Big black shape,
with eyes of fire,
telling people,
their desire.
Satan sitting there.
He's smiling.
Watching those flames,
get higher and higher.
Oh, no, no, please God help me

"Black Sabbath"—Black Sabbath

The Red Scare

Chapter XI

At dawn, Stalin and Daniil boarded a train that would take them near Inugami Village. Once they arrived at the depot, they would ask directions. Unfortunately, Stalin and Daniil did not encounter the same luck that they had in Okinawa and Yokohama. The Japanese around the depot spoke only one language—their own. Eventually, Stalin and Daniil found an individual, who could speak Russian. But their search cost them an extra hour of time.


But Stalin and Daniil's diversion was a blessing for Yuri and his friends. The party had stayed up all night, and was now flying over Japan.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Yoshiko asked, while pacing.

"For the third time, no, it can't!" replied Roger.

Kurando touched Yoshiko's shoulders. "Try and relax, Princess."

"But…"

"My wife and children are there as well, but it won't do us any good to get so worked up."

Yuri nodded at Kurando, and turned to Roger. "Roger, how much longer do you think it'll take, before we reach Inugami?"

Roger looked at the floor, and rapped his fingers on the ship's wheel. "Within an hour, maybe less."

Yuri nodded. "Good."


Around eleven, Stalin and Daniil set foot on Inugami soil. Stalin observed the surroundings.

"Interesting," Stalin said, "this place looks a lot like one of the Russian villages I hid in, while I was escaping the Tsarist Government—with the exception that the homes look a lot different. But I wonder where all the people are? This place sure is quiet."

"They're possibly at work," Daniil answered. "Or they're all inside their homes."

"Yea," began Stalin, until something caught his eye.

Stalin noticed a young foreign woman in her early twenties, with two small children. The woman was none other than Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov. "I'll be damned," Stalin said, while he gestured Daniil to come closer.

"What is it?" Daniil asked, as he approached Stalin.

Stalin pointed. "Look over there."

Daniil gasped. "You don't think…"

"I certainly do!"

Stalin moved closer, and gestured Daniil to follow him.

Anastasia, who was busy with Nicky and Yuri, did not notice the approaching men—but her firstborn did.

"Mom, someone's coming."

Anastasia turned. She was surprised to see two foreigners. And at the same time, she was worried. Anastasia remembered what she saw in the holy mirror, and wondered if these two could be involved. She stood in front of her two children, acting as a shield, and said, "Can I help you?" in English.

Stalin smirked and replied in English, "Of course you can, Princess Anastasia."

Anastasia began to bite her lip, but she tried to maintain her composure. "Excuse me, but what did you call me?"

Stalin chuckled. "Quit trying to play dumb, Princess," he responded in Russian. "I know exactly who you are."

Anastasia quivered, but she also new that now was not the time to be afraid—now was the time to fight. Anastasia cold-cocked Stalin.

Although, Anastasia was not known as a strong puncher, her fist caught Stalin off guard. The Soviet dictator fell back, and landed into Daniil—knocking them both to the ground.

Anastasia snatched her crying sons, and charged into her house.

Once inside, Anastasia placed the boys before Alice, called for her brother, and grabbed her mystic egg.

"What is it?" asked Alice, while Alexei entered the room.

"What is it, Sis?"

"We've been found by someone. Alice, take the children out the backdoor, and to Saki's."

Blanca barked.

"Blanca," began Anastasia, "help guide Alice and the little ones to Saki's. Please look after them."

Again, Blanca barked. "I looked out for you, Yuri, and Yoshiko ten years ago. I may be old now, but I'll protect your children. I still have one good fight left in me!"

With his sister by his side, Alexei unsheathed his sword. And when Anastasia opened the front door, she encountered Stalin—who acted as though he was about to open it. Anastasia immediately threw her egg into Stalin's stomach. Again, the Soviet dictator fell back; and, again, onto Daniil. The two found themselves back on the ground.

Stalin groaned, when he returned to his feet—while he held his stomach. A battlefield had been made in Inugami Village, with the Romanovs on one side, and the communists on the other.

Stalin smirked at Alexei. "Well, if it isn't the heir to the throne." Stalin chuckled. "I hope you're better at swinging that sword, than your father was leading the Russian Army."

Alexei glared. "Who are you?"

Again, Stalin smirked. "It doesn't matter. Let's just say, I'm part of the Bolshevik Army."

"Looks like you might need some help," a voice said. The voice belonged to Yuri, and at that moment Yuri, Kurando, and Yoshiko appeared—while Roger left for Saki's home to seek help.

"Are the children all right?" asked Kurando.

"They're fine," Anastasia said, with her eyes still on Stalin. "They're with your mother, Blanca, and Alice. All of the children are, for the record."

"What the hell?" Stalin began. "I have no quarrels with any of you," he continued, while he pointed to Yuri, Kurando, and Yoshiko. "I just want them," he added, with a gesture to Anastasia and Alexei.

"Then you've got problems with us," Yuri said.

"Joe," Daniil began, as he stepped forward, "let me handle it from here."

"Joe?" responded Alexei.

Yoshiko nodded. "That's Josef Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union."

Anastasia gasped. "I'll be damned…! You're one of the people who killed my family!"

"Actually, he's not," continued Daniil, as he walked past Stalin. "Joe had nothing to do with that. I'm sure he would've liked to, but you see, he wasn't closely aligned with Lenin's inner circle."

Stalin glared. "The hell are you saying?!"

But Daniil ignored him. "Just like Lenin never wanted him to be his successor. You could say that Stalin here," Daniil gestured to Stalin—but did not look at him, "seized power with a coup. But hey, that's nothing new. Lots of famous people have seized power with a coup—Josef Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Alexander I, Catherine the Great, Elizabeth I…Aren't some of those people your relatives?" Daniil asked, while he gestured to the Romanovs.

"The fuck are you doing?!"

Again, Daniil ignored Stalin. "You'll have to forgive poor Joe, though. You see, he didn't have the balls," began Daniil, while gesturing to Stalin—but again, he did not look at him, "to stand up to his alcoholic father, so it made him something of a bully—hiding in the fear."

"Fear?!" Stalin shouted. "Are you calling me afraid?! Are you saying that I don't have any balls?! I've got balls the size of grapefruits!"

On that final sentence, Daniil turned around.

Yuri and his party watched the events in silence. Finally, Yuri said, "This is becoming pretty entertaining. I think we should just watch." Yuri sat in the lotus position.

The rest of the party nodded, and joined Yuri in that position.

Smoke was coming out of Stalin's ears. "Just who the fuck do you think you are, and whose side are you on?!"

Daniil smiled, while his voice remained calm. "You know who I am, Joe. I'm Daniil Zhdanov. As for whose side I'm on, I'm on the side of vengeance. You see, like many other Russian men, I was sent to fight in the Great War. I didn't like our involvement in the conflict, but what did I know? I was simply the grandchild of serfs. But when I saw how mismanaged the situation was, and when I went home on leave, I decided that I would not come back. Of course, the tsar didn't like that much, so he sent me to Siberia. You know about that place, don't you, Joe? Anyway, I've wanted my revenge since then. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to fulfill it."

Daniil turned back to Yuri and his party.

And Yuri and his party responded by standing up and preparing to fight.

But before Daniil could engage the party, Stalin grabbed his arm. "The hell do you think you're doing?! You're not going to do a fucking thing!"

After Stalin's final sentence, Daniil flared up. And with some invisible force, he knocked the Soviet dictator away.

The party gasped.

From the ground, Stalin groaned. But he was strong enough to remove a pistol from his coat and fire.

The bullet struck Daniil in the back, but he responded as though a mosquito had bitten him. Daniil turned, picked the Soviet dictator up by the throat, and threw him back five feet.

Stalin fell to the ground with a sickening thud. He was alive, but unconscious.

Daniil returned to the party. "I must apologize for Uncle Joe. He can be such a pain in the ass."

"So you're the one who made the soul pact with Dazbog?" Anastasia said.

Daniil was stunned. "I'm quite impressed. Perhaps I, much like Stalin did with me, foolishly underestimated you. After all, you did escape from Lenin's assassins, and that was no ordinary task. But yes, I made a soul pact with Dazbog, while I was in prison in Siberia."

"What do you want?" asked Yuri.

Daniil smirked. "Isn't it obvious."

"You got what you want. The tsar's dead. Your revenge is over."

Daniil placed his chin between his thumb and first finger. "Mm, yes, the tsar's dead, but his offspring live on. That can't happen."

"You're not going to harm anyone!" Alexei said, with a tight grip on his sword.

"You already saw what a bullet did to me. What makes you think that a sword will do any better?"

"You obviously don't know me," interjected Yuri.

"I guess obviously I don't."

"At one time I was known as 'Godslayer,' because, apparently, I slay gods. You may not be a god, just a demon in disguise, but I'm certain that I can slay you as well."

Daniil smirked. "You sound a little overconfident, don't you?"

Yuri returned the smirk. "So do you, if you think that just because you made a soul pact that you're somehow invincible."

Yuri's statement caught Daniil off guard, but he was not going to let him know that. "So are you going to fight me one-on-one, or do you need a little backup?" Daniil asked, while he gestured to the other members of the party.

Yuri maintained his smirk. "What do you think?"

The party behind Yuri nodded and prepared for battle.

"Then let your confidence lead all of you to your graves!"

As Yuri and his team prepared for battle, a groggy Josef Stalin—with blood descending from his mouth, pulled himself to an upright position. Stalin watched Daniil's body become encased with some type of red aura and said in a whisper, "The hell with this! I'm out of here!"

But while Josef Stalin was able to crawl away, Yuri and his party were not. Alexei struck first, but Daniil prepared to be protected by an invisible force. And Daniil swatted Alexei away.

"Alexei?!" shouted Anastasia, while she went to check on her younger brother. Alexei was all right, but he was a little shaken up.

Where Alexei failed, Kurando tried to succeed, but the results were the same.

Yuri smirked. "So that's how it is?" Yuri morphed into Amon, and attempted to break the barrier around Daniil. While the first of Amon was able to conquer Asmodeus, it was unable to conquer Dazbog. Daniil swatted Amon away, who un-morphed back to Yuri.

"Poor, poor, Amon," began Daniil. "That was his best attack, and not even he could break my shield. That was your best bet to beat me, wasn't it? Too bad, but now it's—aww!"

A powerful ray of light descended from the heavens that brought Daniil down to a knee.

Yuri turned to see his wife in prayer. "Alice?"

Alice opened her eyes, but her hands were still in prayer. "Yuri, God is with us. Now is the time to strike!"

Yuri nodded, and attacked Daniil with numerous punches and kicks. The blows rocked Daniil, but he was not finished. Daniil punched Yuri away, and dodged the swords of Kurando and Alexei. With his free hands, Daniil grabbed the samurai and the former tsarevich, and tossed them away; but Daniil was unable to dodge a bullet to the chest.

Daniil groaned, and glared at Yoshiko—while she held her smoking gun. "You bitch!"

Yoshiko prepared to fire around round, as a wounded Daniil marched towards her. But Yoshiko's trigger was silent. What was not silent was another blast from the heavens, courtesy of Alice and Anastasia's prayers to God.

Daniil roared, as he fell to his knees. But his roaring was silenced, when a stiff kick from Yuri jerked his neck backwards—and his breathing ceased, after Kurando impaled his katana through his throat.

From his knees, a bloody Alexei crossed himself and looked to the heavens. "Thank you, Lord…And thank you, Mother, Father, Olga, Tatiana, and Marie for praying for us."