[TF: AFTER INFERNO CRISIS + TORMENT]




Another late night.

Gojinn sat up and climbed out of his bed frustrated. He needed answers to his questions. His whole body is still throbbing with pain. He hasn’t healed very well lately, and he knows why. Something was messing with his powers. His head literally pulsated some nights. What was doing this? He stepped across the room to the doors and threw them open to his balcony, stepping out for some fresh air. The moon was buried behind a cluster of clouds. Dark, quiet, and eerie. Not a creature was around. Not a living soul was near him… but… then where were the others?! His stomach suddenly sank as he turned and ran for the hallway. He ripped the door open and ran for Kevin’s room. The door was open. He stepped in quietly, his heart racing, his eyes darting everywhere to keep a lookout. The bed was empty, and the room in disarray.

His soul sank. How could this have happened? Kevin had powers too. Kevin knew how to fight. He knew to get Gojinn’s attention, so why hadn’t he woken up?! He saw his knives across the room, planted in the wall. Kevin had tried attacking something. There was a small bloodstain on one of the blades. He left them there, when he suddenly realized, he didn’t sense Allyson either. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and his heart pumped harder than ever, as he shoved the door open, and pushed off the carpeting, sprinting for her room. Her door was open as well. What the hell was going on!? Her room was just as messed up, except there was more blood. She must have put up more of a fight. Good, that meant she didn’t go easily, and he’s hurt. He grinned, but it suddenly faded, as he collapsed from the room against the wall across the hall. He dropped to the floor, sitting there, staring into the room, suddenly realizing it could be her blood.

JAMES!

He jumped up, and tripped, falling flat on his face and chest, roaring in pain. Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go! The pain could wait. His bandaged ribs ached, but not as much as his head and heart. How could this have happened right near him? How did they not get a hold of him?! “Questions Later Gojinn” He ran down the hall, and turned right down the first staircase, and then left into the main entry way. The front doors were destroyed, as was the front wall. “Only one person that could have done that.” His head began pounding, and he dropped, wiping at the sweat on his forehead. He brought his hand down, as he dropped to his knees, and stared at the same hand, seeing blood. He stared but a minutes, when another drop hit the floor below. His head was cut open! The wound began pounding more, sending shockwaves of agony through his neck and spine, down to his legs and feet. His heart felt like it was being crushed inside of his chest. He fell to his back, roaring in so much pain he’d rather die. His breath quickened, and then he noticed he could see it in front of him. “Can’t be him. Still weak. Dead. Get to James. Go! GO NOW!”

He pushes up.

Gojinn knew he couldn’t waste anymore time, and raced for the guest house. The entire thing was nearly decimated. James was gone. Gojinn doesn’t even bother looking in the rubble for his body, it’s not there. He can’t sense a thing. He can’t heal the blood dripping from the wound on his head. He just turns, and starts walking. Something is drawing him from the mansion into the thick fog of the woods far off behind the house. His feet are soaked in the dew as he travels through the darkness, and the woods draw nearer. Still no sound, no light, no life.

The woods are covered in thicker fog than he’s ever seen. Soon enough, the woods give way. Instead of the small building that’s supposed to be out here though, he finds himself in a graveyard. This… is eerily familiar though. The fog immediately gives way, and simply covers the ground. The pain he’s felt intensifies, but his determination to figure out what’s happened and what’s going on is driving him forth. There are multiple emptied graves, and the cold out here is chilling his sweat covered skin. Rain begins falling, making the cold intensify. This setting is the same as long, long ago in his mind. Off in the distance he sees several figures. Slowly he walks towards them. They’re moving faster than he can keep track of, and soon enough, one is left, and then a crew of men surround him and carry him off.

Gojinn slowly approaches where the man laid down and was carried off from. A body print in the mud, covered in crimson liquid. He looks down into the grave. He can hear life, and sense it. What’s going on? Is this actually happening?!

He stands there and stares down, wiping at his head… but there’s no blood.

“Can’t be a good sign…”

He sighs and leans over it, as the casket within suddenly skyrockets, cracking him in the face. He drops to his back, as a second figure flies upward. He sees it, but not clearly. The blood has returned, obviously for a reason. The pain isn’t helping either, as it’s blurring his sight. He feels it though, and knows it cannot be good. His body forces himself up, and he looks high, as the figure travels through the sky and over the woods. Gojinn knows who it is. His knows what he is…

“He’s… dead.”

He runs for the woods, and begins ducking and dodging trees through the thick forest. The fog is blocking his sight now, and he can barely see his own hand in front of his face. His heart races, his body hurts, and he keeps going… right until he sees the mansion. He stops and freezes. His adrenaline pumps through his body, but he knows to stop. One false move and it’s over. High above the mansion he sees him, hovering in the sky.



The mansion is obliterated. The steel beams for the helipad on the roof are visible and contorted, melted and destroyed. The bright light of something shines off in the distance, and Gojinn drops to his knees. The figure turns to him, but before he can react, everything goes black…








AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

He shoots up in his bed. Morning. Dream. Just a dream. All a dream.

And then he turns to the pillow beside him, noticing a small blood stain, and wipes at his head, pulling away a single droplet.

Fuck.

He jumps out of bed, and rushes downstairs. His heart pounds, his body hurts still, but not as much as it had seconds ago in his dream. The rooms are lit brightly. Has to be real, right!? He sighs and rushes down the stairs, seeing all three of the people that matter to him standing in the front door.

Guys, you have no idea how happy I am to see you.

Yeah.

“Okay.”

Alright.

Gojinn tilted his head, as they stood there staring out the door.

What?

He walked up, and pushed by them. There, on the driveway, several steps from his front door, was a message. He stared a moment, then laughed.

You’ve got to be fucking joking….

In thick black liquid, there it was again: SOON

Shattered glass lay near it, and he ran his hand through his hair. He left his hand on his head, turned, and walked by them all coolly and calmly with a smirk.

If you guys wanna run, feel free. Hell is coming with a fucking vengeance.

They simply looked at him. That wasn’t a message from a black feathery foe. Two messages. Two very pissed off people. He couldn’t be sure about them though. He’d met many a creature in his lifetime, and maybe this was someone new. Yeah. It occurred to him… there were many signs of new life being born for the first time. He was the Undisputed Champion. Maybe people just wanted him dead?

Well- whatever it was...it was a bad omen...