1 year, 1 day, 4 hours, 47 minutes and 32 seconds.

That was how much time since he last saw her. It's has become a habit for him to count the time spent without her since he first woke up in the Nuristan Forest. Ever since, this habit of his is the only thing keeping him alive. For every second added to his count, he is reminded of who he swore to protect. He is reminded of where he belongs and he prays that one day his count would finally end but it looks like that day would have to wait.

Now that he thought back to the first second of his count, he couldn't stop the smile from forming at his face.

I'm alive!

Those ridiculous two words were his first thought of his second chance at only gets even worse when he wondered if heaven was a jungle and monkeys are actually angels. He even tried kicking a tree with all his might that was probably 5 feet thick and 30 feet tall but that was when he noticed something strange which was seriously a serious understatement for what happened next.

Instead of feeling intense pain that would confirm his existence in the living, his feet shattered the trunk into a million splinters of wood. The result was what a lumberjack would normally call out TIMBER !

Normally, a lumberjack would have run away from such a sight.

After his destruction of the world's natural habitats for biological organisms, he looked down at his feet with an expression of utter terror as his feet had a mind of its own and he was its next victim to be pulverized. It was then that he noticed his reflection on a small puddle of water beside his incredibly powerful foot. What he saw staring back at him was even a bigger surprise than the foot. For a lack of better term, he looked freaking awesome!

For him to have narcissism is an event equivalent to an omen before Armageddon. Instead of the usual chocolate brown, his hair shone like platinum under the sun. He looked taller and stronger as if his muscles and bones had just grown overnight. Even his skin looked perfect except for the scars that still remained. Not even a state-of-the-art steroid could do this. He also noticed that he looked more mature. But his awesomeness was short-lived when his body literally changed back into the normal him right before his eyes and that was the last straw for his sanity. The last thing he thought before his vision faded into blackness was…

Heaven is a crazy place.

By the time he woke up, night has fallen. But surprisingly, his eyes adjusted instantly to the thick darkness that covered the jungle as if his vision during the day or night had no differences. With his enhanced vision, the first thing he saw was the destroyed 30 feet tall, 5 feet thick tree.

I wasn't dreaming I'm really alive. I really did destroy that tree with just a kick! I have superhuman strength and, incredible looks that fades away over time. Why does that ring a bell? I have to find Moka-san and the others but how to I get to the monster realm?

With no answers to the countless questions that roamed his mind, he got up and started walking but to where, he doesn't know. For days he wandered the jungle, surviving on what he can find. He did encountered predators looking for a nice meal but whenever he got ready for battle, his incredible looks returned with a blast of immense youki that was more than enough to scare off any would be predators. That was when he realized that he looked more like a vampire but the strange thing is, unlike a vampire he isn't affected by water and he doesn't really crave blood.

So, if I'm not a vampire and I'm certainly not a human, what am I?

With another question added to his mind, his let out a heavy sigh and continued wandering. It was after a few more days when he wandered into a valley of hills did he heard a desperately cry for help and that led him to Gwen. He hated killing or even fighting but when he saw what those men were doing to a defenseless woman. He just snapped.

When Gwen's father offered him a job in the military, his first reaction was to decline but then, he thought that if the military allowed him to travel the world, there's a chance he could find a portal that leads to the monster realm. Besides, he didn't have any other things to do and this seemed his only lead back to the academy. After making up his mind, he accepted the job.

He remembered his first kill with the use of a gun. The unfortunate rebel was shot through the head, killing him instantly, but that soldier wasn't the last to die that way. In fact, every enemy he shot was killed instantly and painlessly. It was the least he could do for them. Besides teaching him the art of killing your enemy, the U.S military taught Red that all who possesses great power has a responsibility to use that power correctly and to protect those who are defenseless. With his inhuman speed and strength though limited so as to not raise suspicion among his comrades, he rose rapidly to the position of a captain.

Which lands me right here, in the midst of a dessert, preparing for yet another mission and with no luck whatsoever in finding a portal or even a youkai.

As usual, the base was busting with activity during a mission. Marines checked and rechecked their equipment with a robot-like movement as this was their norm. There were also combat engineers fretting around the M1A2 main battle tanks and combat vehicles like how a mother frets over her children. All who came into contact with Red either saluted him or greeted him respectively which he returned with a genuine smile. Taking all of this into stride, Red was amazed at how quickly he got used to this life. Soon enough, the briefing area which was more like a large tent that consists of a few chairs and a projector that faced a rectangular white board came into sight. His commander and his four-man team including him were already waiting for him.

"Glad of you to join us Red, we were almost going to start without you. Go grab a seat." The man that greeted or more like ordered Red in that deep, no-nonsense, commander-like tone was obviously his commander, John Sanford. The man is an African American who served in the U.S army for more than ten years. His decisive victories and quick thinking during combat against his enemies quickly promoted him to the rank of Colonel. His authority and power is represented by a silver shield protecting the chest of a silver eagle with its wings spread out and in its mighty claws each clutching a quiver or arrows and an olive branch. The colonel has a square and very rock-like face. He is also very muscular from the constant hellish training and battles he went through and Red has no doubt that the colonel could snap any human's neck if he wished to. Although the colonel always has a serious expression and is very strict towards his subordinates, he does gives a tiny smile and is more kind towards Red, probably because Red is the only one who smiles at him genuinely and cheerfully whenever he sees the colonel, not that he doesn't gives the same treatment to anyone he meets.

"Yes sir!" came the firm and precise reply of Red added with his usual smile.

"I bet it's only Gwen keeping our dear captain late sir. Did she finally manage to get you laid?" A few laughter and chuckles could be heard around the briefing area which that cocky and mischievous voice that belonged to none other than Lieutenant James Jackson caused. He was the one who commented on Red's love life before.

"Hush James, our captain is merely taking his sweet time before he pounces on Gwen."

"I doubt that brother. Everyone in the army knows Red is completely clueless when it comes to the ladies."

More laughter erupted. The two men who spoke had the same deep and powerful voice of nobles. Not only do they sound alike, they also look alike. They have the same spiky golden hair and mysterious purple eyes that was set in incredibly handsome faces. They were tall and built like a sprinter with lean muscles like a cheetah. Least to say, they are twins. The first time Red met them, he thought they were vampires. That time was during a stormy winter blizzard in the mountains of Romania where he was the only one sent on a mission. The military received strict orders to escort VVVIPs from Romania to America and Red who suspected a portal being at Romania immediately accepted the job. Gwen of course objected fiercely with his decision but he went anyway. When he arrived, he was lead by armed men in thick fur coats to a huge castle that sat on the peak of a mountain. That was when he first met the royal twins of Romania, Alexander and Dmitri Romanov which he was to escort. The twins intimated him with their height and piercing eyes that were trained on him as if he were a bug they were studying with a magnifying glass. Sad to say, he didn't found any portals or youkai. Upon their safe and quiet arrival to America, the twins requested that Red take them to the military. The next thing he knew, the twins became the newest addition to his team with just a phone call. How they did that, he doesn't even want to know. Soon, following their numerous battles fought together, the twins demonstrated their skill in perfect cooperation with each other to take out the enemy. They also excel in assassination. In time, Red and the twins got to know each other and became friends but Red just couldn't put down the feeling that there was more to them than meets the eye.

"Settle down marines. We've got a job." The shuffle of chairs followed by silence indicated that the colonel's order was obeyed. A few types on the laptop beside the white board by the colonel brought the projector to life as it showed satellite footage of a map. The map consists of a low, rocky hill situated among dunes of infinite desert sand. There were a few holes on the hills that looked like the entrance of a cave. Another few clicks on the laptop brought up a big red arrow that showed a path towards one hole and split off into another arrow that showed another path to the nearest hole until all paths to all holes on the hill were shown.

"Reports from aerial footage indicate that these holes which are caves in case you bird heads haven't figured out might be where the Al-Fusan rebels are keeping their supplies." A few clicks showed another aerial footage of men carrying weapons from the base of the hill towards one of the caves.

"The hill is five clicks away from here. Mission is to search and destroy all enemy personnel and equipment in the area. Secure any enemy intelligence found. This mission is classified and you'll have no air or ground support. Blackhawks will provide transport but that's all you sorry asses will get. If we take out their supplies, we can end this war before the end of this month and go home. We leave immediately. Questions?"

Not a hand was raised.

"Good. Saddle up, we've got a war to win. Oorah?"

"OORAH!"

As Red and his team carried their equipment to the roaring Blackhawks, he noticed someone's gaze was upon him. He turned around and met the blue eyes of Gwen. She was standing near one of the tents that served as a cafeteria for hungry marines with a worried and panic look. Her eyes silently begged him to stay with her. Usually she was worried about him whenever he went on a mission that didn't have air support but this time was different as if she knew something terrible was going to happen but couldn't explain it. As Red looked into those blue eyes that was filled with deep love for him, he gave her a big toothy grin and waved back at her to assure her everything was going to be alright but when the chopper lift him and his team away from the ground and into the limitless sky, he too felt an uneasiness in his heart.