Chapter 9

SMASH

BASH

CRACK

"You assholes ain't so tough!"

It was barely a day already, and the legions have sent their minions out in full force. Bad was contending with underlings from the vampires who declared Ragnarok, or whatever in his mind. So far today he has beaten down six tiger threat monsters, four shape shifters, three demon like creatures and one really rabid wolf. Just recently he got some good batting practice in with the bats they just sent out. They lay dead on the streets as he sighed aloud to it all. "Sons of bitches aren't going to let up."

He turned to leave when he began to sense something. A moment of pause came over Bad as he peered to the alleyway. The pulse it gave out was one he couldn't mistaken, an elder vampire. "What do you want asshole?" he demanded. "You think I won't beat you down!" he warned.

The elder kept to the shadows, apparently the sun bothers him greatly, yet he merely smirked to Bad. "I am looking forward to making you my minion." He said with a twisted grin.

Bad laughed it off. "Keep dreaming asshole,"

"Oh? But you should know something… should Garou lose and you lose, not only are your lives forfeited, but all those connected to you as well. Rumor has it, you have a sweet little sister…"

Bad felt his anger spike. "You shut your face!" he warned. "Don't you DARE mention harming my sister in front of me… rest assured man, I'll kick your ass!"

The elder smirked. "Really? A Halfling such as yourself stands a chance against the likes of me? You don't know this, but I am not even the elder of one of the many covens you will be battling soon enough!" he said with a smirk.

Bad paused. "What do you mean?" he demanded.

"Garou, has signed a contract. We will do battle with the elders and their strongest men… however, the contract was very loose, Garou never specified how many an elder can bring with them to battle now did he?"

"Why the hell are you telling me this?" he demanded.

The vampire merely shrugged. "My own personal amusement perhaps? But also curious to see how well you will fight now, knowing this kind of pressure is on your shoulders. Would you rather die before the war, or will you fight a losing battle?" with that, the vampire vanished.

Bad sneered to it all as he was quick to take out his cellphone. "Garou… Bad… We got to talk… NOW!"

#

They met at the spar room of the Heroes Association.

Bad walked in and found Garou standing there with Flash and Pig God. "What the hell did you sign!" Bad demanded. "An elder confronted me today, stating he ain't the oldest one of his coven and yet, he's going to be fighting in this war. The bastard was older than you!"

Garou nodded. "That was terrible oversight on my part…" he muttered. "I just realized it now, the elders that confronted me… weren't the elders of the coven… they were fifth and sixth in command of it, mere messengers to say the least, but signed the contract on behalf of their elder."

"So, what does that mean?" Bad demanded. "What are we up against?"

"Ten covens," said Flash. "Each one has 100 underlings, ready for war such as this. Many of them come from the elder's blood themselves. We will be facing 10,000 of them."

Bad paused for a moment. "Considering the army we just smackdown a few weeks ago, that doesn't sound like a lot." He muttered.

"What we don't know is when they will call for the confrontation to take place." Pig God said. "If they call for war after you have taken the potion, you are in great danger. These elders are not to be under estimated, they are very capable, and some are stronger than Garou himself."

Bad turned to Garou who merely nodded his head. "I should have thought this through better."

"So… what do we do?" Bad asked. "I can't let them see me other than what I am right now. I can't control this… aura you guys keep yapping about."

"That so call aura you speak of is enough to send the vampires running for the hills to regroup and then come at us with everything they have!" protested Flash. "Sometimes I agree with Tatsumaki, you cannot be THIS dense to say the least."

Bad sneered at him. "Sorry, maybe you ought to try fighting off the Shadow King when he takes over your body!" he snapped back.

"Enough, both of you" scolded Pig God. "Bad, with me, we are going to train."

"Huh?" he said with disbelief. "Uh… no offense, I've never seen you train before. Let alone at all… or anything"

He felt a hard shove come from behind him, Garou pushed him forward and muttered. "How do you think he hides his own aura when he himself is a god?" he whispered.

"Oh…" Bad said in realization.

#

He watched as Garou and Flash walk out of the room, leaving Bad alone with Pig God. He approached him oddly, when he placed a single hand on Bad's shoulders. His stomach churned and he was suddenly ill! Bad threw up but it was nothing more than the potion he took! Clearing the bile from his lip he turned to Pig God who merely smiled. "Another talent I don't tend to show often. Now you can call upon your shadow powers." He explained.

Bad nodded meekly, he merely stood there but already his body began to let off wisps of black smoke. "Garou told me… what I was… What I became…" he said.

Pig God looked to him oddly. "Oh?" he asked with great curiosity. "And?"

Bad appeared nervous. "Soul eater… am… am I going to have to feed off of souls to survive?" he asked meekly. "If I do… I don't know if I would want to."

There came a smile on the face of the large S Class hero, he then chuckled aloud. "Even in darkness your heart shines the brightest Bad. You worry not about that. The Shadow King does consume shadows for his own power, however it is not necessary to survive. The ones you took, only cemented your standing as King of the Shadows, and allowing you passage into both the human and shadow world." He explained. "Impressively enough, you managed to take down the council before they could try and manipulate you. A smart move if I do say so."

"Pppff! Those assholes tried to pawn off the guys I was trapped with when the Shadow King tried to make me into his vessel or whatever. I got to talking with Jima and learned the situation through him. Like hell I would let those assholes take command of me or tell me what to do! They started this shit show to begin with!" he protested. "But still, what happens if I eat shadows? I mean, will it do something to me?"

Pig God appeared to think over the question. "It will depend on what you have consumed. Different shadows will do different things, but I doubt it would affect you much at all. You will grow stronger, certainly, your power will grow greater as well. Physical change… that I am not sure of. However, keep in mind. This has never happened before."

"Great… so… about this aura thing… how can you help me with this?" he asked.

The smile came back on his face. Pig God then said. "Let me show you something. Right now, I am hiding my aura. I am about to unleash it. This room is sealed off to the world, and will contain my power, I will only be showing you this just long enough for me to demonstrate. Pay attention."

Bad nodded as he watched Pig God's eyes closed. Suddenly, the room began to feel dense, very, very dense. Bad was brought to his knees as the air suddenly became thick, nearly unbreathable! The walls cracked a little, the ground as well! As quickly as it started, the room returned to normal. Bad gasped for air as he stared at the massive man before him who once more gave a meek smile.

"What… the… hell!"

"My aura. Yours has a similar effect, however you have yet to truly unleash it. You have some of it contained, but you need to ensure the rest is. It will prevent those from knowing your true strength who shouldn't be aware of it."

"Where do we start?" Bad demanded.