That next day occurred just as Akira had recalled it, everything was eerily predictable. He had followed himself and Miki to school and kept patrolling the grounds restlessly. His heart rate had been racing throughout the whole day, waiting for any kind of threat or grievance. It unnerved him how tranquil everything was. He knew this was how it was supposed to be, how he always wished it to be, but it rarely ever happened. All he felt he could do was sit and wait for some disaster, something to come and shake up his peaceful world. Akira could hardly stand it; he couldn't wait until his deed was done. Once he killed Satan, he figured everything would be okay, but it was the anticipation that ate away at him.

By the end of the day Akira's mind was buzzing knowing time was winding down, and soon his destiny would be at his fingertips. He sat on the stoop of the bleachers, watching his old friends running around the track. He already knew who would win, but it's not like he needed foresight for that anyway. He overheard Miki and Miko exchange encouraging words after crossing the finish line. It was nice to see Miko again, he knew he needed to find a way to save her too, the thought of her still rotting in Hell made him shutter. He would get her out, but first and foremost he had to eradicate the source of all the problems in the first place.

Two of his track mates had been yammering back and forth below him but it wasn't until his human-self approached did he start paying attention. He remembered this, but for the first time something was different. He wasn't crying.

Akira got a closer glimpse at the news bulletin on the boy's phone just to confirm his suspicions. The video was just as he thought. It was welcoming in Moyuru Koda and describing his recent accomplishments awarding him the title of the super high schooler. There was no mention of any recent murders revolving around him, or any other controversies aside from his sudden enhanced skills. Akira's brow furrowed, with a sense of dread looming over him. He must have changed something; Akira knew he would have to confront him soon as well.

"Can we help you Fudo?!" the young man's voice sprung Akira out of his musing. He realized they were referring to his human self and didn't seem too friendly about it.

"Huh, oh, it's nothing I-I was just listening…" Akira answered timidly, shuffling away. The devilman watched his old self pitifully, he wished he had stood up for himself more. His trail of thought was interrupted when Miki had found her way over, presumably overhearing the conversation.

"Hey guys what's going on?" she asked in a peppy tone, as if deliberately trying to deescalate the conversation.

"Oh, nothing," the aggressing boy answered flippantly. He didn't want to upset Miki was all.

Miki seemed to cheer up, "Hmm well in that case how about a relay, four by one hundred! There's a meet coming up right?"

Before anyone had a chance to answer anything the pleasant sound of Miko's voice broke the air.

"It's Mr. Nagasaki!"

"Oh, sorry gotta go," Miki said, departing from the group.

Akira kept a watchful eye on her. He knew that creep Koji Nagasaki, he never did like him. If Koji were back again this time Akira already knew he would be yet another nuisance he'd have to face.

When the time finally came, and the group was heading home for the day, Akira's attentiveness was at its peak. He kept his eyes peeled open and kept close to Miki. Even once they made it to the pier while she laid there looking up to the sky he was staring up to the deck's loft. He knew Ryo would be there any second, but something preceded his arrival. Akira was confused at first hearing it trickle down from the upper story, until his memories came hurtling back to him.

It was them, Wamu and part of his gang, rapping their way down the stairs. A part of Akira's spirit was thrilled to see them again safe and alive, that was all for one at least. Hie was there and Akira couldn't keep the intense fury off his expression as he stared him down. Instinctively he put himself between Miki and the despicable human. He didn't really even care much what they had to say to Miki herself, as he knew his human self would protest that. Akira just didn't like Hie around her.

The scene playing in the background was familiar to him, but he didn't mind it much. He felt the adrenaline shoot through him like electricity the closer he knew Ryo would appear.

The introduction was again, brash, and flashy as Ryo ran out from his car and began calling his name. Once Akira looked up to see Ryo, every instinct in him impelled him to change form and pounce with full vigor. The abhor he felt burned at his skin shifting it into that of a devil. He bared his fangs letting the wicked delight contort his features.

"Ryo…" he said loathingly. He knew better that there was no way for him to interact with his foe but how he wanted to. Nothing in him would be happier than to tear him apart right then and there, but he stopped. He had to. The outside world reminded him of its existence when his human self ran up to hug the wretched blonde boy. Akira felt repulsed by himself, but even more so by how much he had trusted him once. Ryo had betrayed him, he betrayed his friendship, after all the times Akira had been there for him, it was all a waste. He couldn't linger on it any longer though, they were already on the move and weren't wasting any time. He hurriedly calmed his body reverting back to his human form and followed after them.

Akira had sat himself in the back seat of Ryo's car, overhearing parts of their conversation and rolling his eyes through most of it. He mostly stared at Ryo contemptuously just thinking about how he was going to kill him. Maybe he'd chop him in half or rip him limb from limb and parade his head about on a smoldering pike. The thoughts brought a smile to his face.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Akira was nearly shaking with anticipation. He loosely listened to the rehashed bull Ryo had told him the first time, but all his interest was at the entrance to the Sabbath. When the doors opened, he was reintroduced to a world of hyper neon lights and cranial gratification. The shock he experienced from the first time he laid eyes on it was muted, and thus he went in doubtlessly following close to his former body. He tested himself and dipped his hand into the stunned stricken human. There was nothing yet, much like he thought. He had to wait for the right moment to remerge with himself, the moment where he lost all rational.

Akira's figure sank slightly, letting the initial irritation with the situation run its course. He had no other choice but to follow the two around for the rest of the night until he would have his moment. From above Akira unknowingly, was being carefully watched, however. A woman's figure traced her hand across the balcony ledge, with a suspicious grin taking up her face.

It was like feeling a constant fuss run throughout his nerves the whole evening. Akira was on high alert already, but now he could hardly sit himself still as Ryo finally began slashing open the innocent people. He looked gleeful spilling all the blood he could crave, and Akira knew at long last this was it.

The Devilman's gaze narrowed and he crouched himself into position preparing to fuse back into his body and annihilate the lord of all demons. The absolute chaos was boiling over, people were screaming and fleeing for their lives. Akira could actually see the energy of the demons as they leapt into the people and took them over, it was surreal.

His heart had been racing and his mouth broke into a toothy smirk beginning to see the moment he would again run from the giant demonic beast. He tensed his muscles and was right about to release for his moment when he thought he heard something. It was so faint he thought almost nothing of it, but then he heard it again a tiny bit louder.

"Akira…" a chill went up his spine. It couldn't be speaking to him he reasoned, it wasn't possible.

"Akira, Akira, Akira!" the specter's voices got louder and more forceful with each utter of his name. Akira wasn't sure what to think but he knew something was wrong. He flipped his head about and those suspicions were horrifically confirmed. Stalking up behind him was the form of a large woman's head.

"Psycho Jenny…" he was breathless. She seemed taken back that he noticed her but didn't pause another second. Akira's body changed and readied himself for a fight. He clawed at her landing a decent lash, but she had moved away in the midst of it. She stood back from him holding the new wound, her wide unnerving grin stayed right where it was, and her brow creased.

Suddenly Akira felt an odd force hold him still. His soul filled with dread and without even touching him, she pulled him back and further away from the moment he had fought so hard to get to. He commanded his limbs to move and to fight back but they didn't respond. The rage of watching everything slip away from him, the wrath of being cheated ignited a fire in his stomach.

"No! You can't!" he growled. Ahead of him he could see a tear the demoness had split through reality itself. Inside it was nothing but a dark and blacked void, and he was rushing right towards it. Psycho Jenny thrusted him down into the portal but with every bit of his might Akira had managed to grasp her by the wrist right before he went all in. He held it tight enough to hear it snap.

Jenny had a terror in her gaze that Akira had never witnessed before. She wiped that away and tapered her stare as she clutched him by the throat with her remaining hand. With the combined strength of her powers and arm she began forcing him in. Akira struggled and by some saving grace had caught his footing, gripping the floor with his talons, helping him push back. It didn't make much difference though Jenny's psychic abilities were proving to be more than Akira could overcome.

"You're getting smarter, but not smart enough. You won't make it this time either, Akira Fudo!" Jenny scolded him. Akira was intrigued by her statement but wasn't given another second to process it as he felt himself beginning to slip. His head fell back staring into the endless space, looking into it, he could practically feel the bleeding sting of his hope depleting.

When he thought there was nothing left to fight over, he could see a blink of white in the darkness. He widened his eyes and stared harder. He wasn't seeing things, it happened again, and this time it stayed. It was a pair of white gleaming eyes, but they weren't malicious, and they weren't the only ones, more and more began surrounding him. Each one of them held a memory, a memory of himself in this very moment.

The more he saw the more he understood, this very moment had happened several times. Each one getting closer to victory than the last but each one still ending in failure. The last memory was so close, he had heard his voice's warnings but had been too late to look back. He relieved himself being thrown into that hopeless portal several different times to never escape. The fear, the anguish, from every attempt, every lifetime he lost, charged him, and fueled a growing will, a will to win.

"No, no I won't lose, not this time!" he hollered, feeling the presence of his past lives and their support counteract Jenny.

The glimpse was broken just as it all clicked and with it a great force pushed Akira's upper half out of the portal and out of Jenny's clutch. Akira was kicked back to his feet and Jenny was disoriented from the mental battle. In a panic Akira searched for his old body, this was his chance, his very last one. When he spotted his body running away from that behemoth of a devil he raced after him.

"Amon, now's your chance, possess Akira! Amon!" Akira could hear Ryo yell. He could see the devils all around him and the most important one was now suddenly in view. It looked like a red bolt of lightning hurdling its way to his body, but Akira had to be faster. He would be faster, he would meet it and become one with it along with his body.

"No! Stop him! All of you stop him now!" Jenny's voice screamed with aghast, horror written on her face. The rainbow of memorizing color erupted from her, targeting Devilman. All the rest of the demons threw themselves after him as well, compelled by her hypnosis.

Every passing second was precious. Akira knew they were just at his heels, but his eyes were locked forward. The sound of his own heartbeat thumped in his ears, and finally with one last stride he leapt into his former body just as the crash of demonic lighting had. There was a hot flash and a pinch of pain, but before he knew anything else, he was tumbling across the ground.

The inertia of the collision had sent him rolling but once he gained his footing it was like the world went still for a split second. His mind was just catching up to him but when it did a gaping smile cracked across his lips. He was reborn.

Time returned to him and when it did, he flipped around sinking his claws into the jaws of the demon behind him. The power and ecstasy he felt was intoxicating. With little effort he tore the massive demon completely in half all over again. However, unlike last time he was then instantly met with a violent psychic wave. Jenny's attack had finally caught up with him and the rest of the devil's swarm along with it.

The assault on his psyche scattered his thoughts, he had to combat the demons as well as his perception. He could only mindlessly swipe his claws around without being able to stick his attention to a single target. This method while not ideal was working for the time, but it was only a temporary patch, many of the devils were still landing critical blows on him.

Akira's vision was blurry, but he knew he needed to find Jenny, if he stopped her, taking out all the other demons would be a cake walk. At last, his sights met with a familiar shape, the one he was needing. He didn't have to be precise; he just needed to land a hit that would distract her. She was standing far off and he would never get to reach her at this pace, but he had an idea.

The next demon that graced past his arm found itself suddenly clasped in the Devilman's firm hand. The devil tried to beat him and break itself free, but it was hopeless. Akira drew his arm back and without mercy flung the demon full speed in Jenny's direction. She had been focusing on her psychic storm but when she heard the demon coming down her trance was broken as she glanced upwards. She was too late to avoid the impact. Both her and the other Devil were knocked to the ground.

Akira regained his wits and began his slaughter of the demons crowding him. Now that he was sure what he was doing there was no challenge aside from their greater numbers. Finally, after all this time he could see him, Satan was only a few steps from him, completely oblivious to his true intentions. Akira grinned this was the moment he had been hungering for. His face was ecstatic with a corrupted relishing. The only thing between him and his rightful revenge was a wall of trifling devils. They were by far more of a nuisance then they were a threat, he began slicing through them with little thought.

Jenny was regaining her strength, when she lifted herself back up, she could see Devilman was dangerously close to her lord. Her eyes shot back and forth from Akira and Satan and in a frustrated last second decision she darted to her master. She moved swiftly and remained out of Satan's line of sight, but not Akira's.

Akira pushed harder through the mob watching her advance closer to his kill. Eliminating the surrounding demons was easy but it seemed just as he disposed of one another took its place. The devils knew they stood no chance themselves; it was a deliberate suicide mission to slow the Devilman. They were simply urged by Jenny's psychic force, anything to protect hers and their leader, even if they were all still unaware.

Ryo, trapped there under the demon's corpse, could see his plan had worked, Akira was now merged with Amon. However, as he watched there was something off. He could see Akira was warding off the other devils, but he seemed to have another goal, an aggressive one, and it appeared like it was aimed at himself. Ryo's brow creased thoughtfully, but just as he had everything dimmed around him.

Psycho Jenny stood behind him, using her powers she put him to sleep and was shoving the bird demon's limp body off her lord. Akira witnessed this and nearly began frothing at the mouth in fury. He desperately bowled through the endless barrier of opponents, with nothing but pure detest driving him. He couldn't even fly over them as there was only more above him. He panicked he'd never make it; Jenny was already flinging him into her hold.

Akira felt his build up anger shoot all throughout his body, there was no distinct line of thinking, only emotion. He let it eat its way through his body till it broke through the skin in a heated flush. His energy was at its climax when he could see Jenny with an unconscious Ryo in her arms making a break for the giant stained-glass window. It was now or never.

Something rampant suddenly broke free of Akira in that moment. He roared with a broiling warmth shrouded the Devilman and a bright consuming fire devoured the demons around him like an explosion. In all directions the violent attack reached, executing every devil in the vicinity, and bathing the church in a wrathful blaze.

A shattering crack followed the demoness and her master into the night as she felt the flames lap at her back. She swallowed the burns and kept on, disappearing into the jeweled sky.

Akira, still high off his power, dashed out through the window after them. He could hardly see straight with how infuriated he was, but that didn't matter; nothing else mattered. He feverishly flew as fast as he could searching for the two escapees. He hardly even felt like himself anymore, he was nothing now but a mad dog on a desperate hunt, and this hunt was becoming fleeting. He didn't care, he had to find them that's all he wanted. He leaned further into the hysteria as he urgently tried to pick on any kind of sight, sound, or smell of either of them only to come up empty handed. He wanted to scream, roar, destroy this wasn't how it was supposed to be, it wasn't fair. In that instance there was nothing but hatred engulfing his heart.

It seemed this feeling would have gone on for far longer, but something finally reached him. He had stopped dead cold in his tracks. He was stiff staring downward, staring in fear. He could see himself, there was a puddle of water beneath him and within it held a chilling beast. It was hunched over with an obsessive craze in its eye. Nothing about this creature was human.

Akira backed away from it and slowly the creature within eased into something he could identify as himself. He was salvaging any sense he had left in him; he couldn't let this go on, this wasn't helping anything. Finally, he breathed, as swindled as he felt he retook his rational, he knew of one last place he could check but he doubted they would be there. At the very least he figured he might be able to pick up a clue to their whereabouts.

The air whizzed by the demonesses as she shot across the sky cradling her unconscious master. She couldn't take him home, not now that the moment she had always fought so hard to interrupt had come true. Her lord was in jeopardy, and it was her responsibility to keep him safe. She knew what she must do, her emergency plan would now finally come into play.

"What do you mean the time loop has been broken? It couldn't be possible? It was never even proven to be real?" the head figure of the demon council ordered. He stared down the psychic devil who showed no means of backing down.

"I assure you the fabled curse is real. The devilman, Akira Fudo, broke the time loop, things are different now. It's changing as we speak; our lord faces grave danger; we must protect him!" Jenny retorted affirmatively.

The three lead members became pensive as they seemed to communicate silently to one another. Jenny felt the rest of the present demons' gazes fall on her doubtfully, she grimaced, holding Ryo's limp body closer to her.

"We just don't understand how this could happen, by all accounts aren't you supposed to insure this doesn't happen, right?" The elder of the figures squawked.

"Yes," she admitted. "But Fudo finally learned from all his mistakes, he thwarted me. Now we must prepare for the uncertain, and in doing so must hide Satan, until his awakening."

"You say this boy is the incarnation of Satan? Well, why not just wake him now and begin our war then?" the female counselor suggested.

"No!" Jenny nearly lurched. "We can't do that. If I were to reawaken Satan's memories before time, it could have reprehensible consequences on his psyche! It's not an easy process from scratch either, it's lengthy and grueling. No to mention, above all that if I were to awaken him now, I fear there would be no war."

A hush fell over the demons, "What do you mean there would be no war?"

Jenny delayed in her response but when she did, she was sincere, "I fear Satan would rather die than fight against Fudo again. Demon kind would suffer as a result…"

None of the others seemed to have anything to add, the musk of the uneasy tension suffocated them all. Jenny was downcast before steadily coming around again.

"I have a plan though; we may still be able to keep this under control and have this new timeline work in our favor. For now, though we must keep watch over him, Fudo is unaware of the council's hideout, we can keep him here."

The council members sighed before lastly nodding to one another, "Very well, we'll keep him here. Once you get him settled, return here and we'll discuss this plan of yours."

Jenny's body relaxed and a pleased look came to her face as she glanced down to her secured master resting peacefully. There was a lingering apprehension in her though, she sensed it. Another power was noticing the disturbance and she knew it was only a matter of time before it's will would act as well.

The sound of splintering glass echoed within the almost vacant apartment, as the Devilman burst into the residence. It was dark but his eyes were fitted specially just for the instance. Everything looked as he recalled it, even with how little Ryo decorated. The scent of the space was repugnantly his as well, only it wasn't fresh, Akira would estimate it had been a few hours since he'd been around. Akira slinked around the house like a beast on the prowl foraging for any sign of Satan, but there was nothing.

He huffed stewing on his predicament. He figured if he couldn't kill the lord of demons immediately then he would prepare. A simper came to his face allowing a chuckle to spill out. He flew out of the hole he had created and came back to land on the skyscrapers roof. If Satan wanted to prolong the inevitable then Akira would make it worth waiting for. He determined to himself then as he overlooked the sparkling city, that he would get a head start and rebuild his army. It will be bigger and greater than ever before, this time the Devilmen would be ready.