The boys exit the safety of the forest, entering into the burning inferno that the residential district has turned into. Many of the buildings have been scorched and burned, there are emergency teams working to put out fires but the flames burn all around the neighborhood.
Screams for help can be heard before they are drowned out by the crackling of flames shredding through wood; Brock is frozen in terror by this, and Brakus' attempts to comfort him are met with failure.
"Brock, Brock! we have to go right now, theres nothing we can do to save them .." Brakus sounds distressed and defeated. Brock turns to face him with tears in his eyes and he gives Brakus a small nod before joining him to head back.
[Haru, Matthew and Daniel: Residential District]
"Matthew I need more water!" Haru yells for assistance from Matthew who has just finished escorting a young couple from a burning house. Daniel is desperately teleporting in and out of houses, rescuing as many people as possible.
Matthew hops into action once again , he picks up four water buckets and darts off in the direction of a small lake nearby; he hurriedly scoops water from the lake, water splashes from the buckets as he marches back to Haru. Haru is passing blankets out to citizens, taking a drag from a cigarette whenever he has the chance.
Haru maintains a tough facade but his eyes are those of a broken man; the flames dance across his wrinkled face, revealing a hint of anguish. Haru notices Matthew returning and he calls out to him and motions in the direction of two nearby houses that have just began to burn; white smoke rises from them as the moisture begins to evaporate from their wooden frames.
Daniel materializes next to Haru, "Do you think Brakus is still safe?" he asks; a grim air surrounds him.
Haru closes his eyes and rubs his chin in thought, "Something doesn't feel right about this, I keep feeling a dark presence.."
"I felt that too , but what does that have to do with Brakus?" Daniel says, interrupting him.
Haru glares at him for a moment, "I have a feeling that it has everything to do with Brakus." he replies.
Daniel furrows his brow, "Hmm, you may be correct Haru. Ironwell hasn't had a storm like this since...", Daniel comes to a realization as he speaks , causing his jaw to drop.
"The last time there was a storm like this was 5 years ago , when the enemy dropped a weapon of mass destruction" Daniel finishes his train of thought.
Haru realizes what Daniel was implying and he begins to sweat profusely and he freezes in place. He shivers at the possibility of a new weapon of mass destruction being used. "No.. it can't be.." he falls to his knees in despair.
"Haru, Daniel, we should go look for Brakus, emergency services can handle the rest of the houses in the area" Matthew calls out to them as he trots towards them short of breath from all of the running he has been doing.
Daniel places a firm hand on Harus back, "He's right, we should go Haru. If what you believe turns out to be true..." Daniel offers his hand to help him up "...Brakus may already be in danger."
[Residential District: Brakus and Brock]
The boys are a few blocks away from home, running a hard as possible through thick black smoke.
"Look! We're almost there." Brakus points to a familiar house that is barely visible through the smoke around them. The fire hasn't spread to their section of the district yet.
They finally break through the smoke and are greeted with a gust of cold wind; screams are carried by the air. With each step Brakus becomes uneasy, he doesn't care about anyone in the neighborhood but for some reason he feels like he should help; like he can't let them die.
They reach their home and Brock stumbles inside first, gasping for air. Brakus hesitates at the entrance as Brock stares expectingly.
'I can't just stand by while people are dying...' Brakus bites his lip anxiously as he sorts through the current conflict within himself. He waves goodbye to Brock and steps out into the rain without saying a word, closing the door behind himself.
As the door slams shut, Brock reaches towards the handle to chase after him. As he gets close to the door his body stiffens with horror; a dark energy begins to envelop him. He struggles to move but his muscles are constricted by a strange force.
Brock has lost all ability to move and the darkness begins to suffocate him as footsteps approach from a few feet away. The steps are heavy, the clomping of boots against linoleum flooring reverberate throughout the house. A satisfied chuckle can be heard coming from the visitor.
"Hmmph, Kids are so naive." The voice belongs to the man who was stalking the brothers from earlier, but something is different about him. He is a tall and slender man, with a dark cloak on and his face is hidden by a strange cowl with purple markings. His steps come to a stop directly behind Brock, he quickly flips Brock onto his back and lifts him into the air by his throat like a ragdoll. "Your brother can't rescue everyone...because there is no freedom without death."
Black mist engulfs them, the man still has a tight grip on Brock's throat; Brock is scratching at the man's arm, but his desperate are weakening with each movement.
They reappear in a dark cellar, Brock is inside of a tiny cell ; The man towers above him on the outside of the cell. The man chuckles before making a few snide comments, he begins to walk away before letting out on last comment , "Have fun kid, you can have all the 'freedom' you want down here" he laughs hysterically as he walks up the stairs.
The clang of a heavy steel door echoes throughout the dark basement followed by a loud thunk of a lock turning over. Brock begins to cry; although he is brave , he is still a young boy and the thoughts of what may happen to him cause his mind to slowly break. "Brakus help! I need youuu!" he screams into the Darkness, after a few minutes his plead for help is unanswered and he suddenly collapses from exhaustion when his fatigue from earlier catches up to him.
[At the Same Time: Brakus POV]
After the door shuts he takes a deep breath and begins sprinting back into the smoke, towards the burning houses.
Brakus spends the next hour gathering water and extinguishing fires. He takes a moment to control his breathing, then a high pitched buzzing splits his eardrums; bringing him to his knees. He frantically scans his surroundings to locate the source, the buzzing grows in intensity by the second and it seems to be coming from everywhere.
Suddenly the noise stops, leaving Brakus out of breath and stumbling to his feet.
"Look at you.... Like a mouse" a man snickers condescendingly. "Where is he?!" Brakus turns to follow the mans voice, only to meet the gaze of a stranger in a familiar outfit.
"Who are you?!? and what do you want?!" Brakus aggresively interrogates the man.
"Ahaha.. I forgot I wore this when we first met" he slowly reveals a Oni mask and smiles sinisterly; the mysterious man is Hanzo and he looks like he lusts for blood.
"Now answer me. Where is the old man? Tell him to face me" Hanzo quivers like a snake, ready to swallow his prey whole with a single bite.
Brakus stares at him defiantly without muttering a single word.
"Hmmph, then we'll do it the violent way I suppose..." Hanzo closes the distance between them in the blink of an eye and shoves Brakus onto the hard gravel; he begins to laugh and hiss maniacly.
"Did you cause this?!" Brakus yells.
"I won't say..." Hanzo hisses angrily, spitting on the ground at his feet.
Hanzo appears next to Brakus once again and kicks him into a nearby house, debris crashes onto him from above.
"I have the reflexes of a cobra, there is no escaping me...." he takes on a snake fighting stance and beckons to Brakus, "... You might as well stand and fight me!"
Hanzo once again dashes at Brakus, but this time he is ready and parries his attack; countering with a quick straight punch. This causes Hanzo to stumble slightly but he appears otherwise unphased.
"I know there's a monster in there somewhere boy... I can feel it.." Hanzo cackles as the sound of bones rattling begins to emanate from deep within him, ".... You hear that? Death is crawling up from hell to reap your soul!".
Hanzo's aura becomes darker, just being around him makes Brakus feel sickly and weak.
"I call this Hells retribution." Hanzo casts a shadow on Brakus, and begins to cackle.
A thick black and red mist flows from Hanzos arms and envelops his body; creating a snake like wrapping. The mist begins to slither outwards, causing Brakus to jump a few feet from him.
Brakus trembles, although it wasn't from fear it was anticipation that caused him to be so jittery. "That's awesome! but that much smoking can't be good for your lungs!" Brakus jokes, while preparing himself for battle.
Hanzo cracks an evil smile, "Hmmph, how intriguing...", he says, with a small chuckle.
"Fine, they all die either way..." , his chuckle slowly deepens into a blood chilling laugh.
Brakus remains in place , unaffected by Hanzo's laughter. "There is no way in hell I am gonna lose to a chronic smoker!" Brakus grins at Hanzo , and readies himself in a boxing stance.
[To be continued!]