Coldness.

The very first thing it felt was the unbearable cold. Freezing. The chill that held it in an unholy grip. It couldn't move. Fear was overwhelming and it wanted to scream. Wanted to get away from this dark place. It couldn't help but felt the entire world was slowly moving upward to...wherever it was going. It couldn't scream. Something was covering its mouth and held its limbs tightly to its body. It felt like a compressed cage.

The entire world seemed to come to a stop for a moment...then the feeling of plunging down towards the ground happened so fast it managed to twisted its neck to the side. As soon as it felt the impact, the whole world started rocking in a rhythmic pattern. What was happening outside...?

...then it heard a voice. A hoarse voice rang around its dark world...

"...ultimate...there..."

The voice seemed to be muffled by something. It tried to listen to what the voice was saying but it could only catch a few words...

"...hope...shall rain..."

Rain.

...Hope?

For some strange reason it couldn't explain, that word calmed it down. Its vision was still dark and it couldn't move from this position but it felt...for the first time...good.

...is this hope?

It clung on to the feeling, on that wonderful word, the only thing that was close enough to peace in this dark abyss. Loud noises and hard impacts rattled the whole world and fear started to crept back. Hope. Somehow...it would make this all go away...

Go away...go away...go away...go away...

...another feeling of plunging to the ground followed by a brutal impact. The dark world rattled and...and... That was when it felt...the dark world got a bit...warmer... The cold grip loosen a bit and a surge of blissful relief flooded its body. Finally, it could move. Ragged movements but it could move. Whatever was happening outside the dark world...it was grateful that this happened.

It wanted to leave this dark world.

And its wish was answered when the same feeling of plunging down to the ground came back followed by a forceful impact.

The dark world cracked open and something hit its face. The coldness was gone and the it finally felt warm. It was filled with delight and excitement to see what was outside of this cage. Slowly, it squeezed itself out through the cracks. The noises from the outside became louder and louder. In a matter of seconds, it managed to slid through the cracks.

...the voice. A voice with a certain tone that it couldn't comprehend reached its ear...

"...is the end..."

...the end? Yes. The end of the dark world. No more fear. No more cold. No more harsh grip.

It stretched out its limbs as it slid through the cracks in to this new wide world. The pleasant feeling of freedom was finally at hand. Steadily, it began to adjust its hearing to this noisy environment.

"...at?!...stop growing!..."

Only wanted to clung on that word.

"...can't beat him. close...now or never."

HOPE.

It opened its eyes for the first time. The lights stung at first but slowly, the sight became clear. The dark blue sky tangled with grey clouds and shimmering stars...it wanted to reach for those pretty white diamonds...

"James! What are you doing?!"

"...last hope...this will stop it!"

...stop?

It flinched at the word.

Stop? Stop?! STOP!?

It would NOT be STOPPED.

It loved this hope.

It wanted to reach for the sky to get the stars.

It wanted to see this new bright world.

IT. WILL. NOT. BE. STOPPED.

"Kate. Don't give up hope."

NEVER.

It looked down and saw two small beings below...and one of them was running towards it. Humans. A male, it noticed, was holding something with blinking red lights.

It wanted to scream.

But nothing came out from its mouth. Go away, it tried to yell.

I want to live.

I WANT TO LIVE.

I WANT TO-

...

...

...the overwhelming fear came back.

Its skin melted away and the world seemed brighter.

"JAAAAAAAAAAMMMMEEEEEESSS!"


He knew.

Humans came for him.

Those pesky little beings that dared to challenge him.

...they came to stop him. Foolish creatures. He would show them.

In an instant, he shattered the glass dome and stared down at those small humans in front of him.

"I am the ultimate being. There is no hope. My hammer of death shall rain upon you!"

They wouldn't listen anyway. They were too stubborn to realize that there was no place for humanity in the coming of new age. Hope... Hope isn't for the likes of them.

The pulse. The being inside his chest wriggled. It tried to get out. He couldn't let it out. Not yet. Not until the humans are gone. It wasn't ready to be released...he tried to keep his temperature low. To prevent the warm pulse from getting out. Freezing it.

...and these humans kept shooting at his chest. It burned.

No.

NO.

NO!

He was injured. Impossible. He was supposed to be invincible. He was the ultimate being. He couldn't...

He felt it. The pulse vibrated faster and harder against his skin, threatened to pop out. And the humans kept firing.

NO, he screamed. But his voice was muffled by the gunshots. Humans didn't know what they are doing. He unleashed his full strength and tried to shatter the humans' fragile bodies...it was no use. He was losing...

For the first and the last time, he felt different.

He was dying...

...there was no chill. The temperature spiked up and he lost his balance.

The feeling was strange and unwelcoming...

The being began to squeeze itself out from his back and he could do nothing to stop it.

The last thing that World felt before he hit the cold floor...it was...

Warmth.


AN: ...what's the purpose for writing this? What's the point of this plot? I'll be honest and say... "Absolutely no clue." ...okay, fine, I lied. It's probably just me but since it was mentioned that there were SEVERAL Pandora's boxes...World was one of them. As the myth goes...hope is inside the box. There, I decided to twist things up a little. So congratulations to you AMS folks, you just blasted hope out from the sky...eh. Just joking. I just twisted your head 360 degrees. Thanks for reading, guys.

Disclaimer: House of the Dead belongs to SEGA.