Ushio and Tora belongs to Kazuhiro Fujita and Shonen Sunday
Moonlight shone through the lonesome forest, accompanied by the twinkling stars. A strong layer of fog enveloped down the forbidden woods, as four motorcycles sped by, breaking mud apart as they ventured deeper and deeper, rushing past every tree.
The peaceful sounds of nature get disrupted by the loud roar from each one of their bikes, and the occasional crackle coming from their cigarettes as they roam further into unknown territory, not even knowing where to go.
"This place gives you goosebumps doesn't it?" A short, bald man said.
He wore a long black trench coat which covered his whole body, sporting sunglasses over his eyes. His partner was a tall, lean man with a very muscular build, wearing blue jeans that went up to his knees, revealing his light toned legs.
"Ptss, I don't think so!" The leader, a muscular man wearing a dark green bandana with sunglasses grinned.
"This doesn't seem like a good idea," A young girl with brunette hair said.
The girl wore a pink, wool sweater and was shorter than the other 3, she looked cute in proportion to the rest, but tagged along anyways, as she fell in love with the leader, who she hugged tightly as they shared the same bike. She was a bit timid at first, but her fear slowly faded away in no time, as she felt a tad safe with them, like a younger sister he could protect.
Despite this she was often poked fun of for her fear of the supernatural. So she made a bet with the Leader. He was rather skeptical of anything Yokai related, despite The Hakumen appearing on international news.
Many people, including him, refused to believe the beast's existence alongside anything supernatural. If he lost, he'd have to admit supernatural stuff is real. If he won, however, then he'd admit she has no reason to believe in monsters.
"You guys get scared of everything don't you? Yokai aren't real," The leader said.
The forest became quite infamous for being haunted, legends say that 200 years ago, a monk fought against that thing and sealed it inside a box, buried deep within the place. Some people who explored the woods have since alleged that they heard the sound of a baby crying when they passed by the area. Because of this, most of the time people stayed far away from this area
"Nobody wouldleave a baby in the middle of the forest," The muscular man thought as he stepped off the motorcycle, as the lights remained on.
"In that case, It must be a monster, see?" The girl recalled the legend, many explorers have claimed to have heard sounds similar to a baby or small child calling from the forest's depths.
"Whatever, I'll give it a closer look," He said as he slowly walked towards the sound source.
Against their will and much to their fear, the other bikers followed suit. The view became darker and darker as they kept walking, the leaves above them were thick enough that barely any moonlight passed through, leaving them in complete darkness as the sound became louder.
Soon enough, the group reached the center of the forest no-one dared to explore. The sound was at its peak, they could practically hear whatever's calling them right beside them. The leader bit his lip as he foolishly came closer, the noise seemingly came from the ground? He didn't bring a shovel, so his only choice was digging by hand.
Everyone was staring at him nervously, trying to stay as quiet as possible as the crying sound continued. The leader slowly lowered his hands and dug with all of his strength, ignoring everyone's eyes watching him as he started to dig faster and faster.
Soon, his hand touched something hard with a soft wooden texture. He quickly dug it out, revealing a small wooden box with a seal on front. The sounds stopped abruptly. He looked back at his partners and they looked back at him.
"I think we should cancel the bet," The girl said worriedly, "What if there's a deadly monster inside that?"
"Tch! What a wimp," the leader replied in an arrogant tone.
He didn't care about the possible consequences, he only had the bet in his mind. He only wanted to prove her wrong, even if it might cost him his life later. He ripped open the seal, and opened the box.
There was nothing but what seemed to be an endless void, he wasn't sure what was wrong about it, but it didn't quite seem right.
"See? There 's nothing! You lost! Monsters aren't real, and there's nothing to… worry about," Before he could finish he noticed six red eyes staring at him from the depths of the box. The eyes were glowing bright red. The leader froze in fear as his friends stared at him dumbfounded.
A purple stream of smoke propelled out of the box, Their stares rose as it slowly formed the silhouette of a creature. It looked arachnid shaped and had a large reptilian snout, but with insect mandibles coming out of it. The beast had green hair flowing down his body like grass on a swamp, and a tail extending into a long whip.
"Humans..." It spoke, it was the last thing any of them heard as they tried to run away to no avail. Blood was splattered all over the trees as it brutally dismembered them one by one it flailed it's two clawed hands as it chased the leader with his 6 spider-like legs.
He ran blindly, tears threatening to spill from his eye. He stopped as the monster pierced him through the chest from behind, blood spurting from the wound, the man screamed as it continued his attack.
"Hateful Priest!" He muttered, "I know you're here… You'll pay for thisss!" The creature hissed as Its sharp sword-like feet tore into his chest as it began to drain him of his blood, until he collapsed and lay there motionless.
Suddenly, the beast disappeared into a purple mist that engulfed the area, before fading away completely, disappearing without a trace. The forest grew silent once more, except for the faint sound of chirping of birds.
