Ginji

The battlefield

~ Takeo ~

Kumi and I step through the darkness. It swirls around as, clasping at our very being, yet suffocating all light. Emerging on the other side with all haste, I can see we've been ported deep beyond the walls surrounding Midland Square.

Kumi draws her needle as soon as we arrive. She hates to transform and very rarely does so. We stand on a long narrow street with damaged houses on either side of us.

I can smell gunfire and it seems a grenade went off nearby as one of the houses is blown to bits, its green door lying in splinters across our path. Everywhere I look are dead bodies and blood. A massacre has taken place here, that's for sure, but the fighting itself has trailed off elsewhere. Roars and all manner of noises can be heard in the distance as black smoke bellows up from behind the houses.

Midland Square itself is not too far away, I don't understand why Dark did not just port us inside. Then again, I'm starting to have a lot of suspicions about Dark myself, thanks to Ginji. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, after all my brain is starting to hurt from thinking too much. Now is the time to fight, I can worry about the rest later.

Me and Kumi stay on the black as onyx tarmac road awaiting the arrival of Dark and Ginji, but when only Dark steps through and the portal disappears, my face drops, as does Kumi's.

"Where... Where is Ginji?" Kumi asks.

"I am sorry. I tried to save him, but Leviathan arrived. Both he and Kath were left behind. There was naught that could be done." Dark smirks as usual. If Kumi doesn't see it, I do. Ginji had told me to not be so damn lazy and pay closer attention to the man.

This is the first time I've heard a name tied with the Masters, as Dark has always referred to them as the Masters. And what were those tether things he was on about back at the mansion? Damn, I have so many questions, but I don't dare ask them. I hang my head low in sorrow for Ginji. If the Masters got him they'll eat him no matter how tough he is.

"I swear we'll avenge him, Kumi. First let's escort Dark to Midland Square. We can mop up any enemies we see on our way. If Dark can get this tether thing and send the Masters back to Hell our world will be rid of them, right Dark?"

Dark draws his ragged broken blade, the hilt shimmering in the moonlight, and walks on as if I never questioned him. With his head held high he gazes up into the night sky.

A full moon shines tonight and for a wolf like myself being bathed in its illuminating warmth is like a mother's caress. Moonlight and darkness, I think. If I were to fight a Master tonight I will have to be at my best, for Ginji's sake at least. After this whole mess is done I will return to the mansion and search for his body if there is one to be found.

"Takeo... Something is wrong with Dark. Like, there has always been something amiss, but look." Kumi points a finger at Dark, who has walked several yards down the blood bathed street. He's laughing, like a high pitched manic laugh.

If even Kumi can spot something amiss and out of place then it spells trouble. Was Ginji right? Does something really sinister lurk deep within our leader? He saved me though, and Kumi too. Is it right to question my saviour?

"Kumi, let us follow for now, but stay close to me. Maybe the bloodlust is causing him to act more erratically. Heaven knows this whole area is stained with blood on top of blood. It's hard to control the urges and the lust."

Kumi nods in agreement, even though she's shaking like a leaf.

I don't like to see Kumi terrified. I wrap an arm around her as Dark looks back at us. One of his eyes has turned as red as hot coal, whilst the other remains as black as the abyss. A smile so wide and threatening is on his blooded face.

"Come, we head to Midland Square where all the fun is to be had." Joy is within his words, but also insanity. We expected a war to break out, we prepared for it, but something is seriously amiss.

Kumi's needle drops to her side, her will to fight gone. The lust is not in her, instead fear has gripped her. A house to the left of us shatters into pieces, bricks and bits of glass spraying into the crisp air. A werewolf comes flying through the debris, blooded and battered. It is one of ours; it wears the black ink tattoo upon its body, burned into its fur, the mark of the black dragon. Dark too has taken note and looks on as a behemoth strolls through the broken house.

Mounds of flesh ripple across the entire body of this white goliath standing taller than the houses. The demon's face is huge and long, saggy from the excess flesh. What the hell is it? I've never seen anything like it before.

Looking down at me and Kumi, it screams. The smell wafting out of its open mouth is foul and its teeth are black, rotten to the core. Fresh blood covers its lips, and when I glance at the small werewolf I see its underbelly is ripped clean out. This monster has half eaten whoever this was.

"Stand back, Takeo and Kumi. I shall deal with this. I fear the lust is high tonight. It is making me dance the rhythm of war." Dark's smile has stretched so wide he almost looks like Joker at this point.

How is Dark even going to deal with a beast so large? It makes my wolf form look like a pup, and he's coming straight for me and Kumi. Shit! For a fatass he is fast. His giant fist heads in my direction. I throw Kumi out of the way and began to transform. I have no other choice.