Mature content warning
It's Friday morning, John and Sera are walking to class, acting like normal friends. John starts to get worried for Arlo as he looks around realizing he hasn't seen him in a while. No texts to bother him about school responsibilities, no calls, nothing. "Dude, Arlo was a jerk to you, why are you so worried about him?" Sera asks rather oddly. "I don't know, he's always like an older brother to me. Despite everything he does, no matter how mad I get at him. He's oddly just there. I need to find him" Sera looks for a private place to talk with John, away from all the other students.
Sera: Hey now, remember what he wanted to do, separate us! He needs to apologize before he gets any care from you. Besides, he's probably fine." Sera notes. Her comment only increases John's anxiety. "I don't know, I'm just worried that's all." Sera shrugs as she grows annoyed. "Stop talking about that jerk, why aren't you obsessed with me, I'm the one who freaking loves you after all?" John pushes Sera against a wall, just enough not to hurt her. He pulls down his blazer and points to her bite marks. "I guess these don't count for anything huh?! What's up with you?! Why are you acting like this?" John asks aggressively. Sera looks down on the ground.
"Sera, from the moment you bit into me, I have a reminder of my first love, and hopefully my only one, because I can't imagine living in a world without you! Because I swear to God I love you to death, is that what you wanted to hear?!" Sera looks at the ground in shame. "Y-yeah…" she utters before she hugs John. "Look, I'm sorry if I didn't make you feel loved. I don't know what else to do to please yo-" Sera cuts him off. "No John, I feel like the luckiest girl ever, to have someone like you, so kind…." John in that moment felt a divine revelation pour over his mind. He could feel his blood coursing with power as he felt what it was like to use them against his friends. "So caring for others" Sera notes as John felt his own lips mouth the very same words he once mouthed to Sera, who confronted him over his abuse of power all those timelines ago. "So loving" Sera adds as John remembers the constant repeating of his own mistakes. Timeline after timeline having his own class turned against him. "So sweet, so strong and manly." Those words echoed as John felt the streams of tears leaking from his eyes as they did when he sat on the floor in defeat. "So brave" John felt as if he had enough. He shuts down internally as he finds himself shivering. "So handsome." Sera says as John remembers the first time he has ever faced off against Arlo. His face scrunched up with bruises, his eyes glowed a fearsome gold as they starred down Arlo's blue pupils. "So genital and warm" Sera noted as John recalled the words he spoke against his class, against every enemy. He hears laughing within his own mind, Sera at this point lets go of John. "Do you ever miss your brother?" She asked in a demonic voice. John backs away, he watches Sera's face rot, her lips fading to show her teeth, eyes gouged out, her hair torn out, her skin crawling with maggots. "NOO, STOP IT, PLEASE, SOMEONE! ANYONE!" Sera approaches John. "Are you okay?"
"You're…. YOU'RE NOT REAL!"
The floor starts to sink on John, his leg gets caught on something, he feels a hand going up.
Meanwhile in New Oklahoma city. James is sitting on the roof rethinking everything. His guilt over the events of last night haunt him, leaving him to stare off at the sky's horizon. He remembers everything that took place back before he became King of the Devil men, putting himself in the victims shoes. "Shit, what have I done?" James asks himself. "Oh, Okamari, what do I do?" Okamari appears from behind. The two embrace as they look out at the bright beautiful Friday morning. The two begin to get intimate. James, knowing full well she's dead, does not back down in fear of losing whatever bliss he has entered. What was supposed to be a tender moment turns into something more extreme, they explore every inch of each other as they build off each other's dopamine. What was the most incredible feeling of James life becomes pure terror the next moment, Okamari fades, as she goes he feels something up his leg, he looks down only to end up horrified as he finds Okamari sinking into the ground, pulling on his leg as she crawls up him to try and drag him below.
James screams in horror as Tokyo pulls him in. He feels himself drown in a burning red liquid when suddenly he feels someone pull him out. "James? JAMES?!" Tokyo yells in order to snap James out of his trance. "I'm fine, I'm FINE!" James yells as he gives Tokyo a look of horror. "I'll tell the queen you had another episode" Tokyo says. "No, please!" James begs. "Then open up to me, what happened, why did Okamari disappear?" James looks away with shame. "Uhh, well, no, please don't" Tokyo shakes her head in disappointment. "Fine, but there's no other way I can help, you helped me last night, when I opened up about my abuse, how I..." James interjects. "It's okay Tokyo. It's okay…."
Tokyo's lip quivers as the two go for an embrace. James relives last night as he tries to block it out, block out all the horrors he hears his friend tell him about. "I'm so sorry, Sir Fancies lied to us, he said you told us t-to-" James hugs Tokyo, trying to calm her down from crying. "It's okay, I know you're innocent, he's dead now." James addresses. "Yeah, you don't hate me do you?" she asks. "Of course not, you're the only person out of those four I could bear. Hell you're the closest to me in the group" Tokyo nods. "What's wrong with Rando, Kent, and Arron?" James chuckles as the two ease their embrace. "Arron is just a bitch, I tore him apart, if I didn't wipe him all over New Bostin, he'd be a jerk, then Kent has an attitude problem, the rando is a rando, and Sir Francais..." He pauses for a moment before continuing. "Tried to kill my cousin back there." Tokyo looks at James rather puzzled. "Cousin?" she asks. "Yeah, it's a long story, I was taken at a young age at a family barbecue, I only just found out I had a brother, and three long lost cousins. There's more to that story that I'm only learning as I live longer" Tokyo rests her head against James's chest. "I'm so sorry, that on top of Okamari, that must be rough." Tokyo pauses as the two nestle under the sun. "From the moment I was born I thought life was the afterlife, Hell" Tokyo states. "My father was always the abusive type. A groper, a drug abuser. He'd beat me, if not my brother for defending me. Fights in the household always got bloody. It's an environment perfect for Devil men isn't it?" Tokyo asks. "In the end he gave me and my brother up after the fifth grade. I never finished elementary school. I missed the streets of Kansas City" James hugs Tokyo, holding her close to him as he feels his body shield her from the world.
"It's okay Tokyo, I promise you, nothing will happen to you ever again, you're strong now, amazing, capable, brave, and an amazing person." Tokyo looks down at the roof top as James holds her, he looks up at the sky as it glares a bright blue and red over the town. "Let's find him, I need to blow off some steam" James says. The two begin to get up and walk across the building roof, looking for more rooftops to travel by. "What about you James? What happened with you and Okamari?" Tokyo asks.
"The day I brutally tortured Jason he went home crying, wanted by the others. I however wanted to use him while he was in his prime before exacting my revenge. He hid for three days, then on the fourth Okamari found him, he was hiding in an apartment complex, out of anger, he struck her.
Several years ago
"So, the bastard sent his woman to hunt me, what a COWARD!" Jason roars as Okamari powers up. Okamari powers up. "I did this myself you piece of shit, you hurt him! He was so innocent and sweet until you touched him!" Okamari yelled. "DIE WHORE!" Jason and Okamari fight to the death, Okamari uses her tentacles to smash and bash Jason, but it's not enough, he manages to grab her and gag her, her eyes grow as she feels pain all over her body, spikes growing out of every crevice of her, the blood curdling screams that come out of her mouth are muffled. "Now, let's have some fun!" Jason roars. James remembers finding Okamari hours later horribly mutilated. He breaks down in the present day as he finds himself having another episode. He begins to transform into a beast, armor made of hardened blood grows all over his body. He grows tentacles out of his back that resemble centipede legs. His screams begin to sound demonic in nature as he fully transforms into something inhuman.
"Address, now" James orders.
Several hours later, James heads out of the apartment complex, leaving the abandoned city, heading towards Kansas City. Remembering the nightmares he had of finding Okamari's body, the tears that fell from his eyes onto her mutilated body could give water to millions, drown entire cities, the pain hurt him physically, this was too much to wait for revenge, he wanted to tear this man into millions of pieces, but only for The Golden God and Lazerbeam to beat him, this anger filled his heart with darkness and despair. He felt pain in his every bit of being as he stood helpless, robbed of any revenge he could carry out, for Okamari, for losing all three of his cousins, his closest friends.
"The Golden God, I swear, I'll make you feel what I felt" You robbed me of true justice." James arrives at the house two hours later, he looks inside to see a family, a mom and daughter playing with a dad that matched the description he looked for. James knocks on the door.
"Daddy I'll get it!" A little girl yells. "No sweetie, don't open the door for strangers!" The man inside shouts. The little girl opens the door, only to have been approached by a man wearing a sinister mask. The daughter is scooped up by the mother as the whole family looks at a man standing on their front door. "Hello there, a little visit from a well known place, called...
Tokyo…..
Meanwhile Arlo wakes up next to Elaine, it's two o'clock in the afternoon, Elaine is awake as well. "Arlo, where am I?" she asks. "Oh yeah, welcome to my crib, small but cozy" Arlo comments. Elaine looks out of the window of the seventh floor apartment that is Arlo's place. "Wow, you have such a nice view. Now that I think about it, we never visit your place! You should host more stuff!" Elaine comments as Arlo shakes his head in disapproval of the idea.
"It's so beautiful," Elaine comments. "Not as beautiful as you" Arlo then kisses her neck a little. Trying his best to seem playful. Elaine ruffles Arlo's hair in return. "Hey baby, lets just fool around, I don't wanna go back to the dorms just yet." Arlo looks at Elaine confused. "Well, you're not scared about what happened?" Arlo asked. "What do you mean?" Elaine asked. "Don't say a word about it" A voice in Sheene's tone says to Arlo. "She doesn't remember and has no need to" Arlo nods. "Uhh, nothing" Arlo comments. "Good, stay there, I need my meat shield to heat me up." Elaine and Arlo hug for the rest of the morning as the city begins to wake up with traffic. "Sorry about forgetting your birthday, I just don't remember anything from last night. "Well, I got an idea to make up for it…" Elaine blushes as she gets on the same wavelength as Arlo. "I'll grab the pancake mix!" Elaine looks away, embarrassed at her own mind for thinking such lewd thoughts.
Arlo makes Elaine some breakfast. Some nicely shaped pancakes with strawberry syrup. Suddenly Elaine feels the spot where Arlo kissed her and starts to see visions of her middle school, kids being mean, throwing things at her, she sat behind a boy with a tail made out of aura. Then sudden visions of a boy who pinned her against a wall pressing his hands up in her upper region. Arlo sees this in the corner of his eye and rushes over to see what's wrong. "Hey, Elaine, what's wrong?" Arlo asked. Elaine shakes her head. "I, I'm nothing, it's fine." Arlo moves Elaine's hand, she's covering her chest. "Is she remembering last night, oh no! How do I explain this to her?" Arlo asks himself. "Elaine, what did we do last night? Cause I'm not sure what happened either?" Arlo asks. "Oh um, I don't know, did everyone get drunk, I think they did and I stayed back. Now that I mention it, you did host last night! You should do it more often!" Elaine says, hoping to switch off the topic her mind was set on.
"Okay good" Arlo thought. "Why were you curled on the couch just now?" Arlo asks. "Well, um…" Arlo walks over to her. "Did I do something?" he asks. "Elaine, you can tell me anything," Elaine shakes her head. "No, I'm scared." Arlo sits right next to her. "Are you sure?" he asks. "I don't know," Elaine says. "I'll always protect you, no matter what" Elaine nods. "Okay, only because I trust you more than anyone in the world."
"Well, when you kissed me, it kinda brought up some stuff." Arlo looks away with guilt. "Elaine, did I?" Elaine cuts Arlo off. "I just, I don't wanna go into to much detail, but the king back in my old school, he, he wanted to jump the current king. He asked me to help lure him, but when I said no he got angry, and…." Elaine starts to tear up, her face turns red as a tomato. Suddenly Arlo hugs her, he too now is tearing up. "Elaine I wish I knew so I wouldn't have done that. I'm sorry" Arlo says softly. "It's okay, you didn't know" Arlo let's just stay like this. You make me feel safe" Elaine says as she wraps herself around Arlo. The two nestle on the couch in silence for the entirety of what felt like eternity.
Meanwhile John, Sera, Remi, Blyke, and Isen are all in school.
"Please God, let time go by faster. Or kill me! One or the other! I hate this class." John groaned in his seat, suddenly right as he is about to doze off, the school bell rings at 2:30. The class rushes to get out of the building. "And remember to turn in your reports by tomorrow!" The teacher yells. Sera, Remi, Blyke, Isen, and John all head back to their dorms, getting ready for Saturday night. John and Sera walk back to Sera's dorm together, trying to wake up from their last class. "So Sera, how are you feeling, with that power, it's not giving you any trouble is it?" John asked. "No, I'm just kinda nervous, like how am I gonna fight with it?" John shrugs off her concern. "Don't worry, just remember there are sparring sessions"
Several days ago
Sera and John are on the roof together, sparring the day after John beats Zeke. Sera throws her sword ability at John, her eye glowing red and black along with half her hair, which was black covered in red highlights, jabbing at John, John goes back and uses his healing ability to stop the puncture wounds from draining him. "J-John, are you okay?" Sera asks. "Ahahaha, Sera, you're not gonna ask the demons that, are you?" John asks jokingly. "No, because they aren't you, they tried to take you" Sera says, missing the point. "They didn't even try, I'm the one who kicks their ass."
"Oh, I feel weak again," Sera comments. "Well, we've been going for five hours, sooooo....." Sera shakes her head. "Dude, I can't get better if I'm not constantly practicing." Sera says aggressively. "Alright, alright, here" John uses Blyke's Laser beam and blasts a hole through his arm, he drains some blood and pours it in Sera's water cup. "Thanks, I can't wait to eat real food again." John looks off the roof through the fence, grasping it with one of his hands. "I'll take you to the best sushi place in town, promise." Sera gets back up and gets ready to fight again when Abel, known as the rooftop kid interrupts them. Sera quickly retracts her ability. "Hey, you guys can't be up here, oh wait sorry John, you can stay but she's gotta go" John scowled at him aggressively, remembering the times he was scolded, even blown off the roof by the same person. "Fake" he thought to himself. Sera glared at the kid just as John did but from a distance. "What, no she's with me" John says. "Sorry bud, it's school rules" Abel says. "Bullshit I make the rules" John comments back. "No, John, it's fine" Sera says. John looks at her and walks over. "Wait, Sera?"
Sera starts walking towards the exit when John shoots a laser beam through the roof top kid, he activates his ability but realizes he's fighting John, John then throws an explosive at him, sending him flying back. "JOHN!" John loses control as his glowing eyes leave gold streaks behind. "So, you wanna be bunk buddies with Zeke at the HOSPITAL NOW?!" John asks as he grabs Abel. "N-no sir" John grabs him by the collar. "That's what I thought you bastard, now get out of my sight!" John kicks Abel down the stairs while Sera stands back and watches John return up to the roof. "Oh, are you alright?" Sera asks. "Yeah, let's just keep going."
Present day
John sits back on Sera's couch, remembering the force he used against Abel. "I'm going to rule this school, and make everyone who's sadistic pay" Sera looks at John strangely. "Damn, that's not the John I know" she comments. "Huh?" John asks. "The John I know is a carefree guy who only cares for his friends, who likes going for drinks, a guy who could care less if Wellston burned or not. Someone who's more-" John cuts Sera off. "Yeah well, that attitude is letting low tiers like Roland and Evie get hurt." Sera sighs. "Well, let's just focus on the upcoming conflict then." John nods. "Yeah alright, I think we're ready though, you're really good with that thing of yours. Wanna play Angry Pigs?" Sera pushes John on her bed. "Okay, but let's do that later" She lies next to him and hugs him. "I wanna rest up for now." John smiles as he hugs Sera back. "Yeah, I'd like that."
Meanwhile Remi and Blyke are practicing on the dorm roof their abilities when they call it. "Hey, you uhh, wanna take a break after this?" Remi asks. "Huh, what do you mean?" Blyke asks, following up. "Well, I've just been thinking lately that we don't spend enough time together." Remi says. "Oh, well, you wanna go out Sunday?" Blyke asks. "Can't, I'll be recovering, how about Monday after school?" The door slams open, Jake and Isen are together, causing the two to jump. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt my dudes!" Isen yells. "Yeah, I was just following this guy. So how are we doing this with New Oklahoma city?" "Well actually, I figured we just help them out however we can, nothing complex. We don't have a plan really. You guys ready?" Blyke asks, addressing the two non door knockers.
Meanwhile at the house in Kansas City, a large centipede-like beast is running around the house.
"Ohhhh WHERE ARE YOU?! COME OUT AND PLAY, OH WORRIER, COME OUT AND PLAY!, OH WORRIER! COME OUT AND PLAY COME OUT AND PLAY, OH WORRIER, COME OUT AND PLAYYYYYYYYY!" James smashes all the drywall, Tokyo's father is hiding behind the counter with his ability active, waiting for James to find him. The bodies of his wife and daughter lie in the kitchen floor in their own blood. "Damn you, you little brat, I finally had everything, a wife, a kid that I actually loved, you fucking took that from ME! Maybe though, that's what I deserve." Tokyo's father whispers that last part to himself. James destroys more drywall before he finds Tokyo's father, remembering how she and Sir Francis fought when he first met them, how he saw her use her ability, expecting the same to come to him.
"So then, I'll have to apprehend him like I would her!" James charges at Tokyo's father before he can first spike out of his wings, he pins him to the ground and starts tearing him apart, all while he screams for mercy, finally his head is all that's left, he pleads for James to stop. "Please, let me live!" James cracks his knuckles as he looks down on the old man. "Oh? I'm supposed to stop now that you're hurt. That didn't stop you when you hurt others?" The man shakes his head. "You already took everything from me, what do you even want?" James grabs Tokyo's father by the collar. "REVENGE FOR YOUR PAST SINS AGAINST TOKYO!"
James lifts up Tokyo's father as he strangles the life out of him, watching as his eyes roll back and his heart beat slows down. James then slams the corpse down, crying, realizing that he just took someone's father, good or bad, it still got to him. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry. Oh no I....
DAD!!!!!
James thought as he remembers his fathers gelled up hair, resembling a helmet. His gray eyes and warm smile, as well as the little strand of hair that dripped down his forehead.
The door is slammed open, A girl wrapped in all tape and a red hoodie runs towards James. "It's okay, It's okay!" The queen yells as she hugs James, trying to get him to calm down. "I, I killed him, I killed the whole family, the women and children too. I....." The queen continues to comfort James as he breaks down in her arms. "Just don't think about it, it'll only consume you, you can't do anything about it. PLEASE JAMES!" James wipes his tears as he looks up at her. "Okay, I'm here now."
To be Continued.....