Chapter One

Warriors Gather

It wasn't everyday that one person was capable of dying from being shot repeatedly or being sliced into little bits by cold, metallic blades and to yet live again. From the trees with red leaves flowing in the calm breeze and the sky clear with the sun shining, it wouldn't be far off from a simple description from heaven. That is, if you actually deserved to go there in the first place. Garuda, however, knew very well that he did not deserve an eternal rest as blissful and peaceful as heaven. With all the crimes and actions he and his partner Durga had done together throughout their lives as mercenaries and criminals they bought their own tickets to hell. Yet here in the quiet forest with only the rustling of leaves being the only sound to keep away the silence, Garuda found himself alive. Again.

Any normal person would be either confused or become crazy in his predicament. Garuda was not normal nor was he even a regular person with a regular body. Garuda, was in fact, a giant walking machine of death who has cheated death twice now. The first being Durga ripping his brain out of his old dead body and placing it inside one of the factory model gargoyles they had back in Altambra but slightly altered with two death dealing drills. It took some months to get use to the body and have a "feel" for it but Garuda had managed to become on with the lumbering body of a machine. The only bad side to having a body of a walking tank was the fact he couldn't talk at all. So he had to deal with being mute for the rest of his life which didn't bothered him a whole lot but if your partnered with Durga who was more insane than an asylum for criminals then life pretty much sucked.

It wasn't like he was ungrateful for Durga giving him a start at life again. He knew when to pay his debts and to keep his end of the bargain. Durga wasn't THAT bad of a partner but he can be annoying for most of the time. Durga had a reputation for abandoning or using anything and anyone to make his goals but when he had Garuda for the first time, they hit it off pretty well. It was when that Durga had gotten through hell itself to bring back Garuda alive again that made them friends and partners for life. Garuda respected that and always stood by Durga's side through thick and tin, even if it costed them their lives. Which in his case at the present time, it did.

From what he could remember before he got to the forest he was in now, he was fighting against two BPS members with Durga. Durga was fighting against some pretty boy with huge blades on the forearms and knees and Garuda was fighting against an attractive Russian woman with long blonde hair. She managed to pierce through his thick carapace of steel with her Killer Weapon when he couldn't dodge from her swift attacks in the long run.

With the thought of being stabbed by millions of sharp icicles, Garuda ran his large metallic hands through his body and was surprised that there were no holes or any signs of damage at all. Satisfied with the results, Garuda began to walk through the forest hoping to find some answers as to where he is and how.

No matter how many times he thought he would be enveloped in the sweet embrace of death, Jesus would be ripped from its hold and be placed back into the psychotic reality that was and is madness. The Sierra Nevada was unforgiving to those that did not prove there mettle in the place of madness. Jesus wanted to end that madness even if it did mean the death of him. Again. Despite slaughtering over hundreds of the auditor's mindless minions, eliminating MAG agents, and destroying important equipment vital to his plans the auditor still somehow remained in perfect operation. When he had finally confronted the auditor though, he had managed to only end the madness through the auditor's computer and destroying the Improbability Drive. In his last moments, he had only seen a giant arc of light strike down both him and the auditor in the vicinity and presumably died then and there.

Unfortunately, the being known as the Higher Power would seem to be amused by both him and Hank's antics and trail of carnage and chaos they had made throughout the Sierra Nevada. This time though, Jesus did not find himself in a vast open desert but instead a forest with red leaves an a calm breeze with an open clear sky with the sun shining down upon the world brightly. Now Jesus would be confused as to why he was brought to a peaceful plane of existence such as forest but he knew very well that with him, the madness always follows.

Viewing the landscape around him, Jesus had managed to find three object lying down at his feet which consisted of his binary sword, his golden halo, and a note. He leaned down and grabbed his sword and halo. Placing his sword behind his back and his halo above his head, he then grabbed the note and looked over the words written on it:

Do with what comes natural

- H.P.

Jesus then proceeded to crumple the piece of paper in his hand and toss it behind him without any care and started walking through the forest. Only two things formed in his mind. One was finding out where he was and the other was finding out what to do. If the Higher Power wanted some form of entertainment then he will provide the entertainment but it will be on his own terms.

"I am the Savior and I am the End."

With a small groan of pain, Dante begrudgingly had started to awaken while feeling like his body was battered through hell and back, literally. Finally standing despite the annoying pain, he took in the sights around him and was shocked and bewildered. He was surrounded by trees with red leaves on the small tips of the branches and the sky was clear with light embracing the world all around him. Could this be heaven? Could this be the heaven he had been for fighting for them? For Beatrice? With the thought of Beatrice upon his mind, Dante examined his surroundings further and realized something terrifying; Beatrice was nowhere to be found.

He began to ran through the forest and gritted his teeth the pain that roared within his body but he refused to stop and rest. Not when Beatrice was missing and gone from him. "BEATRICE," he shouted, "BEATRICE, MY PRECIOUS, WHERE ARE YOU?"

He couldn't accept and he couldn't believe that the worse was happening to him again; Beatrice was torn away from him once more. With that on his mind, he stopped and fell on both of his knees and stayed in silence with only the rustling of leaves and the warm breeze making sounds. He pondered and wondered as to why this was happening to him. He will admit that he had done terrible and unholy actions that had branded him to be sent to hell but Beatrice did not deserve the punishment she had received. He had fought, killed, and survived through all of hell to reach her and to rescue her from the damnable clutches of Lucifer himself. Through his journey of hell, he had saved and absolved the souls he had encountered upon his travels. He had entrapped and sealed and Lucifer to his tomb with those souls which he had saved and was absolved into the blinding light of heaven.

But that is where the memory ends for him however. From hell to the new strange place where he is now, he had no idea where he is or how he had gotten here. Could it be the will of God to abandon him? Preposterous! God had not abandon him and he cursed himself for even thinking of such a thought. He did question though as to why he was here in the first place. This place was not hell at all with the lack of demonic creatures and brimstone with fire. It was not heaven either, it did not have a feeling of peace or calmness at all. Then there's the fact that Beatrice was not here with him at all. Wherever he was it was not good in the slightest for him and he needed to escape it now. Settling his mind down, he searched his body for anything unusual or strange but had found Beatrice's cross on his hip. He placed one his hands on his back and felt the spine of Death's Scythe which sent a small shiver down his own spine.

He had his two essential items with him so that meant something but he wasn't sure what it was. Maybe it was a test from God once more? To prove his right to heaven and to prove his worthiness to God himself maybe. With no certain answer or question in sight at all, he began walking forward with a purpose and that purpose was to be reunited with Beatrice, even if he had to go through hell once more.

"Beatrice," he whispered, grasping her cross in his hands close to his chest. "Please, wait for me. I will return to you once more, even if it means going back to the abysmal pits of hell once again."

"My god, my damn head hurts." Thomas muttered.

He slowly began to stand up despite the pain his head was having. Shaking his head slowly, the pain had gradually gone away and he was able to get his bearings. He checked his surroundings and was surprised to see himself into one place he would never suspect to be in at all. A forest with natural leaves that had different shades of red with sky above him being clear with no sight of any clouds and the sun shining light down upon him. He looked around once more cautious and nervous, looking for any sign of danger or peril. After a few minutes of being on high alert, he had slowly relaxed himself and made a deep sigh. He was unsure to where he was but he knew very well that he was not on Reach anymore. There was no sign of any battle around him or anything that suggested that there was conflict in the first place. He then began checking his personal equipment and displayed his HUD and found that his armor and jet-pack were fully operational. He was still cautious about his current situation and was worried as to him being in the forest in the first place was not something that was simply weird.

Nervously, he placed two of his fingers on the side of his head and started to clear his voice. "Hello," he asked, only receiving static through his communication device. " Is there anyone out there? This is Spartan THOM-A239, I have successfully destroyed the Covenant cruiser but I see no signs of any UNSC personnel at all."

He was nervous and downright fearful at his current predicament. Spartans weren't suppose to feel fear or any signs of nervousness or panic at all but when you realize that you were caught in a nuclear explosion in one instance and finding yourself in a forest with no other human contact the next second, you can't help but get a little nervous.

"Is there any UNSC personnel on this frequency, please respond." He asked again, all he received was static once more.

With a sigh of regret, he cursed himself and shut off his radio. He now knew he was nowhere close to UNSC communications which was bad and the fact that there was nothing remotely close to civilization in sight which was also bad. He looked around once more but found a Sniper Rifle S-99-AM next to an MA37 assault rifle which surprised him quite a lot. He walked over to the weapons and began examine them each for any faults or damage to the weapons. They were in perfect condition and each of them were full on ammo which was a good sign. Placing the sniper rifle on his back, he grasped the assault rifle in his hands tightly and began to walking forward into the forest. He had no idea where he was going but it was better than just waiting for something to happen and no matter what happened, he will find out the answers to his questions.