Maikeru D. Shinigami
10-16-2010, 08:18 PM
This is an example of my writing. I wrote this about 6 months ago I believe. This was supposed to be a short story, which makes it to where it may seem rushed. In the end, this is the closest you will ever get to seeing Maikeru write a short story.
Devourer of the Damned
Chapter 1
The Encounter
“I won’t let you take him from me.” the boy screamed at the Demon Overlord who was holding his friend hostage on a wheel of fate, which basically was a gigantic wheel hanging out of the ground beneath which the boy and the Demon Overlord were standing on. On the outer edges of the wheel were skulls with flames shooting out of the eye sockets as they drew ever closer to the bloodied and passed out hostage.
The boy confronting the Demon Overlord was rather tall and skinny for his age, being as he was only nineteen years of age, but stood at six-foot-four and weighing one-hundred and ninety pounds. He was of a lighter peach skin color and wore a large shirt with red and black swirling designs on it along it with a pair of black jeans and some green and black sneakers. His eyes were a dark green color as his brown hair was very messy at this time. Blood was on many places of his body including his forehead where he had been sliced, but not very deeply by the Overlord’s sword. There was also blood flowing down his face mainly over his nose and down over his shirt.
The Demon Overlord was of a much different look. He was around six-foot-eight and fairly skinny, estimated around two-hundred and twenty pounds. He wore a full body light black metallic armor in which you could see a little shine from the silver spots; the armor had many spikes poking out from it. There were a lot of spikes pointing out from shoulders especially, and they poked out a lot further than the rest of his spikes too. His helmet, also of the same light black color with the shine poking of the silver spots had spikes larger than all as they pointed out from the top of every inch of his head. In his eye sockets you could only see black with a small red dot in the middle of it. Also he wore boots of the same color with a spiky curved point going over the toe and almost touching the rest of his armor. The sword in his hand was rather long in size at about three feet long. The hilt was a dark black color and pretty slim in size, but it also had a part where the Overlord held the blade that it curved around his hand. The blade itself was a very dark, almost black silver color and there was blood dripping as he walked around with it.
The hostage on the wheel which was slanted back sideways was unconscious as he had been knocked out already by the Demon Overlord. The boy on the wheel was around five-foot-eight and the same age as the boy in the midst of the fight. He was wearing a ripped up white tee-shirt along with blue jeans which at this point were also ripped up. His body was flowing with so much blood that barely any of his body or clothing was even visible anymore. The brown eyes and black hair that always stood out to his friend were covered in blood; literally no inch of his body was without blood as the flames moved in ever closer towards the boy.
“There is no hope Yami,” the Demon Overlord began in a voice that was almost like a whisper, so creepy that the sound would cause a normal person’s body to cringe, “Even if you did manage to defeat me there is no help for your friend. He will bleed from every inch of his body even if you manage to get the fire to stop. I will be kind though and tell you that the lever in which to stop the fire is located --.”
The boy now introduced as Yami was in tears looking at the slight of his slowly decaying friend as the scene turned to grey.
Chapter 2
Memoir Of A Friend
..Yesterday..
Yami was sitting in his chair on the verge of tears as he wrote in his journal about the events that had just occurred:
Dear Journal,
This has been the worst day of my entire life, the events
proceeding my writing of this journal entry are of the kind that
would traumatize many people for life. My dear friend Cipher was
stolen out from under me by that damned demonic being, normally
a person would probably be frightened to go face to face with such a
beast, but to grant my friend a safe return I have no choice, but to
kill this foul creature of Hades and the only way to find him is to journey
into the vast beyond deep underneath the shell of the earth. I do not
know whether or not I will make a safe return myself, but as long as I
have something to say in the matter I will risk my life to save this friend.
Mother, if you read this I am sorry for not speaking to you beforehand,
but this is a matter I must take care of on my own. If I die, I want you to
know that I love you and I wish that you tell everyone I hold dear I love
them also. The list of people is enclosed inside the safe beneath my bed.
Tell father and sister I will miss them and I will do everything in my power
to return home alive with Cipher.
Sincerely Yours,
Your Son, Yami Hiraldo
Yami lyed back in his bed ready to attempt what could possibly be his final night of rest as thoughts ran wildly through his mind about his friend. In the past, he remembered all the events which made his friendship with Cipher the most meaningful that he has and believes he will ever have. Yami began to speak to himself in a low voice so that no one else could hear him, “It seems like just yesterday we entered High School and I was bullied by all the seniors in the school for being a freshman or as they called us “fresh meat”. At that time, Cipher was just an acquaintance who I had spoken to just a couple times. After what he did that day he earned my trust and respect, not only as a person, but as a friend as well. I remember it like it was yesterday those bullies standing over me ready to knock my lights out just so he could have lunch money as if the money my parents had given to me was his. Cipher then came out from the corner and knocked all three of them out. He helped me up after risking injury to keep them away from them. It’s my turn to pay him back and to save his life even if I were to lose my life as I attempt this quest.”
Yami fell asleep that night with a sense of a mixture of emotions along with fear, anxiety and sadness. He had sworn to risk his life to save a friend who had once risked his life for him. Yami dreamt of a happy time with his old friend in which they remembered as graduation. They both excelled well in school, Yami making Honor Roll with straight A’s and B’s, while Cipher made Dean’s List with straight A’s along with a four-point-three grade point average. Yami always knew he could’ve made Dean’s List like his dear friend if he would’ve applied himself, but he also let laziness or procrastination get the best of him. Yami dreamt of standing beside his friend as they threw their graduation caps into the air. Everyone could sense the strong bond of friendship as they smiled while they congratulated each other. They truly had become best friends.
Chapter 3
The Journey Beneath
The morning of the journey Yami left his house quickly to reach the man who had access to his destination deep inside of Hades. The roads were dark, as he had left at five-thirty in the morning so no one in his house would be awake and hoped no one would be out on the streets for he did not want to hear people worrying about him and why he was out so early. Unfortunately, as he got closer to his destination a group of five friends from school were waiting for him as they had heard about his plan to save Cipher from the Demonic Overlord who had stolen him. The boys were varying from around five-foot-four to five-foot-ten, two of them being those heights respectively and the other three all between five-foot-six and five-foot-eight. All of them were between the ages of eighteen and twenty. The tallest of the boys whom was wearing a green shirt and black pants along with his light brown skin was named Arnold. Arnold walked up Yami to give him some parting words.
“We’ve heard what happened and what you are planning to do about it and we are not going to try and stop you from saving Cipher. However, we want you to know you do not have to do this alone. Me, Tommy, Drew, Hermes and Jerry,” Arnold said pointing at each boy from tallest to shortest, “We’re all here to give you assistance if you wouldn’t mind the help.”
Tommy was of the palest of the five as you could see him fairly clearly even at night; he wore a red tee-shirt along with blue jeans and a blue backwards hat. Drew, was of a medium-toned peach color as he wore a blue tee-shirt along with brown jeans. Hermes was a dark brown color and he wore a white tee-shirt with blue jeans. While Jerry, the smallest, was of a fairly light peach color along with his yellow tee-shirt and black jeans. Drew was the only one of the five who was a little chubby and even he wasn’t that big.
“Thanks for the offer Arnold,” Yami began as he turned around ready to continue walking to where he was going, “But, this is something I have to do on my own. I owe Cipher for saving my life, and I want to do this on my own; I hope the five of you understand.”
“We understand,” Hermes began as he walked to Yami, “Be safe Yami, and make sure to come back alive.”
“The journey ahead will be long and perilous,” Tommy stated, “But, you have a strong will and I have confidence that you will be able to accomplish your task.”
“That’s right man; even if we aren’t there just know that we got your back through thick and thin.” Drew said as he walked up to Yami with Tommy.
“P-Please be careful Yami,” Jerry spoke as tears were falling from his eyes, “I’ve always thought of you as a brother and I don’t know what would happen if I were to lose you while you are down there.”
“Thanks, all five of you,” Yami replied, “You will all be with me in spirit no matter what happens, and that will alone will help me as I go through with this task. If I do not make it back alive, I want you each to know that you are five of the six best friends I’ve ever had, the other being Cipher. I must go now though, you five stay safe too.”
The five boys watched him as he walked about a quarter of a mile and then turned around to go home. Yami continued down the dark roads as he reached the place he was looking for. The sign outside read, “Transporters Inc.”, the place was that of a large warehouse that looked like it hadn’t been used in hundreds of years from all the rust that had collected on it. A man was leaning on the door of the warehouse wearing a black trench coat along with a black almost cowboy style hat. He was about the same light-toned peach color as Yami, but a little darker. Wearing his black boots with the silver buckles across the front he lifted his head up looking at Yami with a toothpick in his mouth. “So I see you’ve made it now.”
“Yes, Mr. Jennings, I have and I am ready to go in and face this evil.” Yami replied as he walked up to the man now introduced as Mr. Jennings.
“You know you can call me by my first name right Yami? You can call me Matthew. As for you being ready I believe there is one more thing you need to take with you before I let you pass through follow me.” Mr. Jennings said as he guided Yami to the second level of his warehouse to a room with a bunch of brown cardboard boxes.
“What are these all about?” Yami asked curiously as he looked at the top of a box trying to read it.
“They all have something special about them,” Mr. Jennings began, “But, I need to find one for the situation at hand.” Mr. Jennings searched through the boxes rubbing the top of each one until he finally found the one he needed, “Here you go, this is the one I was looking for.”
Yami grabbed the box and opened it, but there was nothing inside. “What’s the meaning of this?” he asked, “There’s nothing in here.”
“Rub the bottom of the box,” Mr. Jennings answered, “I have already taught you how to use powers of the supernatural, but this will be the most helpful to you when you are facing the Demonic Overlord, remember it’s name for you only have three seconds to read it before it fades away forever.”
Yami rubbed the bottom of the box and read what it said quickly before the words faded away, “I believe I got it; I guess I will see what it does when the time comes.”
“You will know the time too,” Mr. Jennings said as he produced a vortex outside the door which he left open, “Now, take this path to the Underworld and save your friend; I would come with you, but I need to stay on this side to make sure the vortex stays open long enough for you to make it to Hades.”
“I was wanting to do this alone anyways,” Yami replied as he walked into the vortex and drifted through a place with no grounds or floors, just orange and black swirls all around with more orange than black until he landed on a platform in the Underworld.
Chapter 4
The Demon Overlord Revealed
The ground beneath Yami’s feet looked just like a wasteland, brown and cracked as it extended as a long pathway of about five hundred yards walking distance. There was molten lava extended all the way down on either side of the narrow pathway and walls could be seen around the area about three hundred yards to the left and right of Yami. The lava had small pointed rocks standing out from various spots. As the lava bubbled, Yami began to walk down the pathway to the hole that was viewable in the wall at the end. While his body trembling with fear and anticipation he continued to think about Cipher and what the demon in the room in front of him had done.
As Yami reached the crack in the wall he took a deep breath before squeezing through the small hole to where he saw nothing but a large circular room surrounded by brown cracked walls on every side and the platform in which he was standing on was also brown and cracked like the rest of the Underworld. There were bones lying around the leaned up against the walls were it appeared many people had died in this room. Small bits of flesh could be seen hanging off the bones directly in front of Yami. Frightened Yami walked forward into the center of the room to see if anyone was in the room with him. At that point, the ground beneath him crumbled and fell through a black abyss until he landed on another platform. Just like every other spot in the Underworld the platform was brown and cracked except this platform was not connected to any walls whatsoever, but instead surrounded by more bubbling molten lava. The room was rather large, in fact, from the center the walls were about three hundred yards away in any direction of the new circular room. When Yami turned around he saw a horrid sight; his friend Cipher was all bloodied up hanging on a slanted gigantic wheel with skulls all around the outside of it as flames shot out from the eye sockets of the skulls.
The Demonic Overlord suddenly jumped out from behind Yami and smashed him in the head with his sword, but luckily Yami noticed quick enough to use his supernatural abilities to stop the sword from cutting into his head and only making it bleed a decent amount.
“I won’t let you take him from me.” the boy screamed at the Demon Overlord who was holding his friend hostage on the Wheel of Fate.
“There is no hope Yami,” the Demon Overlord began in a voice that was almost like a whisper, so creepy that the sound would cause a normal person’s body to cringe, “Even if you did manage to defeat me there is no help for your friend. He will bleed from every inch of his body even if you manage to get the fire to stop. I will be kind though and tell you that the lever in which to stop the fire is located beneath my armor, so to save your friend you will have to kill me.”
Yami was in tears at the sight of his dear friend who was lying unconscious on the Wheel of Fate as he screamed out, “You bastard! I’ll kill you!”
Yami jumped out at the Demonic Overlord in fury as he shot a burst blue light at him which reflected right off the Overlord hitting the wall. “I find it saddening that you can’t even manage to put a scratch on me when hitting me point blank buddy.” the Demonic Overlord said as his voice became more humanly with the bottom part of his helmet beginning to lift up over his mouth revealing a familiar mouth and chin.
“No, it can’t be you,” Yami began as he teared up even more, “It just can’t be. How could you do such a thing?”
The helmet came up far enough to where you could see the boy’s whole face, “Do you realize how long I have been alive? You’ve always known me as a simple boy, a good friend. But, you know nothing about my past or who I am. I’ve been deceiving people into friendship for years, implanting false memories inside of people’s brain and always acting innocent so that no one would ever suspect me. Those skeletons upstairs are all those of people I have betrayed and I will continue betraying people until the day someone kills me, and believe me today is not that day. You will be just like all the others you will fall to my blade.”
Yami in shock asked, “How could you possibly be so short one minute and so tall the next?”
“Well,” the Demonic Overlord began, “It’s easy you see, as the Demonic Overlord I can change my outward appearance. This isn’t the only thing I can do with my body.”
“I still can’t believe all of this. I can’t believe you, Jerry, how could you do this?” screamed Yami.
“It’s just as I told you; I’ve been doing this for years. I have absolutely no remorse for the likes of any of you. Jerry doesn’t exist, he never did exist it was all a lie.” Jerry answered in a voice creepier than the one Yami had once known.
“Then,” started Yami, “Can you explain to me why you do what you do? Why do you betray people? Why do you kill?”
“Just the idea of killing excites me. To see a body dismember from every single limb, to watch as an organ falls out after the kill is finished. The sight of the small bits of flesh left on the bones afterwards. Doesn’t the sight of dismembered corpses sound like a homey thought to you?” asked the Demonic Overlord Jerry.
“Not in the slightest. You find it fun to kill? That is your reason for killing all those around you? No better reason than just excitement?” Yami replied.
“Well,” the Demonic Overlord began, “It’s not just that per se; I have my own special reasons for why I come after humans and no other race on the face of the Earth.”
“What are those reasons?” asked Yami.
“The reason is simple,” Jerry began, “You humans make waste of life and you do not deserve the skin that you live in. Every single human on this Earth is pathetic. None of you know how to live your life. Take you, for instance, you come up here with fear in your heart. You come up here hoping you can save your friend, but you never believe you can. Such a thing deserves to be punished. Your insolence will be your downfall.”
“If you are that confident in your then why don’t we just get back to the fighting and see who wins?” suggested Yami.
“Sure,” began the Demonic Overlord, “But, I have to warn you unless you believe you can defeat me you have no chance in hell of defeating me, Yami Hiraldo.”
Chapter 5
A Heartbreaking Loss
As the boy previously known as Jerry jumped at Yami with his sword Yami rolled away from him avoiding the attack and tried send a shot of green light at the Demonic Overlord, but it reflected off his armor again and crashed into the wall to the side leaving a big hole in the wall. Yami frightened crawled backwards away from the Demonic Overlord who still had his helmet up and followed Yami as he crawled across the floor. Yami kept shooting balls of light and the Overlord, but they kept reflecting off of him and putting holes in the walls.
“Sure, just keep blowing up the walls; I can get out of this place, but if you keep blowing up the place you and your friend Cipher will both be buried beneath the rubble. It will make my job much easier, although I would like to be the one dismembering your body myself.” The Demonic Overlord said as he swung his sword down and Yami who dodged the sword by jumping out of the way. Yami continued to struggle as all his attacks were basically worthless against the Demonic Overlord Jerry’s armor. Yami decided to try a new trick as he disappeared from sight only to appear right behind Jerry and attempt to kick him in the face. The Demonic Overlord caught Yami’s leg and held him upside down in front of him. “This is pathetic,” the Demonic Overlord continued, “At this rate, I won’t even have that much fun killing you.”
With those words the ceiling above them began to collapse as four people fell onto the platform between Yami and the Demonic Overlord. Yami looked the four of them and noticed them automatically, “Mother, Father, Sister and Mr. Jennings, what are you all doing here?”
Yami was the spitting image of his father, the only difference being that his father was two inches taller and a little chubbier than he. Yami’s mother was a very pretty lady, she was about five-foot-six and had long blonde hair with green eyes; she was wearing a black tee-shirt with brown Capri pants. Yami’s sister was the shortest person in the room at five-foot-one and around ninety pounds with black hair that had yellow and green streaks in it alongside her blue eyes. She was really small which can be expected since she was only thirteen years of age. Mr. Jennings led the three of them in ready to join in on the battle to help Yami.
“What are you guys doing here?” Yami asked, “I don’t want any help, you’re goin to get hurt if you stay here.”
“Yami,” Mr. Jennings began, “You are going to have to learn that we are not going to let you fight your battles yourself, you need us here. Did you not just notice how badly you were getting whooped? You need help here and we are going to offer it to you.”
“Alright,” stated Yami, “But still, Kristine shouldn’t be here. My sister is way too young to be here; I don’t want her to get hurt.”
At that point, a large piece of rock came out of the ground and hit the Demonic Overlord in the head causing him to falter for a quick second before gaining his composure, “See Yami,” Kristine said, “I’m not going to get myself hurt. Thank you for the concern, I love you brother and I understand what you are saying, but I am going to help you.”
Yami reluctantly let the four of them help out as they all surrounded the Demonic Overlord. “Hey,” the Demonic Overlord Jerry began, “This isn’t right. Five on one is unfair; I guess I will just have to even the playing field we are working with.” With those words Jerry stretched his arms out and four more enemies that looked just like him appeared prepared to take on one person each. The helmets on the four new enemies came up and Yami noticed them instantly as Arnold, Tommy, Hermes and Drew. “How do you like my minions Yami?” Jerry asked.
“What kind of trickery is this?” Yami asked.
“There is no trickery here,” the Jerry responded, “We are all the Demonic Overlord, one person in the same. I am the only true being of the five of us, the others are just bodies I created in order to help me deceive people. None of these friends you knew before truly existed. They were all me. We, or should I just say I took your best friend here and I did it as your other five best friends and I have every intention to kill your true best friend.”
“This is insane,” Yami began, “How did you pull this off?”
“It doesn’t matter; you fell for it and now you are going to pay for your stupidity.” the five separate bodies said together creepily as each one went for a different person. Jerry went towards Yami, Arnold towards Mr. Jennings, Tommy towards Kristine, Drew towards Yami’s father Tristan and Hermes towards Yami’s mother Teresa. The five battles then commenced with Kristine easily disposing of Tommy in a matter of minutes. Afterwards she went to help her mother as Tristan easily manhandled Drew and then went to help Mr. Jennings. As Yami’s four assistants fought off the Arnold and Hermes figures, Yami continued to fight off the fake Jerry.
“You’re moves are slow and you are weak. You haven’t learned how to truly fight in battle and that will bring you utter demise.” the Demonic Overlord Jerry said.
Yami enraged thoughtlessly jumped after Jerry but what knocked on his back as Jerry smacked him in the face with his left arm which left holes in Yami’s face where blood began to spew out. Kristine screamed and ran over towards Yami as she made a boulder hit the Demonic Overlord Jerry on the helmet as she was running. Before she could make it to her brother Jerry appeared in front of her and held her up in the air by her neck. Pissed off now, Teresa knocked out the Hermes figure easily with a large orange orb that knocked the Hermes figure into the surrounding lava and ran over to help her daughter out. Jerry threw Kristine on the ground and slashed Teresa through the heart with his sword causing her to bleed profusely and sending her to being on the verge of death.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jennings and Tristan were dealing with the Arnold figure as Tristan had been bloodied up really bad and Mr. Jennings was spending most of the time trying to protect Tristan. Tristan realizing he was only in the way crawled away from the battle and Mr. Jennings lifting his arms into the air caused wind to flow upwards around him causing his trench coat and hat float upwards to where you could see his medium-sized length blonde hair flowing in front of his face along with his brown eyes as around the Arnold figured the ground crumbled leaving the Arnold figure standing on a small platform where he became surrounded and engulfed by flames burning the Arnold figure to death. With all the figures out of the way Mr. Jennings ran over to Yami as Tristan ran over to Teresa where Kristine was already sitting beside her. “Yami,” Mr. Jennings began, “Looks like it’s just you and me, let’s finished this guy off once and for all.”
Yami nodded, “Yes, this is where all the lessons you taught me will come in handy.” Yami lifted his arms in the air as he transformed into knight of darkness. His helmet made of all black as well as his body armor. The only part of his body not covered in armor was that where his mouth was. He wield a large axe about six times the size of a normal axe and jumped at Jerry with his axe, but Jerry put his sword up in the air and easily pushed him off.
“It’s as I already said, you came saying that you hoped you would win and as long as you have that attitude you will never defeat me no matter how large your weapon is.” Jerry said pushing Yami back.
“He’s not wrong Yami,” began Mr. Jennings, “You need to believe you can beat this guy to beat him. You’re the only one who can finish him off.”
“But, you are stronger than I, Mr. Jennings. How am I supposed to finish a guy off if you are not able to?” Yami asked.
“You still have that which was written in the box, use it to your advantage when you have the chance, but you need to believe or it will not work for you.” Mr. Jennings said as he threw his arms in the air and transformed into a knight of light. His armor looked just like Yami’s armor the only difference being that it was white and he wield a white scythe about triple the size of most scythes in width. “Let’s go Jerry.”
Jerry swung his sword at Mr. Jennings who held it off with the swing of his scythe. Jerry continued to try stabbing Mr. Jennings over and over until eventually Mr. Jennings grabbed the sword by the blade with his hand causing his hand to bleed slightly as he stabbed Jerry in the back with his scythe and cut across his back. Jerry furiously came back after Mr. Jennings swinging wildly until he finally got a hit on Mr. Jennings cutting his hand off on the side where he had grabbed the blade. Mr. Jennings slowed greatly, but was able to hold him off for a few more minutes until Jerry slashed him through his stomach causing him to transform back into himself as he lye on the ground.
At this point, everyone was wounded and it appeared all hope was lost until Yami got a sudden burst of will, “I told myself I came here to save Cipher whether that meant losing my life or not. But, I realize now, that I can’t lose. I am going to defeat you Jerry and you will never be able to harm anyone again.”
“But, do you truly believe that Yami?” Jerry asked, “If so you may still have a chance.”
Yami then said two words; “Transformation Ultima,” and as those words were spoken wind blew around the entire area causing the lava to travel around them in circles as if they were shifting walls and Yami transformed into a magnificent force. He was now standing at six-foot-ten, his armor turned to red and flames shot out from arms as his helmet grew spikes that pointed out about the same length as Jerry’s spikes. His axe changed into a sword the same size as his opponent’s but with a red hilt and the blade was made out of solid flames.
“I see, you finally believe in yourself,” Jerry said, “This may be fun yet.”
As Jerry finished that sentence Yami swung his fire blade at Jerry who threw his sword up in front of him and actually struggled to ward off Yami’s strength. They swung back and forth at each other as Jerry was having a hard time blocking Yami’s sword, but managed to block each strike. When Jerry got a chance he dove under Yami and struck at the left arm of his armor causing Yami to bleed from his arm.
“I really was hoping I didn’t have to do this, but it looks like I must,” Yami began as he turned and looked at Jerry, “Mr. Jennings, get my family out of here will you?”
“Sure thing Yami,” said Mr. Jennings, “You are ready; take him down.”
“I will,” Yami said as Mr. Jennings disappeared out of the room with Yami’s family members. “Good it’s just you, me and Cipher here now. I know what that wheel does by the way. It’s a timer for me. I assume I have one minute left to defeat you and get to the lever inside of your armor and I know just how to do it since I am aware that while on that wheel awaiting death Cipher cannot be burnt. This is it, Ultimate Flame Blade come forth.” With that command all the surrounding lava in the area transferred its power into Yami’s blade, “You’re finished.” Yami continued as he struck his sword forward causing the flames in his blade to disappear completely and lava to come down from where the ceiling one was engulfing the whole battlefield and burning the Demonic Overlord where he had left his helmet open. Yami, unaffected by the lava due to his armor knew he had just thirty seconds and quickly ran over to Jerry’s rotting corpses taking off his armor. After fifteen seconds of searching he found it inside the chest plate and pulled the lever causing Cipher to detach and fall to the ground. With ten seconds left Yami ran over to him, grabbed him and pulled him out of the way as the Wheel of Fate burnt to the ground. Yami then transported himself and Cipher out of the area back to the room above where all the skeletons had disappeared and everyone else was waiting for him crying except Mr. Jennings who was just a little teary-eyed. “What’s wrong?” Yami asked.
“It’s your mother Yami,” Mr. Jennings said, “She didn’t make it.”
Chapter 6
Recollection and Regret
“You mean my mother is … dead?” asked Yami as he walked over toward them.
“Yes Yami,” began Mr. Jennings, “She was stabbed through the heart by Jerry and it didn’t kill her instantly, but by the time we all were able to get out she had already passed on. I’m sorry Yami.”
“It’s not your fault Mr. Jennings,” replied Yami “We couldn’t get rid of him quick enough and that’s why she isn’t with us now, there is no one to blame here except me; I couldn’t defeat him in time and in turn my mother did not have enough time to live, it’s my fault entirely for being stubborn and not listening to you when you told me to be confident right away, if I had this would not have happened.”
“It is not your fault Yami,” Mr. Jennings said putting his hand on Yami’s shoulder, “Confidence isn’t something you can just think about and suddenly have, it’s a state of mind that can only be obtained by truly believing you can obtain your objective. It’s not something that can be taught. The fact that you were able to gain that confidence and saving your friend Cipher in the process, the fact that you were able to defeat a man who has been devouring the souls of the damned his whole life is a great feat in of itself, you have no reason to beat yourself over this.”
“I just wish I could speak to her one more time; I will never forget the last thing I said to her before this incident.” Yami said as he looked up at the top the room and began to remember the old times with his mother.
… Yami’s Memories …
… Ten Years Ago …
A young boy around five feet tall lye fast asleep on his bed as the clock strikes closer to seven am when he will have to wake up and go to school. With the clock reaching seven a young woman runs up stares to awake him from his sleep.
“Yami, it’s time to wake up.” said Mrs. Hiraldo is she walked over and tried to shake her son awake.
“Mom?” began Yami, “I don’t want to wake, can’t you let me sleep more?”
“Son, it’s time for school; I can’t let you sleep right now otherwise I would let you sleep a little later. Go get dressed for school honey.” Mrs. Hiraldo replied.
“I don’t want to,” Yami said pulling his blanket over his head, “I’m going to go back to sleep.”
Reluctantly, the mother pulled the blanket of her son and made him get out of bed and get ready for his day at school.
“Why do you have to do this to me mommy? I don’t want to go to school.” asked Yami as he got his clothes on.
“I do this because I love you and I want you to grow into a successful young man.” said Mrs. Hiraldo with a smile on her face.
“If you loved me you would let me stay home like I asked you to.” replied Yami.
… Five Years After Previous Memory …
A teenage boy around five-foot-two is sitting on the couch watching television as he is supposed to be in the kitchen doing the dishes when his mother walks into the room and gets onto her son.
“Yami, how many times have I told you to do these dishes?” Mrs. Hiraldo yelled at her son.
“I don’t know,” replied Yami, “Like five or six times; I wasn’t counting.”
“Don’t get smart with me or I won’t let you watch TV again for another month.” Mrs. Hiraldo threatened.
“Why do I always have to do it? Am I the only one in this house with hands?” asked Yami.
“I’m trying to teach you how to be responsible, you will need to be responsible later in life and this is where you have to start.” Mrs. Hiraldo answered.
“So, what if I refuse to do it?” Yami replied like a smartass.
“Do you want to test me?” Mrs. Hiraldo asked as she walked to the back of the house into the laundry room and to the circuit box pulling the power for the living room before walking back to the living room to see her disgruntled son.
“Why the hell did you do that mom?” said Yami furiously.
“Once you get the dishes done you can return to the TV, until then the power in the living room will stay off.” answered Mrs. Hiraldo.
Angrily, the teenage boy went over and did the dishes for his mother cursing under his breath while the mother sat back and watched her son. “There I’m done now.” Yami said as he finished.
“Thank you son,” Mrs. Hiraldo replied as she went to the back of the house and turned the power back on in the living room then came back, “I love you.”
… Back to the Current Time …
“All those times that I didn’t listen to her, and all those times I spoke back to her she was just trying to do what was best for me and I never realized it. I wish I could tell her how much I love her.” Yami said to himself away from everyone else in the room. Unbeknownst to Yami, his best friend Cipher had already awakened still bloody and walked over to comfort Yami.
“Your mother knows you loved her Yami,” Cipher began, “You are her son, and she is your mother, you two have a bond to each other that cannot be severed.”
Epilogue
Over the next few years Yami and Cipher grew strong as friends and Mr. Jennings went back to his job as a guidance counselor. Yami’s father and sister were saddened by loss of Teresa Hiraldo for a long time, but Yami was there for the both of them whenever they were down even if he was down himself.
Yami and Cipher wound out going to college together and eventually Yami accomplished his career goal by becoming a teacher and Cipher accomplished his goal by becoming a radio broadcaster. The two of them wound out moving in next door to each other on the other side of town where they kept their friendship strong even though they had their own families to take care of at that point. Yami married a beautiful girl named Ariel Lorane a five-foot-four dirty blonde girl with green eyes who was fairly skinny and they both treated each other very well. Yami and Ariel had two kids together, both boys named Matthew and Louis, Matthew being named after his teacher Mr. Jennings. Cipher never got married, but his parents wound out moving in with him after their house got foreclosed until Cipher obtained enough money to get them their own place in which afterwards Cipher lived the rest of his days by himself just as he has always wanted to.
Mr. Jennings went on only a couple more adventures into the great unknown while keeping up with his job as a guidance counselor until twenty years after the events inside Hades he passed away from a cancer he had obtained by smoking when he was younger. Mr. Jennings was only fifty-five when he passed away and had many people attend his funeral where Yami gave the big speech. Yami’s father Tristan never remarried as he couldn’t imagine finding another woman in his life that he could possibly care about as much as Teresa and he wound out living a peaceful life although many times going into tears by the thought of his wife.
Yami’s sister Kristine lived a great life after she got out of High School. However, while in High School her beauty wound out being a bad thing as she had been used or cheated on by every boyfriend she had while she was there. Once she reached twelfth grade she realized that High School wasn’t worth any attachment and drifted away from all but two of her friends, those being the ones she couldn’t imagine being without. She met a sweet man in her third year of college named Barry Lockhart who she married at the age of twenty-two and had four kids with, three girls and one boy. The girls spread out by two years each and where younger than the boy who was three years older than the oldest girl. They were named Phil, Delilah, Amanda and Fiona.
Despite the occasional hardship for each one, everyone lived happily without much internal conflict with their families and spouses until the day that they died.
Devourer of the Damned
Chapter 1
The Encounter
“I won’t let you take him from me.” the boy screamed at the Demon Overlord who was holding his friend hostage on a wheel of fate, which basically was a gigantic wheel hanging out of the ground beneath which the boy and the Demon Overlord were standing on. On the outer edges of the wheel were skulls with flames shooting out of the eye sockets as they drew ever closer to the bloodied and passed out hostage.
The boy confronting the Demon Overlord was rather tall and skinny for his age, being as he was only nineteen years of age, but stood at six-foot-four and weighing one-hundred and ninety pounds. He was of a lighter peach skin color and wore a large shirt with red and black swirling designs on it along it with a pair of black jeans and some green and black sneakers. His eyes were a dark green color as his brown hair was very messy at this time. Blood was on many places of his body including his forehead where he had been sliced, but not very deeply by the Overlord’s sword. There was also blood flowing down his face mainly over his nose and down over his shirt.
The Demon Overlord was of a much different look. He was around six-foot-eight and fairly skinny, estimated around two-hundred and twenty pounds. He wore a full body light black metallic armor in which you could see a little shine from the silver spots; the armor had many spikes poking out from it. There were a lot of spikes pointing out from shoulders especially, and they poked out a lot further than the rest of his spikes too. His helmet, also of the same light black color with the shine poking of the silver spots had spikes larger than all as they pointed out from the top of every inch of his head. In his eye sockets you could only see black with a small red dot in the middle of it. Also he wore boots of the same color with a spiky curved point going over the toe and almost touching the rest of his armor. The sword in his hand was rather long in size at about three feet long. The hilt was a dark black color and pretty slim in size, but it also had a part where the Overlord held the blade that it curved around his hand. The blade itself was a very dark, almost black silver color and there was blood dripping as he walked around with it.
The hostage on the wheel which was slanted back sideways was unconscious as he had been knocked out already by the Demon Overlord. The boy on the wheel was around five-foot-eight and the same age as the boy in the midst of the fight. He was wearing a ripped up white tee-shirt along with blue jeans which at this point were also ripped up. His body was flowing with so much blood that barely any of his body or clothing was even visible anymore. The brown eyes and black hair that always stood out to his friend were covered in blood; literally no inch of his body was without blood as the flames moved in ever closer towards the boy.
“There is no hope Yami,” the Demon Overlord began in a voice that was almost like a whisper, so creepy that the sound would cause a normal person’s body to cringe, “Even if you did manage to defeat me there is no help for your friend. He will bleed from every inch of his body even if you manage to get the fire to stop. I will be kind though and tell you that the lever in which to stop the fire is located --.”
The boy now introduced as Yami was in tears looking at the slight of his slowly decaying friend as the scene turned to grey.
Chapter 2
Memoir Of A Friend
..Yesterday..
Yami was sitting in his chair on the verge of tears as he wrote in his journal about the events that had just occurred:
Dear Journal,
This has been the worst day of my entire life, the events
proceeding my writing of this journal entry are of the kind that
would traumatize many people for life. My dear friend Cipher was
stolen out from under me by that damned demonic being, normally
a person would probably be frightened to go face to face with such a
beast, but to grant my friend a safe return I have no choice, but to
kill this foul creature of Hades and the only way to find him is to journey
into the vast beyond deep underneath the shell of the earth. I do not
know whether or not I will make a safe return myself, but as long as I
have something to say in the matter I will risk my life to save this friend.
Mother, if you read this I am sorry for not speaking to you beforehand,
but this is a matter I must take care of on my own. If I die, I want you to
know that I love you and I wish that you tell everyone I hold dear I love
them also. The list of people is enclosed inside the safe beneath my bed.
Tell father and sister I will miss them and I will do everything in my power
to return home alive with Cipher.
Sincerely Yours,
Your Son, Yami Hiraldo
Yami lyed back in his bed ready to attempt what could possibly be his final night of rest as thoughts ran wildly through his mind about his friend. In the past, he remembered all the events which made his friendship with Cipher the most meaningful that he has and believes he will ever have. Yami began to speak to himself in a low voice so that no one else could hear him, “It seems like just yesterday we entered High School and I was bullied by all the seniors in the school for being a freshman or as they called us “fresh meat”. At that time, Cipher was just an acquaintance who I had spoken to just a couple times. After what he did that day he earned my trust and respect, not only as a person, but as a friend as well. I remember it like it was yesterday those bullies standing over me ready to knock my lights out just so he could have lunch money as if the money my parents had given to me was his. Cipher then came out from the corner and knocked all three of them out. He helped me up after risking injury to keep them away from them. It’s my turn to pay him back and to save his life even if I were to lose my life as I attempt this quest.”
Yami fell asleep that night with a sense of a mixture of emotions along with fear, anxiety and sadness. He had sworn to risk his life to save a friend who had once risked his life for him. Yami dreamt of a happy time with his old friend in which they remembered as graduation. They both excelled well in school, Yami making Honor Roll with straight A’s and B’s, while Cipher made Dean’s List with straight A’s along with a four-point-three grade point average. Yami always knew he could’ve made Dean’s List like his dear friend if he would’ve applied himself, but he also let laziness or procrastination get the best of him. Yami dreamt of standing beside his friend as they threw their graduation caps into the air. Everyone could sense the strong bond of friendship as they smiled while they congratulated each other. They truly had become best friends.
Chapter 3
The Journey Beneath
The morning of the journey Yami left his house quickly to reach the man who had access to his destination deep inside of Hades. The roads were dark, as he had left at five-thirty in the morning so no one in his house would be awake and hoped no one would be out on the streets for he did not want to hear people worrying about him and why he was out so early. Unfortunately, as he got closer to his destination a group of five friends from school were waiting for him as they had heard about his plan to save Cipher from the Demonic Overlord who had stolen him. The boys were varying from around five-foot-four to five-foot-ten, two of them being those heights respectively and the other three all between five-foot-six and five-foot-eight. All of them were between the ages of eighteen and twenty. The tallest of the boys whom was wearing a green shirt and black pants along with his light brown skin was named Arnold. Arnold walked up Yami to give him some parting words.
“We’ve heard what happened and what you are planning to do about it and we are not going to try and stop you from saving Cipher. However, we want you to know you do not have to do this alone. Me, Tommy, Drew, Hermes and Jerry,” Arnold said pointing at each boy from tallest to shortest, “We’re all here to give you assistance if you wouldn’t mind the help.”
Tommy was of the palest of the five as you could see him fairly clearly even at night; he wore a red tee-shirt along with blue jeans and a blue backwards hat. Drew, was of a medium-toned peach color as he wore a blue tee-shirt along with brown jeans. Hermes was a dark brown color and he wore a white tee-shirt with blue jeans. While Jerry, the smallest, was of a fairly light peach color along with his yellow tee-shirt and black jeans. Drew was the only one of the five who was a little chubby and even he wasn’t that big.
“Thanks for the offer Arnold,” Yami began as he turned around ready to continue walking to where he was going, “But, this is something I have to do on my own. I owe Cipher for saving my life, and I want to do this on my own; I hope the five of you understand.”
“We understand,” Hermes began as he walked to Yami, “Be safe Yami, and make sure to come back alive.”
“The journey ahead will be long and perilous,” Tommy stated, “But, you have a strong will and I have confidence that you will be able to accomplish your task.”
“That’s right man; even if we aren’t there just know that we got your back through thick and thin.” Drew said as he walked up to Yami with Tommy.
“P-Please be careful Yami,” Jerry spoke as tears were falling from his eyes, “I’ve always thought of you as a brother and I don’t know what would happen if I were to lose you while you are down there.”
“Thanks, all five of you,” Yami replied, “You will all be with me in spirit no matter what happens, and that will alone will help me as I go through with this task. If I do not make it back alive, I want you each to know that you are five of the six best friends I’ve ever had, the other being Cipher. I must go now though, you five stay safe too.”
The five boys watched him as he walked about a quarter of a mile and then turned around to go home. Yami continued down the dark roads as he reached the place he was looking for. The sign outside read, “Transporters Inc.”, the place was that of a large warehouse that looked like it hadn’t been used in hundreds of years from all the rust that had collected on it. A man was leaning on the door of the warehouse wearing a black trench coat along with a black almost cowboy style hat. He was about the same light-toned peach color as Yami, but a little darker. Wearing his black boots with the silver buckles across the front he lifted his head up looking at Yami with a toothpick in his mouth. “So I see you’ve made it now.”
“Yes, Mr. Jennings, I have and I am ready to go in and face this evil.” Yami replied as he walked up to the man now introduced as Mr. Jennings.
“You know you can call me by my first name right Yami? You can call me Matthew. As for you being ready I believe there is one more thing you need to take with you before I let you pass through follow me.” Mr. Jennings said as he guided Yami to the second level of his warehouse to a room with a bunch of brown cardboard boxes.
“What are these all about?” Yami asked curiously as he looked at the top of a box trying to read it.
“They all have something special about them,” Mr. Jennings began, “But, I need to find one for the situation at hand.” Mr. Jennings searched through the boxes rubbing the top of each one until he finally found the one he needed, “Here you go, this is the one I was looking for.”
Yami grabbed the box and opened it, but there was nothing inside. “What’s the meaning of this?” he asked, “There’s nothing in here.”
“Rub the bottom of the box,” Mr. Jennings answered, “I have already taught you how to use powers of the supernatural, but this will be the most helpful to you when you are facing the Demonic Overlord, remember it’s name for you only have three seconds to read it before it fades away forever.”
Yami rubbed the bottom of the box and read what it said quickly before the words faded away, “I believe I got it; I guess I will see what it does when the time comes.”
“You will know the time too,” Mr. Jennings said as he produced a vortex outside the door which he left open, “Now, take this path to the Underworld and save your friend; I would come with you, but I need to stay on this side to make sure the vortex stays open long enough for you to make it to Hades.”
“I was wanting to do this alone anyways,” Yami replied as he walked into the vortex and drifted through a place with no grounds or floors, just orange and black swirls all around with more orange than black until he landed on a platform in the Underworld.
Chapter 4
The Demon Overlord Revealed
The ground beneath Yami’s feet looked just like a wasteland, brown and cracked as it extended as a long pathway of about five hundred yards walking distance. There was molten lava extended all the way down on either side of the narrow pathway and walls could be seen around the area about three hundred yards to the left and right of Yami. The lava had small pointed rocks standing out from various spots. As the lava bubbled, Yami began to walk down the pathway to the hole that was viewable in the wall at the end. While his body trembling with fear and anticipation he continued to think about Cipher and what the demon in the room in front of him had done.
As Yami reached the crack in the wall he took a deep breath before squeezing through the small hole to where he saw nothing but a large circular room surrounded by brown cracked walls on every side and the platform in which he was standing on was also brown and cracked like the rest of the Underworld. There were bones lying around the leaned up against the walls were it appeared many people had died in this room. Small bits of flesh could be seen hanging off the bones directly in front of Yami. Frightened Yami walked forward into the center of the room to see if anyone was in the room with him. At that point, the ground beneath him crumbled and fell through a black abyss until he landed on another platform. Just like every other spot in the Underworld the platform was brown and cracked except this platform was not connected to any walls whatsoever, but instead surrounded by more bubbling molten lava. The room was rather large, in fact, from the center the walls were about three hundred yards away in any direction of the new circular room. When Yami turned around he saw a horrid sight; his friend Cipher was all bloodied up hanging on a slanted gigantic wheel with skulls all around the outside of it as flames shot out from the eye sockets of the skulls.
The Demonic Overlord suddenly jumped out from behind Yami and smashed him in the head with his sword, but luckily Yami noticed quick enough to use his supernatural abilities to stop the sword from cutting into his head and only making it bleed a decent amount.
“I won’t let you take him from me.” the boy screamed at the Demon Overlord who was holding his friend hostage on the Wheel of Fate.
“There is no hope Yami,” the Demon Overlord began in a voice that was almost like a whisper, so creepy that the sound would cause a normal person’s body to cringe, “Even if you did manage to defeat me there is no help for your friend. He will bleed from every inch of his body even if you manage to get the fire to stop. I will be kind though and tell you that the lever in which to stop the fire is located beneath my armor, so to save your friend you will have to kill me.”
Yami was in tears at the sight of his dear friend who was lying unconscious on the Wheel of Fate as he screamed out, “You bastard! I’ll kill you!”
Yami jumped out at the Demonic Overlord in fury as he shot a burst blue light at him which reflected right off the Overlord hitting the wall. “I find it saddening that you can’t even manage to put a scratch on me when hitting me point blank buddy.” the Demonic Overlord said as his voice became more humanly with the bottom part of his helmet beginning to lift up over his mouth revealing a familiar mouth and chin.
“No, it can’t be you,” Yami began as he teared up even more, “It just can’t be. How could you do such a thing?”
The helmet came up far enough to where you could see the boy’s whole face, “Do you realize how long I have been alive? You’ve always known me as a simple boy, a good friend. But, you know nothing about my past or who I am. I’ve been deceiving people into friendship for years, implanting false memories inside of people’s brain and always acting innocent so that no one would ever suspect me. Those skeletons upstairs are all those of people I have betrayed and I will continue betraying people until the day someone kills me, and believe me today is not that day. You will be just like all the others you will fall to my blade.”
Yami in shock asked, “How could you possibly be so short one minute and so tall the next?”
“Well,” the Demonic Overlord began, “It’s easy you see, as the Demonic Overlord I can change my outward appearance. This isn’t the only thing I can do with my body.”
“I still can’t believe all of this. I can’t believe you, Jerry, how could you do this?” screamed Yami.
“It’s just as I told you; I’ve been doing this for years. I have absolutely no remorse for the likes of any of you. Jerry doesn’t exist, he never did exist it was all a lie.” Jerry answered in a voice creepier than the one Yami had once known.
“Then,” started Yami, “Can you explain to me why you do what you do? Why do you betray people? Why do you kill?”
“Just the idea of killing excites me. To see a body dismember from every single limb, to watch as an organ falls out after the kill is finished. The sight of the small bits of flesh left on the bones afterwards. Doesn’t the sight of dismembered corpses sound like a homey thought to you?” asked the Demonic Overlord Jerry.
“Not in the slightest. You find it fun to kill? That is your reason for killing all those around you? No better reason than just excitement?” Yami replied.
“Well,” the Demonic Overlord began, “It’s not just that per se; I have my own special reasons for why I come after humans and no other race on the face of the Earth.”
“What are those reasons?” asked Yami.
“The reason is simple,” Jerry began, “You humans make waste of life and you do not deserve the skin that you live in. Every single human on this Earth is pathetic. None of you know how to live your life. Take you, for instance, you come up here with fear in your heart. You come up here hoping you can save your friend, but you never believe you can. Such a thing deserves to be punished. Your insolence will be your downfall.”
“If you are that confident in your then why don’t we just get back to the fighting and see who wins?” suggested Yami.
“Sure,” began the Demonic Overlord, “But, I have to warn you unless you believe you can defeat me you have no chance in hell of defeating me, Yami Hiraldo.”
Chapter 5
A Heartbreaking Loss
As the boy previously known as Jerry jumped at Yami with his sword Yami rolled away from him avoiding the attack and tried send a shot of green light at the Demonic Overlord, but it reflected off his armor again and crashed into the wall to the side leaving a big hole in the wall. Yami frightened crawled backwards away from the Demonic Overlord who still had his helmet up and followed Yami as he crawled across the floor. Yami kept shooting balls of light and the Overlord, but they kept reflecting off of him and putting holes in the walls.
“Sure, just keep blowing up the walls; I can get out of this place, but if you keep blowing up the place you and your friend Cipher will both be buried beneath the rubble. It will make my job much easier, although I would like to be the one dismembering your body myself.” The Demonic Overlord said as he swung his sword down and Yami who dodged the sword by jumping out of the way. Yami continued to struggle as all his attacks were basically worthless against the Demonic Overlord Jerry’s armor. Yami decided to try a new trick as he disappeared from sight only to appear right behind Jerry and attempt to kick him in the face. The Demonic Overlord caught Yami’s leg and held him upside down in front of him. “This is pathetic,” the Demonic Overlord continued, “At this rate, I won’t even have that much fun killing you.”
With those words the ceiling above them began to collapse as four people fell onto the platform between Yami and the Demonic Overlord. Yami looked the four of them and noticed them automatically, “Mother, Father, Sister and Mr. Jennings, what are you all doing here?”
Yami was the spitting image of his father, the only difference being that his father was two inches taller and a little chubbier than he. Yami’s mother was a very pretty lady, she was about five-foot-six and had long blonde hair with green eyes; she was wearing a black tee-shirt with brown Capri pants. Yami’s sister was the shortest person in the room at five-foot-one and around ninety pounds with black hair that had yellow and green streaks in it alongside her blue eyes. She was really small which can be expected since she was only thirteen years of age. Mr. Jennings led the three of them in ready to join in on the battle to help Yami.
“What are you guys doing here?” Yami asked, “I don’t want any help, you’re goin to get hurt if you stay here.”
“Yami,” Mr. Jennings began, “You are going to have to learn that we are not going to let you fight your battles yourself, you need us here. Did you not just notice how badly you were getting whooped? You need help here and we are going to offer it to you.”
“Alright,” stated Yami, “But still, Kristine shouldn’t be here. My sister is way too young to be here; I don’t want her to get hurt.”
At that point, a large piece of rock came out of the ground and hit the Demonic Overlord in the head causing him to falter for a quick second before gaining his composure, “See Yami,” Kristine said, “I’m not going to get myself hurt. Thank you for the concern, I love you brother and I understand what you are saying, but I am going to help you.”
Yami reluctantly let the four of them help out as they all surrounded the Demonic Overlord. “Hey,” the Demonic Overlord Jerry began, “This isn’t right. Five on one is unfair; I guess I will just have to even the playing field we are working with.” With those words Jerry stretched his arms out and four more enemies that looked just like him appeared prepared to take on one person each. The helmets on the four new enemies came up and Yami noticed them instantly as Arnold, Tommy, Hermes and Drew. “How do you like my minions Yami?” Jerry asked.
“What kind of trickery is this?” Yami asked.
“There is no trickery here,” the Jerry responded, “We are all the Demonic Overlord, one person in the same. I am the only true being of the five of us, the others are just bodies I created in order to help me deceive people. None of these friends you knew before truly existed. They were all me. We, or should I just say I took your best friend here and I did it as your other five best friends and I have every intention to kill your true best friend.”
“This is insane,” Yami began, “How did you pull this off?”
“It doesn’t matter; you fell for it and now you are going to pay for your stupidity.” the five separate bodies said together creepily as each one went for a different person. Jerry went towards Yami, Arnold towards Mr. Jennings, Tommy towards Kristine, Drew towards Yami’s father Tristan and Hermes towards Yami’s mother Teresa. The five battles then commenced with Kristine easily disposing of Tommy in a matter of minutes. Afterwards she went to help her mother as Tristan easily manhandled Drew and then went to help Mr. Jennings. As Yami’s four assistants fought off the Arnold and Hermes figures, Yami continued to fight off the fake Jerry.
“You’re moves are slow and you are weak. You haven’t learned how to truly fight in battle and that will bring you utter demise.” the Demonic Overlord Jerry said.
Yami enraged thoughtlessly jumped after Jerry but what knocked on his back as Jerry smacked him in the face with his left arm which left holes in Yami’s face where blood began to spew out. Kristine screamed and ran over towards Yami as she made a boulder hit the Demonic Overlord Jerry on the helmet as she was running. Before she could make it to her brother Jerry appeared in front of her and held her up in the air by her neck. Pissed off now, Teresa knocked out the Hermes figure easily with a large orange orb that knocked the Hermes figure into the surrounding lava and ran over to help her daughter out. Jerry threw Kristine on the ground and slashed Teresa through the heart with his sword causing her to bleed profusely and sending her to being on the verge of death.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jennings and Tristan were dealing with the Arnold figure as Tristan had been bloodied up really bad and Mr. Jennings was spending most of the time trying to protect Tristan. Tristan realizing he was only in the way crawled away from the battle and Mr. Jennings lifting his arms into the air caused wind to flow upwards around him causing his trench coat and hat float upwards to where you could see his medium-sized length blonde hair flowing in front of his face along with his brown eyes as around the Arnold figured the ground crumbled leaving the Arnold figure standing on a small platform where he became surrounded and engulfed by flames burning the Arnold figure to death. With all the figures out of the way Mr. Jennings ran over to Yami as Tristan ran over to Teresa where Kristine was already sitting beside her. “Yami,” Mr. Jennings began, “Looks like it’s just you and me, let’s finished this guy off once and for all.”
Yami nodded, “Yes, this is where all the lessons you taught me will come in handy.” Yami lifted his arms in the air as he transformed into knight of darkness. His helmet made of all black as well as his body armor. The only part of his body not covered in armor was that where his mouth was. He wield a large axe about six times the size of a normal axe and jumped at Jerry with his axe, but Jerry put his sword up in the air and easily pushed him off.
“It’s as I already said, you came saying that you hoped you would win and as long as you have that attitude you will never defeat me no matter how large your weapon is.” Jerry said pushing Yami back.
“He’s not wrong Yami,” began Mr. Jennings, “You need to believe you can beat this guy to beat him. You’re the only one who can finish him off.”
“But, you are stronger than I, Mr. Jennings. How am I supposed to finish a guy off if you are not able to?” Yami asked.
“You still have that which was written in the box, use it to your advantage when you have the chance, but you need to believe or it will not work for you.” Mr. Jennings said as he threw his arms in the air and transformed into a knight of light. His armor looked just like Yami’s armor the only difference being that it was white and he wield a white scythe about triple the size of most scythes in width. “Let’s go Jerry.”
Jerry swung his sword at Mr. Jennings who held it off with the swing of his scythe. Jerry continued to try stabbing Mr. Jennings over and over until eventually Mr. Jennings grabbed the sword by the blade with his hand causing his hand to bleed slightly as he stabbed Jerry in the back with his scythe and cut across his back. Jerry furiously came back after Mr. Jennings swinging wildly until he finally got a hit on Mr. Jennings cutting his hand off on the side where he had grabbed the blade. Mr. Jennings slowed greatly, but was able to hold him off for a few more minutes until Jerry slashed him through his stomach causing him to transform back into himself as he lye on the ground.
At this point, everyone was wounded and it appeared all hope was lost until Yami got a sudden burst of will, “I told myself I came here to save Cipher whether that meant losing my life or not. But, I realize now, that I can’t lose. I am going to defeat you Jerry and you will never be able to harm anyone again.”
“But, do you truly believe that Yami?” Jerry asked, “If so you may still have a chance.”
Yami then said two words; “Transformation Ultima,” and as those words were spoken wind blew around the entire area causing the lava to travel around them in circles as if they were shifting walls and Yami transformed into a magnificent force. He was now standing at six-foot-ten, his armor turned to red and flames shot out from arms as his helmet grew spikes that pointed out about the same length as Jerry’s spikes. His axe changed into a sword the same size as his opponent’s but with a red hilt and the blade was made out of solid flames.
“I see, you finally believe in yourself,” Jerry said, “This may be fun yet.”
As Jerry finished that sentence Yami swung his fire blade at Jerry who threw his sword up in front of him and actually struggled to ward off Yami’s strength. They swung back and forth at each other as Jerry was having a hard time blocking Yami’s sword, but managed to block each strike. When Jerry got a chance he dove under Yami and struck at the left arm of his armor causing Yami to bleed from his arm.
“I really was hoping I didn’t have to do this, but it looks like I must,” Yami began as he turned and looked at Jerry, “Mr. Jennings, get my family out of here will you?”
“Sure thing Yami,” said Mr. Jennings, “You are ready; take him down.”
“I will,” Yami said as Mr. Jennings disappeared out of the room with Yami’s family members. “Good it’s just you, me and Cipher here now. I know what that wheel does by the way. It’s a timer for me. I assume I have one minute left to defeat you and get to the lever inside of your armor and I know just how to do it since I am aware that while on that wheel awaiting death Cipher cannot be burnt. This is it, Ultimate Flame Blade come forth.” With that command all the surrounding lava in the area transferred its power into Yami’s blade, “You’re finished.” Yami continued as he struck his sword forward causing the flames in his blade to disappear completely and lava to come down from where the ceiling one was engulfing the whole battlefield and burning the Demonic Overlord where he had left his helmet open. Yami, unaffected by the lava due to his armor knew he had just thirty seconds and quickly ran over to Jerry’s rotting corpses taking off his armor. After fifteen seconds of searching he found it inside the chest plate and pulled the lever causing Cipher to detach and fall to the ground. With ten seconds left Yami ran over to him, grabbed him and pulled him out of the way as the Wheel of Fate burnt to the ground. Yami then transported himself and Cipher out of the area back to the room above where all the skeletons had disappeared and everyone else was waiting for him crying except Mr. Jennings who was just a little teary-eyed. “What’s wrong?” Yami asked.
“It’s your mother Yami,” Mr. Jennings said, “She didn’t make it.”
Chapter 6
Recollection and Regret
“You mean my mother is … dead?” asked Yami as he walked over toward them.
“Yes Yami,” began Mr. Jennings, “She was stabbed through the heart by Jerry and it didn’t kill her instantly, but by the time we all were able to get out she had already passed on. I’m sorry Yami.”
“It’s not your fault Mr. Jennings,” replied Yami “We couldn’t get rid of him quick enough and that’s why she isn’t with us now, there is no one to blame here except me; I couldn’t defeat him in time and in turn my mother did not have enough time to live, it’s my fault entirely for being stubborn and not listening to you when you told me to be confident right away, if I had this would not have happened.”
“It is not your fault Yami,” Mr. Jennings said putting his hand on Yami’s shoulder, “Confidence isn’t something you can just think about and suddenly have, it’s a state of mind that can only be obtained by truly believing you can obtain your objective. It’s not something that can be taught. The fact that you were able to gain that confidence and saving your friend Cipher in the process, the fact that you were able to defeat a man who has been devouring the souls of the damned his whole life is a great feat in of itself, you have no reason to beat yourself over this.”
“I just wish I could speak to her one more time; I will never forget the last thing I said to her before this incident.” Yami said as he looked up at the top the room and began to remember the old times with his mother.
… Yami’s Memories …
… Ten Years Ago …
A young boy around five feet tall lye fast asleep on his bed as the clock strikes closer to seven am when he will have to wake up and go to school. With the clock reaching seven a young woman runs up stares to awake him from his sleep.
“Yami, it’s time to wake up.” said Mrs. Hiraldo is she walked over and tried to shake her son awake.
“Mom?” began Yami, “I don’t want to wake, can’t you let me sleep more?”
“Son, it’s time for school; I can’t let you sleep right now otherwise I would let you sleep a little later. Go get dressed for school honey.” Mrs. Hiraldo replied.
“I don’t want to,” Yami said pulling his blanket over his head, “I’m going to go back to sleep.”
Reluctantly, the mother pulled the blanket of her son and made him get out of bed and get ready for his day at school.
“Why do you have to do this to me mommy? I don’t want to go to school.” asked Yami as he got his clothes on.
“I do this because I love you and I want you to grow into a successful young man.” said Mrs. Hiraldo with a smile on her face.
“If you loved me you would let me stay home like I asked you to.” replied Yami.
… Five Years After Previous Memory …
A teenage boy around five-foot-two is sitting on the couch watching television as he is supposed to be in the kitchen doing the dishes when his mother walks into the room and gets onto her son.
“Yami, how many times have I told you to do these dishes?” Mrs. Hiraldo yelled at her son.
“I don’t know,” replied Yami, “Like five or six times; I wasn’t counting.”
“Don’t get smart with me or I won’t let you watch TV again for another month.” Mrs. Hiraldo threatened.
“Why do I always have to do it? Am I the only one in this house with hands?” asked Yami.
“I’m trying to teach you how to be responsible, you will need to be responsible later in life and this is where you have to start.” Mrs. Hiraldo answered.
“So, what if I refuse to do it?” Yami replied like a smartass.
“Do you want to test me?” Mrs. Hiraldo asked as she walked to the back of the house into the laundry room and to the circuit box pulling the power for the living room before walking back to the living room to see her disgruntled son.
“Why the hell did you do that mom?” said Yami furiously.
“Once you get the dishes done you can return to the TV, until then the power in the living room will stay off.” answered Mrs. Hiraldo.
Angrily, the teenage boy went over and did the dishes for his mother cursing under his breath while the mother sat back and watched her son. “There I’m done now.” Yami said as he finished.
“Thank you son,” Mrs. Hiraldo replied as she went to the back of the house and turned the power back on in the living room then came back, “I love you.”
… Back to the Current Time …
“All those times that I didn’t listen to her, and all those times I spoke back to her she was just trying to do what was best for me and I never realized it. I wish I could tell her how much I love her.” Yami said to himself away from everyone else in the room. Unbeknownst to Yami, his best friend Cipher had already awakened still bloody and walked over to comfort Yami.
“Your mother knows you loved her Yami,” Cipher began, “You are her son, and she is your mother, you two have a bond to each other that cannot be severed.”
Epilogue
Over the next few years Yami and Cipher grew strong as friends and Mr. Jennings went back to his job as a guidance counselor. Yami’s father and sister were saddened by loss of Teresa Hiraldo for a long time, but Yami was there for the both of them whenever they were down even if he was down himself.
Yami and Cipher wound out going to college together and eventually Yami accomplished his career goal by becoming a teacher and Cipher accomplished his goal by becoming a radio broadcaster. The two of them wound out moving in next door to each other on the other side of town where they kept their friendship strong even though they had their own families to take care of at that point. Yami married a beautiful girl named Ariel Lorane a five-foot-four dirty blonde girl with green eyes who was fairly skinny and they both treated each other very well. Yami and Ariel had two kids together, both boys named Matthew and Louis, Matthew being named after his teacher Mr. Jennings. Cipher never got married, but his parents wound out moving in with him after their house got foreclosed until Cipher obtained enough money to get them their own place in which afterwards Cipher lived the rest of his days by himself just as he has always wanted to.
Mr. Jennings went on only a couple more adventures into the great unknown while keeping up with his job as a guidance counselor until twenty years after the events inside Hades he passed away from a cancer he had obtained by smoking when he was younger. Mr. Jennings was only fifty-five when he passed away and had many people attend his funeral where Yami gave the big speech. Yami’s father Tristan never remarried as he couldn’t imagine finding another woman in his life that he could possibly care about as much as Teresa and he wound out living a peaceful life although many times going into tears by the thought of his wife.
Yami’s sister Kristine lived a great life after she got out of High School. However, while in High School her beauty wound out being a bad thing as she had been used or cheated on by every boyfriend she had while she was there. Once she reached twelfth grade she realized that High School wasn’t worth any attachment and drifted away from all but two of her friends, those being the ones she couldn’t imagine being without. She met a sweet man in her third year of college named Barry Lockhart who she married at the age of twenty-two and had four kids with, three girls and one boy. The girls spread out by two years each and where younger than the boy who was three years older than the oldest girl. They were named Phil, Delilah, Amanda and Fiona.
Despite the occasional hardship for each one, everyone lived happily without much internal conflict with their families and spouses until the day that they died.