In a small clearing in the woods beyond the park, a gathering was commencing. The shadows moved restlessly as a figure leapt nimbly onto a boulder set conveniently in the center. The figure looked around at the gathered creatures and then began to speak.
"My servants. You have come here at my bidding to grab a prize that is very close to being ours."
The creatures looked to one another in puzzlement.
"I speak of the Dark Lord Satan."
A spark of interest began among them and they began to listen more carefully.
"Even now this awesome power hides himself within the pathetic human city of Tokyo. I know where and I know who protects him. The one that calls himself Devilman," the demons began to growl menacingly, "unknowingly protects the cause of his destruction. I know how we may turn this unwitting loyalty against Satan and bring him to our mercy."
The demons roared with triumph. One stepped slowly into the sunlit clearing, "Tell us how! I want vengeance against the one who was once our most powerful ally!" It hissed, slapping its tails against a tree and shattering the trunk. The other demons growled an agreement.
The figure raised his hands high in the air and they instantly quieted. "I understand your resentment for this traitorous Brother. I shall tell you how to get your vengeance against him in due time. We must wait until Satan has fully recovered the memories that were buried within his mind after he fell."
The crowd began to murmur in outrage.
"The only thing we can do at this time is increase our hold on the city and force Satan to remember himself. It has started already and it is only a matter of time until he is ripe for the taking."
They began the cheer wildly with their strange voices and howl approval. Once more the figure silenced with a hand.
"I want all of you with shapeshifting qualities and power over the elements to increase your attacks on the city tonight. All those with power of physical strength, hold back until the Devilman comes out of hiding and then attack his home. We shall run the hybrid ragged until Satan emerges on his own. Until then, keep hidden from human eyes. Now go."
They slowly faded into the woods and then disappeared from view and hearing altogether. The figure on the rock smiled triumphantly and sat down. "The beginning of the End starts tonight. Beware Satan; soon you shall be within my grasp." He laughed and spread his wings Heavenward as the sky began to darken.
Ryo stared moodily out his apartment window as the rain poured down and cleansed the city of pollution. He knew that Akira was out there at this very moment with his girlfriend Miki, trying to make up for lost time. He knew this because Akira had called his apartment to tell him. Ryo had been out shopping at the time so had missed his call.
If it weren't for Miki, Akira would be more amenable to helping purge the demons from the city. As things stood, the demons were starting to get a tighter hold on the city and Akira didn't seem to care. Ryo sighed and began wandering around the room, picking up a gun here, a knife there. He finally sat down and turned on the news to see if there had been any strange sightings or disappearances.
He was in luck as there was a sighting of a large golden red figure flying over the park earlier in the day and then the storm had begun. An unnatural storm that had nearly struck and killed several people with its lightning; made all the more dangerous because there was no thunder to warn the wary after.
Ryo grabbed his coat and gun and made his way out the door after double-checking his information.
"…Jade?" Leya asked as her best friend trailed off from the song and cocked her head. She looked across the table at Akira's similar pose. Miki was looking at the two in confusion.
"Akira what's wron-" she began. Akira quickly silenced her. Everyone was silent for a long moment. Suddenly, both Akira and Jade's eyes widened.
"Everyone get down!" They shouted; Akira dragged Miki under the table with him as the ceiling collapsed without warning. There was a scream as the building around them began to shake and tremble.
As soon as it started, it was done. A large pile of rubble and a cloud of plaster lay on the floor where once there was a small stage and a karaoke machine. One large piece of the ceiling began to move and slowly turned over to reveal Akira and the two girls. Akira coughed a little as plaster dust went down his throat.
"Riist?" he called. Silence. "Riist!" he called out louder. Still there was no answer. "RIIST ANSWER ME!" he yelled out to the ruined room. A slight noise came from the largest pile of rubble. He crawled out from under the table and ran over to pull the ceiling pieces away from a partially buried claw. With a little digging, a furry body was revealed and Riist coughed. Akira cradled the lycanthrope in his arms and covered her with his jacket. "Are you alright?" he asked urgently.
Riist slowly opened one eye, "I think so… How are the others?" she tried to move and winced, clutching her side. Akira pulled back her hand to see a little bit of blood on the mottled tawny fur.
"They're unconscious but fine. You, on the other hand, seem to have cracked a few ribs and," he pulled a piece of metal from the spot on her side, making her gasp, "turned yourself into a living dart board." He tossed it away.
"I'll be fine; it will heal quickly." She tried pushing him away and standing. Dizziness hit her and she collapsed back into his arms.
He looked down at her worriedly, "You shouldn't have done that. You need to relax."
"I can't be here in this form when they wake up… Too many questions will arise from it. Can you take me to my car?" she looked up at him imploringly.
Akira sighed and looked over at the other girls who were still unconscious. He looked back down at Riist, "Alright; but only if you don't try to drive home in the condition that you're in." Riist nodded slowly.
Akira picked her up and carried her over to the ruined doorway and out to the hall. What greeted him there was pure chaos.
Demons had come into the building and begun to slaughter the people inside. One looked up from its feeding and growled at him. Akira slowly backed back into their room and set Riist down with the other girls. He turned back to the doorway where the demon was now standing.
"Akira, don't-" Riist tried to get up from her position. She hissed in frustration as her battered body refused to obey her and she landed back where she was set.
Akira looked back at Riist and smiled, "Don't worry, I can take care of these vermin." He turned back to the demon as it growled out his name. Akira smirked, "Well, what are you waiting for beast, come at me."
It howled and charged into the room. Akira met it halfway in and took its head off with one sweep of his arm. More demons came filing in after that and each one met with a grisly demise. Nearly two hours later, the two girls woke up in Riist's living room.
"What happened?" Leya asked Akira groggily, "Where's Jade? And how did we get here?"
Akira vacated his seat and began to pace. "Jade is in her room recuperating from the accident. You and Miki were safe under the table… but Jade got caught in the middle of the room when the ceiling collapsed."
Leya gasped, "Oh no." she got up and went to run to her best friend's room. Akira stopped her. "Let go! I've got to see Jade! I need to know that she is alright!"
"Jade is fine Leya; she's lucky, she only cracked a few ribs. Right now, she needs to rest. We only just got you two back here from the Karaoke Bar."
Leya turned to Akira, "Only just? How long have we been out?"
Miki groaned and sat up. "Akira? Where are we?"
They turned to her, "We're at Jade's apartment. It was the closest place we could go to after the accident."
"Accident? What accident?"
Leya stared at her in disbelief, "You're kidding right? The one where we almost got buried under a pile of rubble, that's what accident!"
"What are you talking about? All I remember was the earthquake."
Akira looked between them both and finally rested his eyes on Leya as he remembered something, "Hey, wait a moment; since when did you speak Japanese?"
"Japanese? Never. I thought you guys were speaking English!"
Akira stopped pacing to study her. He grunted and went back to pacing, "Nothing is making sense anymore…" he muttered to himself.
Miki cocked her head, "Akira? What's wrong?"
He sat down and smiled reassuringly at his girlfriend, "Nothing; I've just got a lot on my mind right now."
Just then the phone rang. Everyone jumped and stared at it in surprise. Akira went to pick it up but Leya grabbed his hand.
"No one knows we're here; let the answering machine get it." She said urgently. He nodded and left the receiver where it was.
"Hi, you've reached the residence of Jade Riist. Obviously, I can't come to the phone right now so if you'll leave your name and number I'll think about getting back to you. Ciao!" Beep.
"Akira, I know you're there. Pick up the phone; I have something urgent to tell you about Azieral…"
Akira quickly picked up the phone, "Ryo? How did you know I was here?"
"That's not important right now. I found that supposed angel of yours. He was the one who made the Karaoke Bar collapse on your friend. He's trying to draw you two out for some reason… I think I found what he's after here in Japan; and your careless feline lead him right to it!"
Akira's eyes widened, "You can't be serious! Jade would never do something like that! She's our ally in this fight."
"I didn't say that she did it on purpose. As far as I can tell, she's a pawn in a much larger game and she's dragged everyone into it…" Ryo sighed, "I'm not entirely sure why, but I think Azieral is after me…"
"After you? Why do you think that?" Akira asked curiously.
"…Because I met him, Akira. I found out where he was and I went out to meet him." Ryo gave a half-hearted chuckle, "He seemed a little surprised to see me. "
"Well, did he say anything to you?"
"No, beyond the general' surprised to see me there' speech. After he was done speaking, he had one of the demons in the clearing escort me back the way I had come."
"… So what do you want to do now?" Akira knew that Ryo was hiding something, but decided to leave it be. Ryo would tell him if it was important; he trusted him that much at least.
"Tell Riist that you can't help her and you don't want her help. I want that cat away from here as soon as possible."
Akira scowled at the phone, "Why should I? She could be one of the best allies we could have in this."
"I don't care what you think; I want her gone. Tell her we'll take care of Azieral and to go back to America."
"Akira, what's wrong?" Miki asked, coming up behind him and draping her arms around his neck.
Akira looked back at her and then at Leya, "Nothing's wrong; Ryo and I are just having a slight misunderstanding." He kissed Miki's hand and pulled her arms off of him. "Why don't you and Leya go get something to eat for Jade. I'm sure she's very hungry right now."
"Okay… you'll tell me if anything is wrong; won't you Akira?" Miki asked in a small voice.
Akira smiled, "Of course, Miki." He ignored Ryo's snort of derision.
Miki smiled and gave him a small kiss on the cheek and she and Leya went into the kitchen to see what there was to eat.
Akira sighed and went back to the phone, "Why do you want Jade to leave so much? She never did anything as far as I know to get on you're nerves; beyond the basic female attitude. Nor has she tried to destroy our plans. So why is it so urgent that she leave Japan?"
"Because she's the catalyst for whatever is going on here. Were it not for her presence, Azieral would not have found what he was looking for and we could safely go on with our plans to destroy the demons around Tokyo. Don't argue with me, Akira; just do as I say." Akira heard a click over the line and then the busy signal began. He sighed in frustration and put the phone back on the cradle. Something strange was going on and Ryo, not Jade, was at the center of it all.
"Akira…" A quiet, pain-filled voice called from the hall. Jade slowly made her way along the wall to where he stood. She sat down and looked at him, "That was Ryo, wasn't it?"
He glanced at her and nodded once. Then, his mother hen instincts kicked in, "You shouldn't be up; you should still be in bed. Even I can't heal that quickly from cracked bones and puncture wounds and those were deep." He sat down and examined the wounds, looking up disapprovingly when she hissed with pain at his mere touch. When he lifted her shirt up over her belly, he saw that the hole in her side had shrunk but was still a deep purple color around the area. "We should have wrapped it up instead of just cleaned it. Where do you keep your bandages at?"
She was looking distractedly at the hole and he had to snap his fingers a couple times to get her attention, "Hmm? Oh! Bandages; I usually keep some gauze in the closet by the bathroom. I haven't needed to use it yet; but now is as good a time as any."
Akira went down the hall and grabbed the gauze and, as an afterthought, the small tube of antibiotic gel. He came back and wrapped her up quickly before the other girls could come back in. "There. That should hold for a while."
Jade was silent through all of this and winced only when he made sure the bandage was tight. She cocked her head as she heard the girls talking in the kitchen, "Unless I'm mistaken, it sounds as if both of those girls are speaking Japanese… When did this happen?" she looked at Akira.
"I was hoping you could tell me that. I've never heard of anything like this happening before. Are you sure that she's completely human? She could be a lycanthrope like you, couldn't she?"
"…No, that wouldn't be possible. I've run into humans with a few drops of lycanthrope blood and knew by their smell what they were. She smells as human as Miki and then some." Jade became thoughtful, "If anything, she might have some psychic abilities; but that wouldn't explain the sudden ability to speak Japanese…"
"Maybe something gave her the ability to speak my language. Although, I wouldn't know why it should-"
"Jade? What are you doing up? Akira said you had been hurt pretty badly; you should still be in bed recuperating." Leya came out of the kitchen with a bowl of ramen and scolded her. She handed the bowl to her best friend. "Well, since you're up, eat this. It will help you get stronger."
Jade looked skeptically at the bowl of ramen. She raised an eyebrow, "You're kidding right? I'd get more strength from a sandwich than this stuff." She made the noodles plop back into the bowl with a small splash.
Leya wiped her face off with her sleeve, a sour look on her face, "That's the only thing I knew how to make in your kitchen. Anyways, that's just the appetizer; Miki is whipping up something in the kitchen for you since she can read the Japanese instructions. I would have helped her but she shooed me out. So I made some ramen for you and brought it out here where I heard your voice." She pushed the bowl closer to Jade, "Now eat it."
Jade grinned and gave her a mock salute. "Yes ma'am." She began to eat the ramen slowly.
Azieral giggled a little at the trick he had played on his pet lycanthrope. It was easy to plant the ability to speak Japanese into the human, plus it was so much fun to watch as they all became confused with his little joke. The ability would wear off sooner or later; but for right now, it was interesting to watch the little American interact with the others.
His mood darkened as he thought back to his earlier encounter with the human boy; no, not just a human boy, Satan. Satan had surprised him by his boldness while he sat in his clearing ordering the demons about.
"Azieral." A light, husky male voice intruded into the clearing.Azieral stood and flared his wings out in surprise. "Who is there?" he called, sensing that whoever it was, was like and yet not like him.
A human boy with short platinum blonde hair walked out of the woods. Azieral at first was surprised to see that the demons left him alone; but then he realized what lay beneath the human skin. Azieral smiled seductively, "Satan…" he purred.
The human who was Satan started and lost some of his composure. "…What are you talking about?" Secretly he was frightened that the fiery angel before him had called the name that was in his dreams.
Azieral's smiled turned into a grin, "Ahh, I see you have forgotten yourself. Perhaps, I should call you by your human name, my comrade. If you would be so kind as to lend it to me." He rearranged his wings and sat back down on the boulder expectantly.
The human scowled, "Ryo is my name. I know nothing of this Satan that you speak of; beyond the fact that he was the angel that led the invasion against God." Ryo fiddled with his shotgun beneath his coat.
"Alright, Ryo. I merely speak the truth about yourself. For, as you well know, angels cannot lie. And if we tried, we would be terrible at it."
Ryo gave a harsh bark of laughter, "Perhaps a real angel cannot lie; you, however, have been in the Mortal world for too long and have learned deception. You are no true angel anymore if ever you were an angel to begin with."
Azieral scowled angrily, "Satan you may be in spirit; but you are no match for me, youth. I can crush you here and now if I wished it."
"Somehow, I don't believe you. If you were as powerful as you say, then you would have killed me before I came this far." Ryo crossed his arms, "Now then, down to business. You are here for a reason and have brought a lycanthrope to Tokyo. Why?"
Azieral rolled onto his stomach and propped his head on his hands. "Oh, I don't know; you're the all powerful, all seeing one here. You tell me." He smiled.
"Hmph." Ryo grunted and slung his shotgun over his shoulder. "Cut the crap, Azieral. You know just as well as I that the one behind all of this chaos is you. Now you can tell me now, or I bring Akira here to change your mind."
Azieral rolled onto his back and put a hand behind his head, leaving one to emphasize his words, "Ah yes, the hybrid. Where did you get him, I wonder? And how did you get Amon to take the bait? Questions upon questions. None to be answered I'm afraid. You also know as well as I that both of our games would be ruined if you found out what I was doing and I found out what you were doing here." He tilted his head to smirk at Ryo. "No, I believe I will wait to see you're next move, Satan, for you have backed me into a corner by pitting your pet against me. Ciao!" with that he sprung into the air and flew off, making sure the demons remaining below gave Ryo a hard time, but did not kill him.
"You may have ruined this little game, but in the end, I shall have the power of the Dark Lord!" Azieral laughed and once again flew off into the night.