by Roy Bright
He catches her and although just a small girl, she is still difficult to receive and in doing so, knocks him off balance, causing him to drop his weapon.
The beast is getting back up.
Gary picks himself and Charlotte up, grunts and turns right running toward his parked car. He tells himself that if he could get to his car, everything would be all right.
Masakai is back on all fours. He shakes his head from side to side and lets out a roar. He sees the cop running away with the child and sets off after them. Possessing a powerful stride, he is able to cross the distance much quicker than the cop can and is almost upon them when he feels a bullet rip through his back leg causing him to topple forward.
Behind him, Abi has picked up Gary’s gun, thus providing both Gary and Charlotte with valuable seconds for escape.
Kento is almost upon Judas as his partner sets off running towards the girl on the balcony. Shots ring out and Masakai goes down. Kento snarls and intensifies his run at him. Bullets slam into his head and body from Judas’ weapon, but he won’t go down as easy as his lesser partner. He throws off the pain each shot causes him and tears into his enemy with devastating force. Kento was certain he would ground the man, giving him enough time to clamp his teeth into his neck and begin chewing through it to separate his head from his body. He was wrong.
Judas has never felt stronger in his entire existence. As Kento’s beast form hits him, he drops his gun and grabs the demon by the two horns that sweep backwards, almost in line with its skull from the top center of its forehead and twists its entire body around, slamming it into the ground on its back. He raises a powerful right fist into the air and slams it into its face.
Smash! Smash! Smash!
He feels the breaking of bone and the cracking of pieces inside the demon’s head; he is in a mad frenzy. Dark black liquid erupts from the demon’s wounds into his face. He now invites his left hand into the brawl and the pair rain in hammer blow after hammer blow. The right eye of Kento takes massive damage, removing the creature’s ability to see.
Kento is in a state of shock. It has been centuries since he has faced an opponent who has been able to meter out as much punishment as Iscariot is now. He panics and lashes out. He gets lucky, landing a crushing blow that launches his enemy backwards, into a black car. He pulls himself up onto all fours, his vision impaired by his shattered right eye socket and what is even more worrying, is that his own repair system seems delayed. He snarls, seriously pissed off and lashes out at Judas.
Gary rips open the passenger door of his Impala and throws Charlotte inside. He jumps onto the bonnet and skids across to the other side. Opening his own door, he dives in and searches his jacket pockets for his keys. Patting the left inside pocket, he locates them. The car jerks and he turns to see the creature ramming itself into the rear passenger door. The creature roars, annoyed, the determination to rip them both out of the car evident in its evil yellow eyes. For the first time in his career, Gary feels real terror as his mind comes to terms with the gravity of the situation.
The car shakes with violent force once more as the creature drags itself along its side. More shots ring out and the creature’s head drops out of sight.
He turns to see the woman stood around twenty feet from them, holding his gun. She has just given him all the time he needed. He takes his keys from his pocket, inserts them into the ignition and fires the car into life. He slams it into reverse, roaring backwards and comes to a skidding halt next to the woman, screaming at her to get in.
She tries to open the rear passenger door but, following the creature’s pounding, it has taken too much damage and she is unable to pull it open.
“Other side!” he commands and she races around the back of the car.
Opening the rear driver’s side door, she jumps in.
He turns his attention to the road ahead. The creature is back on its feet. This time it hasn’t gotten onto all fours, it stands; stands as a man would. He can’t believe what he is seeing but, somewhere, deep inside of him, he feels that this is a man, somehow.
“Drive!” she screams, breaking him out of his trance. “Run the fucker over!”
He reacts, throwing the car into gear.
The wheels spin as they try to gain traction and dust plumes create a cloud around the vehicle. At last, the car succumbs to inertia and hurtles itself off towards the creature.
Judas crashes into the rear of his car. He becomes aware that he is no longer armed and the power that surged through him a few moments ago seems to be dissipating. He looks up at the trunk. He is thankful for another of life’s lessons learned in the past: never leave your car keys anywhere other than in the pocket of something you will never take off. Following that rule has saved his skin on many occasions, allowing him to not suffer the inconvenience of time-consuming regeneration, ensuring the continual means to protect those for whom he was responsible. He reaches into his jeans and pulls out his keys. Dragging himself to his feet, he tries to insert them into the lock of the trunk and curses as he can feel Kento approaching fast, surging in for another attack. He fumbles with the key as the demon crashes into his back and both he and the car lurch forward, skidding in the dirt. He drops the keys. They fall under the car.
“Fuck!”
Kento is quickest to react. He hammers his right claw into Judas’ right shoulder and he screams in pain. The demon laughs as it picks him up and slams him into the ground.
He screams once again.
This is agony.
On most occasions, he would be able to contain the pain, deal with it, force it from his mind and continue with the fight. However, this hurt, it hurt a great deal, and as he finds himself being smashed into the ground over and over, causing dirt and dust to fog the air, making it difficult to see, he realizes he must gain control now, otherwise taking Kento down would be a huge problem.
Gary’s car is almost upon the creature.
The woman screams in the back seat, “Kill it! Kill it!”
He forces down harder on the accelerator causing the car to rocket forward with greater urgency. He is just about to smash into the back of the beast when it spins around, raises its powerful right fist into the air and punches into the bonnet. The immediate reduction in speed causes the back of the car to explode up into the air and flip over however, the car was travelling at such speed that it carries itself and the creature forwards before the rear end completes its move, sending all three passengers hurtling into the roof as it turns upside down.
Gary throws himself towards Charlotte and covers her with his body in an attempt to protect her.
The vehicle lands on the creature causing all windows to explode, and both beast and car slide through the dusty ground.
Gary is successful in protecting Charlotte but he isn’t as fortunate, as pieces of glass lacerate the side of his face.
The car skids to a halt and rocks on its roof. It then heaves up and down as the beast tries to get to its feet, attempting to throw the car off itself.
He pushes himself off Charlotte and is thankful that the child seems unharmed. He hears the woman coughing behind him and calls out, “Are you okay, Miss?”
No answer, just coughing.
“Miss, are you okay?”
“Yeah… I’m okay. I’m shitting in my knickers but I’m okay.” The car heaves up and down once again and she screams.
“We have to get out of here, hurry!” he says, snapping into action and ushering Charlotte out of the passenger side window.
She obeys, crawling and scrambling out.
Dust has clouded everywhere around the car, reducing visibility. The car heaves once more.
He follows Charlotte out of the passenger window and once outside, tells her to move away from the car. He then turns and helps the woman as she climbs forward into the front and out of the same window. She is halfway out of the car when it heaves again, this time with more force. She stops and looks at him in terror.
“Come on
, get out!” he screams.
Grabbing hold of her arms, he pulls and yanks her out just as it heaves a final time, flipping over and onto its side.
The creature pushes itself to a standing position. Kento raises Judas into the air and then slams him into the ground for a fourth time. He prepares to repeat the process, but the man has other ideas.
As Kento lifts him, he pushes his right foot into the ground and, utilizing the force of the lift, spins himself over the demon’s head. His shoulder disintegrates under the tearing and ripping of muscle tissue. The pain is excruciating. As he completes the turn and lands on the ground behind Kento, the demon turns to face him and Judas head-butts him and then smashes a fist hard into his left eye.
He howls in agony, now unable to see at all and drops to the floor screaming.
Judas goes to ground and crawls toward the underside of his car, reaching for his keys. His shoulder has begun to repair, although not quite as fast as a few minutes ago, but just enough for him to gain mobility. He scrambles for the keys but misses them forcing him to pull himself forwards more, the low car preventing him from getting all the way underneath. His fingers brush against the keys for a moment but they are unable to get a proper hold. He cries out in defiance and leans into the car as far as he can. He looks towards Kento as he flails around.
The demon has begun to pound his powerful arms into the ground as well as the air; he knows that Judas is here somewhere but cannot quite pinpoint him through his disorientation.
At last, he manages to grip the keys. He pulls them out, stands, leans back against the car and brings both feet up into air, kicking hard into the side of Kento’s head, sending the demon sprawling away. He scrambles around the right side to the trunk, inserts the key and opens it. Glinting at him are his two most prized weapons: The Katanas of Destiny. He wields them and turns to face the demon.
Masakai pulls himself to his feet as the cop and woman back away, shielding the girl. He has suffered significant damage from the car making his movement difficult and he is wondering why his repair process is so delayed. Even though he finds it hard to get to his feet, he knows the cop and the woman are no match for him, not even in this condition. He taunts them.
“Give me the child and I’ll let you live.”
Gary’s mouth flaps open and shut. Even though he is terrified and confused, he is also amazed. “What the hell are you?”
Masakai laughs. “What the hell is right… cop! I am a fifth rank Demon of Lucifer’s army and I will be taking that child from you now. If you wish to live, walk away, walk away right now.”
He says nothing, instead shaking his head in defiance.
“Very well then, mortal fool, I shall fucking kill you and the woman and then fucking eat you.” He advances towards the trio.
Charlotte grabs the back of Gary’s legs and buries her head into them.
Kento Kawaguchi has walked the earth for a very long time. He has corrupted the souls of humans century after century, has influenced the weak allowing them to rise to lofty heights of power, and then devoured them when their time was up and he has killed thousands. He has eaten not only their souls but their bodies also. He has fought side by side with the King of Darkness in battles of old and has seen the world move from nothing into the technical wonder that it is today, but this will be his final day walking the realm of man for a very long time.
He has ceased swiping at the air in an attempt to strike Judas. He knows the warrior is too good for that, too cunning and now that the man holds the proverbial high ground, Kento knows that he is beaten.
“You can’t stop this you know, Iscariot,” he hisses. “Darkness is coming and he will not be denied this time.” The demon feels a presence at his left hindquarters and tries one final desperate move, attempting to slice at it with his claws, hoping to make contact with flesh.
It is fruitless. Judas slashes the arm with his right sword and it falls to the ground, bursting into dust.
Kento howls. “You will die by His hand, Iscariot and He will feast upon the Jew bitch, feast upon her and drain her soul. Hope will die with her and this world will be His.”
“Is that so?” he says, now standing behind the demon. He bashes it hard in the back of the head with the hilt of his right sword.
Kento falls to the ground with a heavy grunt. His time is almost up. He continues his defiant revelations. “Yes, Betrayer, that is so and neither you nor anyone else for that matter can stop that which has already begun.” He turns his blind, pummeled head around and hisses, “And you will have lost, Betrayer; you will have caused the death of the Second One also.”
Judas draws in a deep breath, places his foot on the demon’s back and delivers a ridiculous and sarcastic response, “Yeah, well… I fucked your mom!”
Kento howls with laughter.
He cuts off the demon’s head. It rolls off onto the dusty ground and itself turns to dust. The rest of the demon’s body withers.
Gary continues to hold his arms out in an attempt to protect Charlotte. At his side stands the woman, her attention turning from him to that of the beast as though to ask, what in God’s name are we going to do now.
It speaks to him once more.
“You are no match for me, mortal. Step aside from the girl. You don’t want her to end up like that stupid fucking kid of yours, do you?”
It laughs.
His eyes burn with anger. “Shut your mouth. You shut your fucking mouth right now.”
It laughs even harder.
“You, pathetic human,” it snarls, “you couldn’t so much as put a scratch on me, you fucking insect.”
Masakai spins his head around as Judas’ voice interrupts him.
“No. But I can!”
In all his pontificating, Masakai had failed to see his partner dispatched; failed to see Judas creep up on him. He now turns his whole body and, whilst roaring, leaps at him.
Judas spins to his left and brings his right sword down and across the neck of Masakai. The demon’s head leaves its body in the same manner as its partner and, just like Kento, bursts into dust.
Charlotte lets go of Gary and runs to Judas, wrapping her arms around his legs and holding him tight.
“Okay, kid, okay. It’s gonna be okay,” he pats her head, “but we need to get out of here. Quick, get into the car, let’s go.” He grabs hold of her right arm, eases her from his legs and starts to back away, never taking his eyes off the man and the woman.
“Wait!” Gary shouts, “What the hell just happened? What’s going on here?”
He stops and sighs. “You a cop?”
He nods.
“Well, Mr. Policeman, this is nothing your skills can help with, neither you nor any of your colleagues, so just let it be and let me do my job. If I am allowed to do so unhindered, this will all be like a bad dream in two days.”
“What?” He flaps his arms, confused, “what the hell are you talking about? Who is she? Who are you?”
He is getting annoyed; he wants to be off, wants to be away from this place. “Like I said, man, let it be, let me do my job and you can all sleep safe and sound, but you need to let it go.”
Gary and Abi stare at him, lost for words.
Charlotte tugs at Judas’ right leg. “I can’t leave without Mr. Tumble.”
He looks at her in amazement. “What? Are you fucking kidding me? You want me to go back up for a fucking teddy bear?”
“Yes,” she pleads. “And your guns.”
Kid’s got a point, he tells himself.
“Okay, come on then, quickly. We need to go.” He is aware that the other guests in the motel have begun to peer out of their windows from behind the curtains. None had dared leave the confines of their rooms beforehand as the fight raged on outside, but now that the violence seems to have abated, all are curious to see what is going on.
He grabs her hand and walks her over to the car. “Wait here, okay?”
She nods.
He sprints up th
e stairs and back into the room.
Gary and Abi approach her and he kneels down next to her. “What’s going on here, Charlotte? If you are in danger you must let me and my other police officer friends protect you.”
She shakes her head. “You can’t help me in the same way he can.”
He believes that to be true but still questions, “Who is he?”
Judas returns with the duffel bags and Charlotte’s rucksack that has Mr. Tumble poking out of the top of it.
Her face lights up as he gives her the bag. She takes out the bear and hugs it tight.
“Okay, little girl, get in the car. It’s time to go.” He throws the duffel bags and his swords into the trunk and slams it shut.
Charlotte is still standing by the side of the car.
“Well?” He shrugs. “In you get!”
“We have to take them with us.” She points to Gary and Abi who both step back in surprise.
“What? Look, kid, we are running out of time here, and I am running out of patience. Get in the fucking car.”
She stands defiant. She doesn’t move. She is in the first stages of crying as small tears begin to glisten in her eyes. A full-on torrent is mere moments away. “No, we have to take them with us. I hear a voice in my head and it has told me to do the right thing lots of times, so I listen to it. It’s not my voice and before you ask I’m not crazy either. It is telling me that we must all make this journey together, that I have to trust it, that you have to trust it.”
His anger rises. “Look, kid. I ain’t trusting no voice in your fucking head. If you are having a mental breakdown then that’s your issue, but I have a mission to complete and you are getting into this car.” He moves to grab her. Gary rears up and Judas looks at him, commanding, shaking his head. “Don’t even think about it, cop. Don’t!”
She starts to cry. “The voice inside my head just said to me, tell him to trust me as he trusted the Angel in the alley.”
He stares at her for a few seconds. “Ahhhh, for fuck’s sake!” he says, turning towards the cop and the woman. “You two, into the fucking car.”