And we are back again with Chapter 3 of Hellish Multiverse! Despite the fact that I'm still not getting many views or follows on this fanfic I'm not abandoning it like I did Age of Vetrix. I'ma continue the write out the story for y'all though this story' and Devils and Dragons' next chapters may take longer to release due to the fact that I have exams next week
But enough about that enjoy the chapter!
(Prologue)Chapter 3: A Cruel Fantasy
"To die while in the rapture of a dream. A blessing indeed" A pale man clad in a dress shirt and striped pants said. He was standing on top of the train with Forbidden 5 member Dracul sitting down next to him
Dracul merely ignored the man's sadistic ramblings and got down to business. "Your certain those dreams are strong enough to hold them Enmu?"
"Mmmm~. It doesn't matter how powerful those demon slayers or resistance members are. The spark that drives those beings comes from the heart" Enmu began to monologue as his hand returned and reattached itself to his arm
"Their spirit...all you have to do is stamp out their spiritual core. You can kill them just like that. All human hearts work in the same fashion" Enmu exclaimed dramatically before he looked back at Dracul. "Like delicate glasswork. They are so pitifully fragile and weak
Dracul merely raised an eyebrow at how weird Enmu was. "That's one thing we agree on. The human soul is weak, sentimental, foolish" She said. "Stuff like that will only get you killed in the natural order. We Forbidden 5 have embraced that to the fullest"
Dracul then stood up. Enmu noticed this and turned towards her. "And what do you think you're doing?"
"Leaving. You're a Lower Moon correct? Along with my disciples, you should be able to finish them all easily. I'm going to search for the possible key here in this world" Dracul said before she disappeared in a pool of blood
Samael could not help but tear up when he saw the man across the field from him. They were similar in looks and appearance. The only difference was that this man's hair was black, his skin was darker, and his eyes were blue
"M-Mael?" Samael blubbered as full-on tears rushed from his eyes
"Oh is something wrong Samael? Why are you crying?" Mael tilted his head
Samael then rushed towards his brother and tackled him with a hug. He buried his face in Mael's shoulder as he wept uncontrollably
"Samael..." Mael was truly confused as to why his younger brother was crying but returned his hug anyways. "It's ok...I'm here..."
Back at the royal palace Samael and Mael sat on the perch on one of the castles. Samael had calmed down and probably had one of his biggest smiles ever. "Has Luna been causing trouble for you Samael?"
"Yes. She's a stubborn, vulgar, brute who threatens everyone every damn second. Can't exactly stand her" Samael spat as he turned away
Mael only chuckled at this. "Well, that's just how Luna is. Can't exactly change that. She did have a rough life". The dark-haired man then turned towards Samael. "On the bright side, I heard you managed to join the resistance. You cannot believe how proud I am of you little brother"
Samael's eyes slightly widened at that. 'How does he know...' He thought to himself but then he discarded it. "Thank you. I worked very hard to get here" Samael smiled
Mael then stood up and left the perch. "Wait Mael...leaving already?" Samael asked
"Sorry brother but Celestia did have a mission for me and Luna. I have to take the chance to help anyone in this time of crisis" Mael said sending him an apologetic smile before he turned to leave
"Wait!" Samael left the porch and grabbed Mael's shoulder causing him to turn. "...Can I come with you?"
Mael then placed his hand on Samael's cheek. "Maybe next time brother. For now rest, please. I promise I'll be back" Mael told him
Samael reluctantly nodded before Mael nodded and left
With Mael gone Samael returned to his room in the castle quarters and he noticed the pentagram on the floor. That's when he started crying with a crazy smile.
"Who am I kidding...this is all a sick fantasy...Mael is long gone..."
Outside of the dream world and back in the train just like Samael, Kyojuro and the others were trapped in their own dreams
Then the four teenagers entered the car followed by a man with dark-purple hair, jagged teeth, and a triangle beard
"Damu make sure to hurry up and get this done. Lady Dracul wants those resistance pests eliminated quickly"
"Orochi learn to be impatient and have some more faith," Dark Disciple Damu said. "Don't worry I have a handle on it"
"You better. You all better succeed. Or it's our heads" Orochi said before slamming the car door shut
Damu simply rolled his eyes before he turned towards the teenagers. "Alright kids do your thing," Damu said
They all nodded before they separated and approached Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Kyojuro they carefully connected a rope to their wrists before they began to count upwards and entered the dream world
Damu merely shook his head at how these kids were so easily manipulated. He then touched Samael, Leyla, Dante, and Cyrus' heads before closing his eyes. "I'll drag you all down into your worst nightmare"
Down in what seems to be an underground fight club Dante and Cyrus just walked through the central gates
"Have we been here before?" Dante said with his smile still eerily intact
Cyrus didn't answer as he had a large frown upon seeing this place. "This was where we were raised idiot" Cyrus snapped at him before he looked at what was supposed to be the ring. When they walked further inside they noticed the place was empty. It most likely wasn't open yet
"I expected the place to be more lively," Dante said as he zipped around full of curiosity
"Oh you kids are up early" Dante and Cyrus turned to see a darker blonde woman who looked to be in her 40s walk up to them
"Hi Auntie," They both said with Dante full of cheer while Cyrus was full of annoyance
"Ever so cheerful and blunt. Complete opposites" Their auntie chuckled. "Your older now you don't have to keep calling me auntie"
"But who the hell wants to be called Sunny?" Cyrus said bluntly
Sunny merely rolled her eyes at that. "You boys better be prepared for your fights this coming evening. Remember what I taught you"
"Beat your opponents before they beat you, fight and survive for you, yeah yeah whatever" Cyrus waved her off as Dante was jumping in place at the excitement of upcoming fights
Meanwhile, in Leyla's dream, she was in some sort of village standing in front of a Japanese-style palace. Though from the look on her face she didn't seem excited to be here.
"Here goes…" She steeled herself before she entered the palace. In the front room was an elegant woman dressed in a natural jade kimono and was wearing a bit of makeup.
"Leyla dear. Surprised to see you home so soon" The woman said as she turned around
"Good evening mother" Leyla said with a bit of disdain
Leyla's mother raised an eyebrow at her hostility but didn't say anything about it. She merely motioned for her to follow her to her quarters
When the two of them were alone Leyla's Mother broke the silence between them. "How is your life now with those brutes?"
"They're not brutes mother. Their my dearest friends and comrades in arms" Leyla replied
"Yes, but before they joined the resistance they were brutes, convicts, freaks. I even heard that one of them was a killer before. And now you expect me to believe that just because they joined the resistance they changed their ways all of a sudden?" She said with a head-turn
"You only say that because you've never met them before" Leyla fired back
Leyla's Mother then held a hand up to shut her up. "That's enough about your friends. Let's now focus on you. How's your aura manipulation coming?"
Leyla's eyes slightly widened a bit as she looked down in shame. "I can only make small weapons and heal"
The only thing that could be heard now was the impact of a slap
Outside of everyone's dreams, Dark Disciple Damu had gotten to work, infiltrating the resistance group's dreams and manipulating them into nightmares, traumatic experiences of their past lives. If this went their mental psyche will shatter and they'll be braindead
When Samael opened his eyes again he found himself inside of a dark altar as people around him were awing something. When he turned he noticed four pitch-black beings have made their presence known. One had a more muscular physique, one had more furry wings than most devils, one had a more thin physique and its arms were practically bursting energy, and the last one was covered in dark plating almost like armor
'Devils?!' Samael gasped internally as he stood upland then noticed someone next to him. 'Big brother? Wait is this...no…'
Leyla woke up to the sound of screams from outside of her room. When she ran up to the window she was granted the sight of devils ravaging her hometown murdering civilians and toppling houses
"W-what...what is happening…?" Leyla said in horror before the building began to shake. She grabbed her shoes and went running out of her quarters but when she slid open the door...she was greeted by the sight of a devil staring into her soul
Dante and Cyrus were on the ground staring at a devil, in the middle of the ring, in fear as he was holding Auntie Sunny by the neck. Several bodies of underground fighters were laid around them. Suddenly something screamed in their heads
"WAKE UP!"
"YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP DUMBASSES!"
"I'm hallucinating did I hear that right what is going on-" Cyrus put a hand over Dante's mouth to shut him up. "No idiot I heard it too" Cyrus sighed in exhaustion as he looked at his hands. "I'm sensing another aura signature and it's not from the devil or Auntie Sunny. So the fact that that was screamed in our heads should make this pretty clear. This is a dream more or less a nightmare that someone has cast on us. We could try and find our way out right now but I'm pretty sure that devil isn't going to let us leave"
Dante nodded in understanding before his smile reached a whole new level of crazy. "Fair. Though I wasn't planning on leaving anyways…" He grinned as he held his hand out
Cyrus stared at it for a sec before he grabbed Dante's hand and activated his Lightning Bolt ability. "Me neither. Where's the fun in that?"
Dante's entire body then started to glow as lighting surged through it. Dante's ability Lightning Rod allows him to absorb electricity to increase his speed to drastic levels. When you add that to his insane strength for a 16-year-old and Cyrus' unmatched speed and durability together they are a force to be reckoned with
"We'll kill you and get the heck out of here! We may have failed to protect our family...but now we have a new family and we refuse to make the same mistake twice!"
Sunny could help but cry at this sight. She gave the boys a motherly smile as they charged for the devil holding her. 'That's my boys. Even if I may die you have found somebody else to care for. A whole family to care for. Fight. Survive not just for me now. For yourselves and for your newfound friends'
The electrical aura Dante and Cyrus were expelling as they clashed with the devil was actually interfering with the nightmare Damu was creating as his mental lock with their minds was starting to break
"No! Damn it what the hell are they doing in there! They shouldn't be able to break through my devil-powered ability!" Damu said in defiance as he tried to up the aura he was using but it was no use. He had already used so much from producing nightmares for not only Dante and Cyrus but Leyla and Samael as well. Soon enough the massive aura output was too much and Damu lost his connection to their dreams
"Shit!" Damu said exclaimed but before he could get back up he was treated to a punch to the face
"Who the hell did that?!" He yelled only to see a tiny girl with a pink kimono and a bamboo gag growing big. She looked livid as well
"Who the hell are you?!" Damu yelled
Dark Disciple Orochi then burst into the train car. "Damu what happened?!" Orochi said until he noticed the girl
"A kid? No matter I'll-" Orochi couldn't say anything else as he was greeted by a sledgehammer to the face courtesy of Dante. The force was enough to cause them to crash into the next car
"Orochi-" Damu couldn't say anything else as well since he was blasted with a million volts of electricity courtesy of Cyrus. The two had broken free from not just the nightmare but the whole dream in its entirety
"So you caused that crap. I don't like living in the past so don't make me experience that again" Cyrus spat at him before he turned around and noticed the girl. "What the? When did you get here?"
The girl merely stared at Cyrus in curiosity though Cyrus didn't share that sentiment
"Wait gag in the mouth can't talk. I'm dumb" Cyrus facepalmed
Cyrus then almost jumped at the sound of Tanjiro screaming as he woke up from his dream. "Yo Tanjiro you alright man?"
Tanjiro didn't respond as he took a moment to grab his neck to see if the wound is still there. "I'm alive…". Tanjiro then turned towards Cyrus. "Yes I'm fine. Don't worry Cyrus"
"Cool. Do you know who she is?" Cyrus pointed at the girl who had walked over to Tanjiro to see if he was alright
Tanjiro looked and immediately recognized who she was. "Nezuko?! Are you alright?!" He exclaimed
"Wait a god damn minute THAT'S your sister?!" Cyrus also exclaimed in shock
Nezuko just backed up and put a hand on her forehead signaling that her wound had healed
Tanjiro sighed in relief. "I'm so glad…" He smiled before noticing the condition of the others. "Inosuke, Zenitsu, Mr. Rengoku…"
"Leyla and Samael too" Cyrus analyzed his friend's current states. "Wait who the heck are those people. And why are they tied to your friends?"
Tanjiro noticed this and looked at his wrist. "My rope's been burnt off...wait but this scent…" Tanjiro sniffed the rope before he realized something and grabbed his ticket, sniffing that as well
"What's up?" Cyrus said confused since he isn't really used to Tanjiro's advanced sense of smell
"The scent of a demon… it's the same on the rope and the ticket!" Tanjiro said
"I get it...we must've been put to sleep when they were punched" Cyrus realized
"But using a strong blood demon art with this discreet of a smell?" Tanjiro said
"Must be a strong demon like mid-rank devil" Cyrus compared the two. "But now that we know what caused this". Cyrus then turned around towards his comrades. "We should sever the ropes and free the others"
"Wait no. Leave it alone. We don't know what could happen if we sever them" Tanjiro said. "However…" The boy then turned towards Nezuko. "Nezuko. Can you burn the other ropes?"
Nezuko nodded and went to work burning the ropes tied to Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Kyojuro
"How's she doing that?" Cyrus asked
"It's her Blood Demon Art. She can ignite her blood" Tanjiro explained
'Huh a pyrokinetic power like Akuma and Aidan's' Cyrus thought with a bit of intrigue
Tanjiro was about to go and wake up Zenitsu but then he noticed the recently barbecued Dark Disciple. "Who is that?"
Cyrus took a moment to get a good look at the man but when he recognized who he was he scowled. "Shit it's a Dark Disciple. Humans who have minor contracts with Forbidden 5 members to obtain partial devil power. They must've infiltrated the train" Cyrus cursed
"W-what…" Tanjiro and Nezuko eyes widened in shock and disbelief. 'How can a human sink that low…'
"There are probably more on the train and most likely they've allied with the demon that put most of us to sleep. Dante's awake too by the way" Cyrus deduced
"Ok then so Leyla, Zenitsu, Inosuke, Mr. Samael, and Mr. Rengoku are still asleep while you and Dante are awake. Plus we have to fight partial devils and the demon that put us to sleep" Tanjiro said as he began to think
"Alright, Cyrus can you come with me to slay the demon? I may need your help. And Nezuko I'm going to leave you here with Dante. I want you to try and wake up our friends while protecting the passengers. Can you do that?" Tanjiro asked
"Yeah" Cyrus nodded and Nezuko nodded in response
"Yo Dante me and Cyrus are going to slay the demon! Think you can handle things here with Nezuko?!" Cyrus called out to his twin brother
"Who do you think you're talking to? Just don't hog all the fun by the time I get there!" Dante snarkily replied
"Alright then let's-" Tanjiro had to quickly sidestep to avoid the girl, That went into Rengoku's dream, slashing at him with a needle
"The hell are you doing?!" Cyrus stood beside Tanjiro
"Are you under the control of a demon?" Tanjiro questioned
"Your all interfering! Now that you people are here we won't get any happy dreams!" The girl said in panicked fury
"Happy dreams?" Cyrus repeated as the other teenagers began to wake up and stand beside the girl
"Maybe they aren't being controlled," Tanjiro said
"What are you doing?! Get off your ass and help us out!" The girl yelled at the last teenager who had been in Tanjiro's dream. "I don't care if you have tuberculosis. If you don't do your job I'll go tell him! And then you won't have any happy dreams!"
Tanjiro and Cyrus just gazed at the boy in shock as he slowly stood up with tears in his eyes
'Ok, that is just wrong…' Cyrus couldn't help but feel bad for these poor people
'Was he connected to my dream? He has tuberculosis...how awful' Tanjiro thought
Then with their fists clenched Tanjiro and Cyrus began to think the same thing
'It's unforgivable...taking advantage of people like this'
Then Tanjiro spoke up. "I'm sorry. But we have no choice but to fight back"
"Nothing personal guys…" Cyrus added before the two boys rushed forward and quickly chopped the 1st boy and the 2nd girl in the back of the neck
The 1st girl was panicking even more now. Then with a distraught scream, she rushed forward and tried to stab Tanjiro only for him to sidestep again and chop her in the back of the neck
"You just wanted to have a happy dream...I know...Cause I wanted one too…" Tanjiro said softly
'So did I...' Cyrus thought as he looked away. Though he wouldn't admit it openly, he can't help but wonder about a life where he and Dante weren't so battle-crazed. Where the two of them and Auntie Sunny could leave a peaceful life and not get dragged into that underground fighting ring.
Cyrus then looked towards the boy with tuberculosis. "You alright?" He asked surprisingly comfortingly as Tanjiro looked towards the boy as well
"I am now" He sniffed before he gave them both a smile. "Both of you. Be careful"
Tanjiro smiled at this and nodded. "Thanks"
Cyrus grew a cocky smirk at this before it changed to serious again. "Tanjiro we should get moving if want to end this madness"
"Oh right!" Tanjiro nodded before he and Cyrus rushed off and exited the car. Tanjiro nearly gagged when they were outside
"Dude, what's wrong?" Cyrus asked seeing Tanjiro in this state
"It's the demon…" Tanjiro replied as he looked around. "The scent is stronger now"
"Then we must be close…" Cyrus looked around before he pointed towards the top of the train. "Up there come on!" Cyrus climbed up onto the top of the train and extended a hand towards Tanjiro to which the boy gladly took
Cyrus then helped him up on top of the train. "Older brothers stick together you know?" Cyrus said with a rare smile
Tanjiro gave his own smile and quickly nodded. "Of course. We can do this".
Tanjiro and Cyrus then ran across the top of the train before they noticed the demon responsible standing at the very end.
"What's this? Your both awake already? Well, then good morning" Enmu turned towards them. "What a shame you could have stayed dreaming forever" He smiled as a mouth grew on his left hand
"He's the one behind this" Tanjiro said
"Why are you two awake exactly? Did I not show you dreams tailored to your every desire? If I had so wished it I could have made it a dream where your loved ones were being slaughtered. Would you have liked that one better?"
Tanjiro and Cyrus were getting angrier and angrier the more Enmu spouted about their past lives
"Oh here's a good one. A dream where your dear old mom, Cyrus and Dante's mom, and dad, Tanjiro's dad, come back to life
"Like I told that disciple douche I don't like living in the past. Though the fact that your dream was meant to remind me of that shit pisses me off" Cyrus's body was now lighting up yellow with electricity as he sported a maniacal grin. "Dante's gonna have to suck it up. Cause when I'm done with you there won't be anything left!"
At the same time, Tanjiro unsheathed his sword as water began to surround him. "Intruding on one's soul is something I won't allow. This trespassing of yours will not stand!"
"I see that electricity doesn't come from a breathing art. Your one of those resistance brats Dracul was talking about" Enmu said before he looked closer and noticed the earrings Tanjiro's wearing. "Ah, wonderful! What good fortune! Like a moth to flame, he came right to me! Could this be a dream? Now I can receive an even bigger helping of Master Muzan's blood! Once I do I can become stronger and Challenge an Upper Rank to a duel. Then I can usurp their place"
"Water Breathing Tenth Form: Constant Flux!"
The water began to swirl around Tanjiro before it formed into the shape of a green-eyed dragon behind him
"Aura Charge" Cyrus began to build up the resident aura in his body to charge it up even more
"Blood Demon Art!" Enmu then pointed his left hand at Tanjiro and Cyrus
The two of them then charged straight an Enmu
"Whispers of-huh?" Enmu's face switched to that of panic as he barely managed to dodge an attack towards his torso courtesy of Cyrus
'He was so fast! I barely saw him move!' Enmu thought in a panic as Tanjiro then came flying in slashing down towards Enmu who jumped back only to be kicked in the back by Cyrus who then grabbed him by the face and smashed him into the roof of the train
"Go to sleep Dear Child" Enmu chanted activating his Blood Demon Art which successfully hit Cyrus.
"Damn it…" Cyrus stumbled back fighting the urge to fall asleep
"Cyrus!" Tanjiro called out to him. "You have to kill yourself in your dream! That's the only way you'll wake up!"
When Cyrus opened his eyes again he found himself in the dream world. "Kill myself? How the heck am I gonna do that wait I have an idea". Charging up his hand with electricity Cyrus then stabbed his hand through his chest into his heart, killing himself
He then found himself in the real world as Tanjiro was transitioning from falling asleep and waking up. From the look on Enmu's face, he was not liking it. Not one bit
Cyrus quickly charged his body up again though he tensed when Tanjiro screamed
"DON'T PUT WORDS IN THE MOUTHS OF MY FAMILY! THEY WOULD NEVER SAY THAT!". Tanjiro then jumped in the air as all the water circulated his blade. "YOUR VISION INSULTS THEIR MEMORIES!"
Panicked, Enmu raised his hand ready to put Tanjiro to sleep again but something stopped him. Cyrus shot forward and shoved his arm straight through the demon's chest. "Boo"
Wide-open now, Tanjiro brought his sword down on Enmu's neck cutting straight through it and beheading him
"Wait a minute...that was too easy" Tanjiro said
"Yeah...ain't these demons supposed to disappear once they're beheaded because he's not disappearing," Cyrus said
"Maybe we're in a dream…" Tanjiro said
"I understand now...I understand why the master ordered me to have you all disposed of…" Enmu muttered.
"Disposed with the Hashira! It's the very nature of your existence" Enmu exclaimed as guts and insides began to form on the train before they created a large amount of mass. At the end of the gut mound as Enmu's head "Your like a gaping, blistering sore on one's heel"
"Yo, what the fuck?!" Cyrus reeled back in disgust while Tanjiro's eyes widened in shock. "Why is he not dead?!"
"Such glorious expressions on your faces. Ones I have been longing to see" Enmu laughed cheekily. "I see you're both wondering why I'm still alive. Well, I'll tell you since I'm feeling so ecstatic. I'll try and use and use small words so you actually understand me" Enmu taunted making Cyrus grow a comical tick mark over his head
"What you two had just killed wasn't my actual body. The same could be said by what you see before you. It may look like my head but that is not the case. While you were all sleeping like babies, I fused my being with this entire train!"
"You did what?!" Cyrus couldn't help but be shocked while Tanjiro couldn't believe what he was hearing
"The train has become my body. My flesh right down to my very bones" Enmu giggled. "The looks in your eyes. Your starting to understand. All of the passengers, or should I say hostages riding on this train will soon be part of my body. Do you both think you can protect them from me and the devils?"
"Devils?! Damn you!" Cyrus and Tanjiro charged at Enmu though he disappeared in the train
Cyrus then felt the malicious aura of the devils all over the train. "Shit devil auras, creepy bastard wasn't joking!"
"Damn it...what do we do…" Tanjiro said
"Only thing we can do now, that devils are invading the train" Cyrus said as his hand sparked with electricity
"Fight"
And there we go that's the end of Chapter 3. I hope I did well enough to provide y'all with a glimpse of Team 1's backstories. Samael's and Leyla's backstories will be covered in later chapters but for now I wanted to focus on Cyrus and Dante in this chapter since it was the Kamado siblings that started the action so I did an older sibling and younger sibling teamup somewhat.
Alright then make sure to leave a follow, favorite, and review. And tune in for the next chapter because when we come back things go from bad to worse as Enmu raises the stakes for our heroes now that devils have invaded the train. Even if they're friends eventually wake up, how will they fare against this massive supernatural threat?
Until then, Blueheartz out