inch of the body length wound on Dogma’s body. It illuminated the scene around him. The grass was stained black, and a large pile of dead corpes, all jet black glistened in the light, still dripping and twitching.

The light died away, but suddenly was replaced with a sudden whooshing sound as blood shot out the entire length of the wound Vaugn had sliced in Dogma. The blood shot out several feet and splashed onto the ground. It seemed that every last drop must had been bled out of the wound, as nothing dripped or seaped out afterwards.

Dogma swayed slightly on spot, before falling gracefully onto his back, his eyes still wide open, his mouth hanging open.

Vaugn smiled broadly, before reaching behind him and sheething his sword, looking at the fallen figure that was Dogma. Dogma was motionless, all breathing ceased, all gargling silent. There was no sound of blood dripping from him. He was truly dead.

"Well, that’s it. It’s over.",Vaugn said out loud, turning his back on the body of Dogma and looking out over the field at the carnage.

"This battle is over anyway.", Jinkara replied calmly, "You’re more capable then I thought."

"I’ll take that as a compliment.", Vaugn replied, as a quiet sizzling sound filled the air.

Turning and looking once again at the body of Dogma, Vaugn saw that it was slowly burning away, just like Jinkara’s hand had done when he tried to crossover. The body took several minutes to burn completely away, leaving only the slightest outline of ash, the only sign that it had truly been there.

The air was suddenly full of the sound of more sizzling from behind Vaugn. Turning again, Vaugn saw the corpses of the slain demon dogs burning away just like Dogma's body had done. The blood too was smoking and slowly disappearing. Vaugn, who had been covered in the blood of the dogs, looked down at his body and saw that the blood was smoking and disappearing, though Vaugn felt only the slightest tickle.

When all the blood and bodies had disappeared, Vaugn looked around, smiling to himself and fell backwards onto his back, spread eagle, looking up at the starry sky, the moon shining brightly.

"Some battle huh?", Vaugn said out loud, laying on the cool grass and breathing in the cool night air and smiling broadly.

"Yes, it was. You did much better then I thought.", Jinkara replied, and Vaugn noticed that his voice had a hint of respect in it, and smiling even more broadly because of it.

"So how did I kill him? He lost a lot of blood in that battle.", Vaugn said, stretching out and laying even more comfortably on the grass.

"Yes, he did. But demons aren’t like humans Vaugn. We can only be killed when our soul is destroyed. Remember, our bodies are only vessels to hold our souls until we’re purified. Shells if you will. You can break the shell all you want, but you have to destroy what it’s protecting to truly destroy it.", Jinkara said calmly.

Now that Jinkara had seen the truth of his followers, it seemed he was more willing to accept the fact that he and Vaugn were stuck together and should probably make the best of a bad situation.

"But why could I kill him then?", Vaugn asked again

"It must have been what he called his ‘Soul Shard’, that jewel in his forehead.", Jinkara replied slowly.

"So that was his human soul then?", Vaugn asked.

"To a degree. You see, when demons are battling in hell, many of them don’t bother to seal their soul into a protective shell, because where is a dead being go to go when killed?", Jinkara started, as Vaugn nodded in agreeance, "But some demons seal their souls into protective shells known as ‘shards’, when they plan to escape Hell. The soul will seap out of the body, as Dogma told us earlier, when on a plain full of happiness. The soul stays in the demon body in Hell, because Hell is full of hate, and the soul can’t stand to be in such a place. On earth though, in a world full of happiness, the soul rejects the demons body and starts to escape. To prevent that, they seal it in a shard. The shard seals the soul away permanently, so the demon can survive here. When the shard is broken,the soul escapes and is purified. The soul is sent to live with angels until it’s reincarnated in it’s new body.", Jinkara finished, as Vaugn watched a shooting star streak across the sky.

"So if Dogma hadn’t had the dogs kill the humans, he’d just be a blue jewel laying on the ground? Cause he said his body started to burn the very second he set foot onto earth.", Vaugn asked thoughtfully.

"That is indeed what would have happened. Sometime a soul shard isn’t always an asset.", Jinkara replied, as Vaugn smiled at the thought of Dogma’s soul shard laying on the ground for all eternity.

"So how did Dogma escape Hell exactly? If he could escape Hell, then every demon should beable to escape, shouldn’t they?", Vaugn asked, staring at the moon.

"A demon can only escape when it’s chains are broken.", Jinkara replied

"Chains? Like bike chains?", Vaugn asked again, thinking of chains used to lock bikes up.

"Not exactly. You see, when demons reside in Hell, they have what are called ‘chains’. These are bindings of pure evil. These are wrapped around the demons arms, and stay locked around their arms until the day comes when they are purified.", Jinkara began, as Vaugn thought of the dream he had where he saw the creatures with chains wrapped around their arms, "Demons who escape Hell and plant their feet anywhere else but Hell without their chains being broken, will suffer pain unimaginable to a living human being. The chains react to anything but pure evil and hate. Many demons don’t want to suffer that kind of pain, so they don’t even bother thinking about escaping. Only the strongest demons can break their chains. The Feral Forty, it so happens, are some of those select few demons who are able to break their chains.", Jinkara finished.

"Speaking of which, what makes a demon as strong as it is?", Vaugn asked curiously.

"Simply...the more hate and anger a person dies with in their heart and soul, the more powerful they will be when they are reborn as a demon.", Jinkara replied simply.

"I see...makes sence", Vaugn said casually, "And this Fate person Dogma mentioned, who is that?", Vaugn asked as casually as asking someone what the weather was like outside.

"Fate...is one of the 4 angels of Life.", Jinkara replied with a snarl of fury.

"And those are...what?", Vaugn asked, yawning and listening to the peace and quiet around him.

"The Angels of Life are those angels who control human kind. There are four of them: Fate, Heart, Cone and Arc. Each of them controls a different aspect of human exsistence.", Jinkara replied, his voice still full of anger.

"Oh yeah? Like what?", Vaugn asked curiously, wondering what four angels could possibly have to do with human kind.

"Cone controls human souls. She is responsible for giving humans their souls, reincarnating them when it’s their time, and taking their souls to heaven. She is also the one who decides which demon get’s purified. Heart is the angel who controls the human heart. He is responsible for love, hate, happiness, sorrow, and all human emotions. Arc is the angel of war and death. He controls when a human dies, how it dies, and so on. He is also repsonsible for starting the wars of human kind. Though I drove leaders of countries and empires insane, he was the one that pushed them to war. Fate is the angel of fate and fortune. She controls everything that happens to humans, whether they break their leg, or win the lottery, she is responsible for their trials and tribulations. She was the one who made the prophecy concering you and I. She is responsible for all of this.", Jinkara said coldly, each word as cold as ice.

When Vaugn heard this, he started to feel a flicker of anger rise up inside of him. It wasn’t Jinkara’s anger, but Vaugn’s own anger at this revelation.

"I see. Well, if I ever see her, I’ll make sure to have a nice long chat with her.", Vaugn replied coldly, but recovering very quickly, letting his anger vanish as quickly as it arrived,"So who’s this Culra person that Dogma kept talking about?", Vaugn asked, putting his hands behind his head, and crossing his feet, and watching the stars twinkle lazily.

At the mention of the name, Vaugn felt Jinkara’s anger rise inside this time, and he knew that who ever was, was someone that Jinkara despised.

"Take it easy Jin...you don’t mind if I call you Jin do you?", asked Vaugn calmly.

"Culra is one of the Forty. He was the demon who wanted to lead them against Lucifor. He wasn’t what you’d call an extraordinary demon, just one who was obsessed with destroying Lucifor and escaping Hell.", Jinkara replied, his voice now cold again.

"Sounds sort of like you, no?", Vaugn asked casually, smiling widely.

"You flatter me. Yes, I to wanted to destroy Lucifor, just like Culra. But the only difference...I was strong. I was powerful enough to kill Lucifor, Culra was a worm by comparison. But after my fall from power, the Forty must have been searching for a leader. I guess Culra, as the only one more obsessed with Lucifor’s destruction then I was, was their natural choice.", Jinkara said, his voice cold as ice.

"I see...flocking to the one who shares the idiology of their fallen leader.", Vaugn said thoughtfully, starting to bounce one of his feet merrily.

"Indeed. It seems that he too wants to take over this plain of exsistance, just like I did. He’s blinded the Forty with promises of glory, and giving them hope that they can destroy me, and take their revenge.", Jinkara replied, also in a very thoughtful tone.

"Well,", Vaugn said, standing up and dusting himself off, looking around, and walking to the path , "If those demons are anything like Dogma was, they shouldn’t be to hard to kill. Hell, I look forward to the next fight. This was fun. A real change from the ordinary you know?", Vaugn finished, stretching his arms, sticking his hands in his pockets, and set off down the path to find his friends.

Lucifor was right, Vaugn thought to himself as he set off down the dark path, Jinkara and Vaugn may not like eachother, but after tonights battle, they certianly didn’t despise one another.