The car crackled to a stop on the pebbles on the side of the road on the long stretch of mountain road. The moonlight shone down, illuminating the roadway. Trees on either side of the long stretch swayed gently in the breeze, giving some sound to the almost entirely quiet world around. The Accord sat humming idly now, it's lights turned off. The driver door opened and Gojinn stepped out, planting his feet on the rocks. He walked off around the front side of the car and slowly stepped off into the woods, throwing the hat aside. He had to ditch the car a few miles out to be sure no one would find him. He'd kept this location a secret for years now. He couldn't risk it being discovered by anyone else. Barefoot, he crunched over dead leaves and pine needles, blocking the pain of the stabbing needles of Mother Nature. Trekking onward, he continued deeper into the woodlands. He was cold and annoyed this is what is was taking now, but once he'd reached the place, he was hoping he could jsut start over. He was lost, empty. Gojinn needed to reach out to the world again, more specifically his past if this was what was at stake at this point. The moon was fading out, as the sun rose, marking several hours that Gojinn had been walking. The trek paid off...
There, several hundred yards further through the clearing of the forest...
The cabin.
A smile crept over the cold face of the man who once resided here. He hadn't returned in years, however. He'd locked it tight and left it hidden. He knew better than to leave this place in any other shape. However, as he approached, disgust began to grow. This was his home, granted it was here because he was in hiding while he conducted his "business" for several years. Home, though. And as he closed in on the front area of the cabin, red solo cups lay everywhere, old and recent alike, full of dirt and rancid beer, water, mud, bugs... cigarette butts lay strewn about the front wooden porch and scattered across the ground...
"IF ANYONE'S IN THERE, YOU LEAVE RIGHT NOW AND I WON'T PUT YOU IN THE DIRT." Gojinn screamed with a fury unlike any other. He could hear voices to begin with. He could see the trail of footprints that had been moving in the direction of the cabin for years. Furious he stepped onto the porch as several kids poured out of the door, screaming and running for their lives. Most were girls. Some boys came screeching out after that, one such "man" throwing a bottle at Gojinn's face as he retreated. If they hadn't gone for guns or blades, they hadn't yet found his secret room, which meant the only thing compromised was the stupid cabin, unfortunately. The lake hadn't been compromised, as there was no news of the bodies he'd chained down there. Thankfully it was a fairly deep lake, no one short of a scuba-diver would bother going that deep, and nothing was going to start floating.
Gojinn thought about all of this as he stumbled back and stepped down, wiping away several shards that had stuck to his face. He glanced up to see the terrified look of the late teenage boy, as he turned and dashed off with his friends, all yelling "Run!", at the top of their lungs. He decided against smiting them all then and there. He was trying to refrain from using his power. Most of them were gone now. He had only very few left through the years of changes. His most recent death and rebirth courtesy of the "God" - it had left him imbued with power he didn't know the limits of. He might not ever know them, because he didn't intend to destroy the world around him. He hadn't used them in quite some time. He just watched them leave, and walked into the cabin. Trash, blankets, pillows, drugs, alcohol...
Furious again, he kicked a glass bong across the room, shattering it against the wall of the cabin as he did so. The water stank and immediately made Gojinn regret the choice he'd made. He sighed and walked to the back of the cabin and the master bedroom. His eyes immediately locked into the corner on a small piece of wall that wasn't QUITE like the others. He cracked a half smile as he headed over and ran his finger across it, gently pushing the bottom of it and flipping it down and open. He slid his fingers in and wrapped them inside, pushing four buttons simultaneously. He pulled his fingers back out and flipped the portion of wall back in, stepping away from the side of the room. A small hole in the floor formed. Gojinn couldn't see inside, but a moment later it lit up bright. He smiled, everything still worked. He stepped over the hole and dropped in, barely bending his knees as he landed softly more than twenty feet beneath the surface. He spun on his heel and looked around - his arsenal. Swords, knives, bows, explosives, guns, blunt instruments, hunting gear, climbing gear...
It was all here, untouched. He walked down the long aisle of organized, displayed weapons. He dragged his fingertips along the edges of the sharp blades, the gun barrels, the clubs and bats and ropes.... He could feel the adrenaline pulse through him, he could feel himself returning to normal form. He looked around: shelves, tables, counters, aisles of weaponry all about. Everything was organized by sized and paired with ammo caches nearby. He couldn't help but continue to smile as he walked off into the back now, knowing he needed a shower. The special underground arsenal was installed with an airlock system designed to seal the entire underground vault and vent the oxygen in the room. Gojinn didn't need it. He pressed in a code on s security panel on the way into the shower, sealing shut the entrance from the cabin. The vault sealed shut tight and the oxygen was gone for a few seconds, before Gojinn had it replaced again with another code entry. Sure he didn't need it, but he didn't need to take chances in an underground bunker with weapons and explosives he was likely to test out and be packing soon.
He stripped the stolen clothes from his body and tossed them to the corner of the bathroom, walking off into the open tile shower. He brushed his hair back with one hand as the other turned the handle on the shower, turning the water on hot and high. Still bloodied and newly healed, Gojinn stood idle in the shower, his eyes shut, as the water ran over him, washing away any evidence of his actions tonight. He had no soap product of any kind on hand so he simply washed himself with the water itself, wiping himself clean. The water ran cold after a few minutes. It had been some time since he'd been to this place and the heater had only minutes to warm up. He considered himself lucky at this point. He flipped the handle back and walked off, dripping wet, straying around the corner into the darkness of the small room containing his wardrobe. The lights came on with the motion of his entry, prompting him to readjust his sight for a few seconds. After seeing clearly all around him, he reached for the black Underarmour t-shirt, and a pair of black pants. He threw them both onto a bench at the center of the room, walking towards several baskets on shelves in the back of the room. He grabbed a pair of socks and briefs, throwing those to the pile.
"I really don't want to make this call." he muttered, looking up to see another double of himself, also naked and dripping wet, leaning against the doorway. He smirked, looking back at Gojinn, "You need the info." "I really want to just show up and take it by force.", he chuckled. "As bad as we are, there won't be an end this time. You got lucky with Lu." Gojinn turned and reached for a towel, finally drying himself off to get dressed. By the time he'd gotten his clothes on, he was almost excited to make the call. He'd been hesitant but being here again felt like it was truly home.
And that scared him.
Before he was arrogant and sure, he had powers, but it was nothing in reality almost. Now...
He shook the feeling. He was still changed. Inside. Outside. For the better. He would do this, and fade.
He walked back through the room, scooping a pair of finger cut gloves and black sneakers. He eyed his tools of the trade and wondered what to take. He slipped the gloves on, quickly taking a seat to tie the shoes. He stood again, swiping a large duffle bag from a pile of them on the floor and marched through. He grabbed a few items here and there, almost humming a tune of joy as he wandered along through his inventory. It only took roughly fifteen minutes to pack the gear he deemed necessary to keep it on a level playing field. After all, if you can kill people almost at will, what kind of fun is it?
He pulled a burner phone from the bag and flipped it open, dialing in a number and sending out the call. The bunker redirected the signal to hide his location, so he wasn't terribly worried about it coming back just yet. He hoped this could stay secret. If it didn't, he had one other location ready at any given time. It didn't matter, the phone clicked on for a few seconds only.
"We knew you'd come around. Package is in a crate under the cabin porch."
It clicked off after, making Gojinn breathe deep for a few moments. He was grateful that they hadn't tried to get in under his house and discover the bunker, but would the package still be there? He could only hope as he exited the bunker with the gear and tossed it down, exiting the cabin to check under the porch. He stepped off and walked to the side, crouching low and ripping the thin wooden fencing along the side of the porch off. He tossed it aside carelessly. A steel container lay half buried in the dirt, covered with branches and leaves for camouflage. Gojinn knelt down, leaning underneath to grasp it. It came free rather easily, the soil not packed back around it. It was a briefcase, thankfully already set to a combination he'd seen on other drops. He pulled it out and circled back around inside, closing the door behind him this time. He looked around once more, almost broken-hearted at what his home looked like. He could call a cleaning company, but they would inevitably stumble onto his armory.
He sighed and dropped back downstairs, inputting the code to seal it again as he went back into hiding and taking care of business. "Don't get rusty, ok? We can't afford stupid mistakes. Planning. PROPER planning. Time." Gojinn turned and faced his shadow, cracking a grin and giving him a questioning look. "Who ARE you talking to? I've done this before, y'know?" His duplicate smiled, taking a seat. "You know you're still only 'okay' at best, right?" Gojinn shrugged and laughed, throwing the briefcase up on his table. "I'm the best at everything I do."
He flipped the briefcase open, looking inside at the manila envelope lying inside. He stared at it for a few seconds and then snatched it up and ripped it open. He turned it over and dumped the files out, sweeping the briefcase from the table and throwing the manila atop both it, and the pile of money that had fallen out. Money - they thought this was about money. Ha.
The files and pictures laid scattered everywhere. He saw the face, the job, the autographs, the recon in all of this. But none of that ever mattered when he saw his face. There was an advertisement postcard atop the files: CREATUREMANIA XI
His eyes darted to a TV mounted on the wall. His hand waved at a remote - it came flying straight to him. He caught it and pointed it at the TV, flipping it on and straight to the PPV - catching the main event of the night.
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King: "I can't believe it! Kizmat just literally turned the tables on Deadblood!"
Cole: "There's no way Deadblood is going to be able get back up after that!"
JBL: "Don't count Deadblood out just yet, Michael! He's not the Absolute Undisputed champion for nothing, you know? He knows what he's doing in there!"
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Gojinn dropped the remote. "No. Fucking. Way." "Ditto." Gojinn could not process the images. He couldn't believe his eyes. This wasn't right. He was dead. Dead. He did this already. He'd do it again. "This just got easier for you." "It's not easier. I never wanted to. I still don't. And this isn't going to be planned. I'm going in now. Right now." "Didn't WANT to?! You had no idea who HE was! You DID WANT TO!" He grabbed the bag and turned on his heels, punching in the code to leave once more, this time sealing it behind him as he left the cabin. He walked off the porch to a large sealed shed down the dirt road. He dropped it in front and ripped the lock from the door, throwing it into the woods. The doors swung open with a wave of his hand. He was furious. He was confused. He had a job. He had a conflict of interest. He set all that aside. His mind was suddenly clear. It was the only choice.
