"Give me power…" The voice spoke in a hoarse, frustrated voice.
The man eyes the woman in a white floral print kimono as his arms tenses up. Cold sweat streaks down his forehead as his breath grows heavy. A clock ticks loudly, the air becomes still.
The woman stops at the door, a hand on the knob. A devious smile escapes her mouth. She turns around slowly and walks back to the mahogany desk. She closes in on his face. Her yellow, red-ringed eyes gazing upon his soul.
"Then, you know what I want." The woman spoke in a calm, yet apathetic tone.
Her eyes were like a beckoning abyss, enchanting yet soulless. The man gulps, his eyes filled with dread. His hand shakes, his mouth quivers, his breathing hastened.
"But…"
The man stopped. He tries to look away but he freezes in fear. He had to comply, it all depended on him, the dynasty, the future.
"They're yours… All of them."
The woman smiles cheerily as the middle-aged man lowers his head in defeat. She extends her arm and pats his head.
"Good boy."
The woman turns around and walks to the door. She looks back to the man, his head now slumped on his desk. She smiles sadistically and utters a single phrase.
"Good luck, Prime Minister."
The woman exits the room, shutting the door behind her. The soft sounds of the closing doors reverberate through the room, drowning every ounce of dignity the Prime Minister once had.
Several years had passed since that day. War had plagued the world for a grueling six years and Japan had taken part as its antagonists. Japan had surrendered to the allies and had her military disarmed. The Japanese pride had been shattered leaving the country in shambles. The people were eager to blame; eager to vent their anger on the one person who had initiated the conflict.
On a trial with both western and japanese officials, the Prime Minister had been given the harshest punishment, execution. Having suffered the loss in the war and the shame piling up in his name, he had only one way out. Days before his execution, prison guards had found him hanging on the ceiling of his jail cell, with a neatly folded letter on his bed.
The people were shocked. When the prime minister had risen to power, no one had questioned his ideology. They all believed and fought for him, like a spell had been cast upon them, beseeching eternal loyalty.
As mysterious as the spell began, it disappeared randomly one day and the populace had finally caught on to his radicalistic antics. They pleaded with the minister to surrender, but it was far too late. The allies were decided on using their nuclear warheads on their country.
Snowflakes fell gently from the skies, filling the sidewalks of Tokyo with a thin layer of snow. It was the middle of winter in Japan. Dark clouds float gently across the city skyline, signaling impending snow.
A pale woman walks amongst the busy morning commute, adorned in a white kimono with her red silky hair tied into beautiful braids. A red umbrella shielded her from the cold touch of winter as curious eyes glanced over her.
This woman, whose eyes always cast a cold gaze, was none other than the Control Devil, Makima. The beautiful woman born of human fears, roamed the streets of Tokyo, smiling to herself at her success. Her plan had gone smoothly. She had struck a deal with the Prime Minister on that day, inflicting fear onto the populace making her stronger in the process.
Seeing the gloomy faces of the people as they walked past her filled her with a sort of joy that hinted at her victory. As she was walking along the sidewalk while looking at the various western shops selling clothing, she notices a small newspaper stand by the sidewalk.
Makima stops in front of the stand and looks at the papers, curious to its contents.
Makima frowns. There was something odd about it. The headlines read, 'Japan Celebrates 30 Years of Peace!'. Makima picks up the paper and looks at the stand owner.
"Excuse me, I believe there's something wrong with this paper."
The owner looks at her and then to the paper. He raises an eyebrow, looking back at her strangely.
"Looks fine to me." The owner speaks gruffly.
"No, this is clearly a mistake. The war had ended not too long ago." Makima insisted.
The owner frowns and inches towards Makima.
"Miss, there was no war, Japan hadn't been in a war for decades."
Makima stares at him, her usual smile gone. After a moment of silence, Makima smiles gently, bowing her head apologetically.
"My mistake, I must have been confused." Makima resigns.
She places the paper back into the stand and resumes her stroll on the sidewalk. Further down the path, she turns right, into an alleyway.
The alleyway has a multitude of pathways, some lead to shops and bars and some lead to other streets. One of the paths led straight to Makima's home. The alleyway was a dark and brooding place. Even in winter, drunkards would gather in these parts, drinking their life away and being a menace to anyone who walks past them.
Rats scurry out of the way as Makima's footsteps echo through the alley. The path in front of her smelt of alcohol and trash. Drunkards leered at her as she walked past them, chuckling to themselves. Makima ignores them, inching towards the path's exit.
As the end draws near, a burly man,wearing a brown coat and black pants, blocks her path. In his hand, an empty bottle of whisky.
"Where are you going, little lady?" The burly man spouts. His pungent breath reeked of alcohol and regret.
Makima looks up at the man, staring coldly into his eyes.
Before she could speak, a force pulls her backwards, dropping her umbrella onto the damp ground. She turns around. A disheveled man, wearing a worn out scarf and black clothing, grinned lasciviously at her.
"Why not stay awhile, keep us company?" The man licks his lips, his desire welling up within him.
The man places a hand onto Makima's butt, groping it roughly. The burly man grabs her breasts, fondling it as drool drips from his mouth. Makima stares at them, a blank look in her eyes. Instead of screaming, she smiles.
She grabs both of their hands, inviting them. The men grinned lustfully, as they groped her harder.
"Will you commit yourself to me?" Makima asks in a soft, gentle tone.
The men stare at Makima in confusion.
"The fuck are you talking about?" The burly man replied.
Makima turns to the burly man, fixing her gaze unto his. Dread fills the air. The men start shaking in their heels, unable to control themselves. They try to break away from her, but an inhuman strength prevents them. Her hands dig into their wrists, bruising them as they wince in pain.
"Say that you will." Makima commanded. Her voice booms through them, sending shockwaves to their brains.
The burly man's eyes grows blank and his movement zombified. Makima lets go of the burly man's hand, as his body becomes limp.
"I dedicate myself to you." The burly man responds in monotone.
The disheveled man starts screaming, terror riling up his senses. He pulls his arm backwards, attempting to break free.
Makima turns to the man, placing her index finger to his mouth.
"Good dogs don't bark, do they?" Makima whispers, "Now, sit."
Like a domestic dog, the man slides to his knees, sitting on command. Makima lets him go, patting his head in response.
"Good boy."
An epiphany strikes Makima while she pats his head. She grabs the disheveled man's hair, pulling it backwards. Her endearing yellow eyes beckoning for an answer.
"Tell me. Do you remember World War II?" Makima asks.
"No Mistress, there was never a World War II…" The man spoke shakily.
With a look of disappointment, she lets go of his head. The man's head hangs loosely, awaiting their mistress' next command.
Makima kneels down and grabs the disheveled man's hand.
"Come on you two, follow me." Makima commanded.
Makima stands up. Her eyes notice the dirty red umbrella. She looks at the burly man endearingly.
"And pick up my umbrella, will you?"
Makima opens the door to her home. Her two dogs, a shiba and a husky, rushes to the front door, waiting to greet her. Makima smiles and extends her hand to pat her dogs while her other hand holds the disheveled man. The dogs pant happily, oblivious to the two men behind her.
"Go now."
The two dogs obediently move out of the way as the two men follow Makima into a room to the left of her living room.
Inside the room was a library, with bookshelves towering the walls of the room. Staircases lead to the upper section of the library, where the most enigmatic books reside. Each bookshelf had books from every part of the world, allowing Makima to read as long as she wants.
Makima orders the two men to blindfold themselves and kneel down in front of her. They do so obediently, tearing off a portion of their clothes as blindfolds. They kneel down in front of her, waiting for her command. Makima places a hand on the disheveled man.
"O' devil in Hell." Makima chants.
"O' devil in Hell." The man chants as well.
"Invite us all to the underworld."
"Invite us all to the underworld."
"In exchange, I give you my all."
"In exchange, I give you my all."
With those final words, the contract is sealed. The library shakes violently, but no books fell from their place. A portal manifests beneath them, letting the remaining two to fall between dimensions.
Makima lands onto a patch of grass gently, her socks feeling the soil beneath her. The disheveled man's clothes fall onto the ground, with his body nowhere in sight. The burly man falls flat onto the ground, but he is unharmed by the fall. He picks himself up and removes his blindfold.
"Mistress, what is this place?" The burly man asks.
Makima doesn't answer. She surveys the area. The place stunk of blood and decay, but no corpse was in sight. Plains ladened with wildflowers and wild weeds stretch across all directions with no end in sight. An eerie silence befalls the air, as not a single soul spoke. Makima looks up. The ceiling was a sky of varying doors, some old and decrepit, some new and freshly painted. Most of the doors were closed shut, but some seemed to have opened.
Makima frowns. Something strange was going on in Hell. The doors are a gateway to the human world and were supposed to be closed. Why were they opening?
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
Makima turns to the sound. A mundane look plastered over her face.
At the edge of the horizon, a grotesque creature ran frantically towards her. The creature's body had 10 arms protruding from its torso. It's body and legs were muscular and its skin, a charred black. Its face was but a singular mouth with no eyes or nose and its tongue stuck out loosely like a dog sticking its head out of a moving car.
A lesser fiend no doubt. Makima thought.
The burly man steps forward, steeling himself. Makima, however, holds her hand out and turns to the man, smiling.
"Put on your blindfold."
Makima casts a cold gaze sending shivers down his spine. The man obliges, bowing his head and blindfolding himself.
Makima held her hand out like a gun, aiming at the fiend. Her cold eyes, targeting the fiend ahead of her. The fiend kept running, oblivious to her power.
Makima smirked. This fiend thinks it could take her?
With her hand out, she motions a gun fire.
"Ban-"
Before she could mutter the words, blood had splattered all over the place. Limbs and organs were torn asunder. Makima had barely flicked her hand. The gunfire wasn't supposed to do that much damage. Her eyes widened, her mouth at a loss for words. The sound of motors revving fills the air.
Standing in front of her was a fiend, no, a monster of chainsaws. It roars mightily, sending shockwaves of sound into the air. The monster had a chainsaw for its head, with teeth sharper than a knife's edge. The monster didn't have any skin; its muscles were of a charcoal black. The monster oozed a menacing aura, unlike any Makima had encountered.
The monster looks at Makima. Makima freezes, a sense of dread welling within her. Her breath grows heavy, her forehead perspiring.
"Mistress?" The burly man calls for her.
The monster goes closer to Makima, smelling Makima. Makima steps backwards slowly. Instantaneously, the monster grabs Makima with superhuman force, crushing her body and arms. Makima coughs up blood, her ribs piercing through her lungs.
After seconds of agony, the monster lets go of her, letting Makima's body fall to the ground. As blood spills out of her mouth, the monster turns away, roaring before leaping to the left of her.
The man takes off his blindfold, curious to the commotion. As the limp body of Makima falls to the ground, he rushes to her aid in a moment of panic.
"Mistress!" He calls out in fear.
The man grabs hold of her hand, shaking. As soon as he does, a chain stabs him in the chest. The man immediately goes limp, his eyes becoming a pure white. He is lifted into the air by the chain. The man's body starts crumpling, as though he was being crushed by an immense force. The man's body falls to the ground as Makima awakes.
Makima gasps for breath. Her breathing, haggard and uncontrolled. She sits up and feels her chest and body. It was warm and damp. She looks down at her hand. A bloodied, trembling hand was in her sight. She covers her mouth, sick to her stomach. Of the years she had lived, no death had felt this terrifying.
A loud, blood-curdling roar pierces the skies. Makima covers her ears as she turns to the sound. Two monsters were clashing in a battlefield of blood, not so far away from where Makima was. One of them was the Chainsaw and the other she recognised all too well. It was the Hell Devil. A devil with the body of a horse and the torso of a human. Four elongated bones protruded from its chimera-like arms as flames engulfed its neck and back. The devil's ribs were visibly shown, like a malnourished human on the verge of death.
Countless bodies pile upon one another around the battlefield. One of which was a familiar devil, of whom she had encountered long ago. It had the body of an armoured tank and the head of a human flaming skull. However, its head was nowhere to be seen and its body had seemingly been gnawed off by some beast.
A realisation struck Makima as she stared at the monster's teeth.
"No, it couldn't be…" Makima mutters.
The sound of revving fills the air as the monster roared violently. Makima focuses on the battle. It had become a stalemate, with each individual only inflicting the same damage to each other. Yet, none of them seemed ready to give up. Bone and flesh were ripped from their bodies, as they screamed in agony. The two devils were locked in a game of endurance, with none of them having an edge.
Makima stared in silence. She was awestruck, two devils of unfathomable power were engaged in a battle to the death and only she bore witness to it.
A few minutes had passed with none giving an inch away. The Hell Devil was getting agitated. It underestimated the strength of his opponent. The Chainsaw swung its arm wide, attempting to slice his opponent in half, but the Hell Devil had jumped backwards, dodging it entirely. The Chainsaw growled ferociously and lunged at it. The Hell Devil stood back, composed and calm as it lifted its arm up. With its paw-like hand, it points downwards, hurling a gigantic six fingered hand onto the Chainsaw. The Chainsaw stops its rampage, turning its attention to the hand. It blocks it with its strength, screaming furiously as it does.
The Hell Devil had another trick up its sleeve. It clasps its hands together in a prayer and manifests a portal underneath the chainsaw. The chainsaw looks underneath him, realising his folly, and starts clawing at the hand. It was all in vain. The hand's weight was too much for the Chainsaw. It screams animalistically, cursing the Hell Devil as it falls through the portal.
The fight was over, its victor decided. The portal was closed and the hand vanished. The Hell devil turns to Makima who was sitting quietly, staring starstruck. It walks to Makima slowly but menacingly. Makima didn't pay any notice to the fiend approaching her.
The Hell Devil stops in front of her, staring at her.
"You do not belong here, Control Devil." The Hell Devil said ominously.
Makima stays silent, lost in her thoughts.
"But I cannot kill you, for the contract forbids me."
Makima stares ahead, a look of enlightenment in her eyes.
"Leave, and never return."
The hell devil clasps its hands, manifesting a portal beneath Makima. As Makima slowly falls through the abyss beneath, she looks straight into its eyeless face.
"The hero has arrived."
With the final warning, Makima falls into the portal. She closes her eyes as the Hell Devil stares at her with a blank expressionless face.
In the space between hell and earth, Makima was dreaming. Dreaming of the Chainsaw. A being, so mysterious yet violent, she had fallen head over heels with the creature. Before her death, a strange voice spoke to her. She couldn't understand it, but she knew what it meant.
In those few moments, it said,
"Are you lonely?"
Before she could even answer, it grabbed her, as if to embrace her. But it was not out of malice, but of something less sinister. Just what was the Chainsaw trying to achieve? Makima was lost but her heart was racing. Could she have finally found it? The one that could fulfill her long sought desire?
Makima smiles. Her heart sent aflutter. She mutters into the darkness as the light of her home pierces through the endless void.
"Chainsaw Devil, wherever you are. Please let me find you."
