Chapter 5: Punishment

Several hours later, Kyo awoke in darkness. He could see almost nothing in front of him, except the hard floor. But he could hear voices softly whispering around him. Voices he could not understand, but hear nonetheless. Kyo felt as though he was being bound to something, and tried to move. However, chains were strapped around his arms and ankles, restraining him against a cross. No matter how hard he tried, the chains would not yield and let him free. So, he decided to take a look around with night-vision.

Almost everything came into view. 20 robed men and women sat on seats high above him, conversing about this and that. No exits were in sight. The walls in front of the seats loomed over him. Kyo suspected that this was some sort of courthouse. Upon further investigation, he found that this was no longer Earth.

Kyo noticed the fact that there were robots. Then he looked around more, and found many creatures covered in fur. Some looked like cats, others like foxes and wolves. All of the different creatures were clothed like normal human beings, be they wearing suits or dresses, or even casual clothes.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" Kyo thought to himself. "This is like some kind of twisted fairy tale. Only this time, rather than being made up, it's for real. Where am I? Why am I before a group of judges? And did Jenny's body get taken here too?"

Suddenly, light filled the room, and Kyo switched back to his regular vision. A statuesque man in a white robe resided at the pedestal, gavel in hand. He looked as though he was getting on in years, with short gray hair and a beard. He smacked the gavel, signaling for the trial to begin.

"Kyo Isawa of Earth," he said with a booming, deep voice, "you have been charged with the destruction of Death. We've no idea how you accomplished this feat, but with your action, the natural balance of Earth has been disrupted. People can no longer pass on to the next life in the paradise of Nirvana, or Heaven as humans call it. How do you plead?"

Kyo said nothing and hung in silence from the cross. Then, he stated, "Guilty, your honor. However, I'd like to add that I destroyed him in self defense and general public safety. The death toll had been rising at a steady rate as of recently in my town, and Death killed my girlfriend. He seemed possessed or something."

Murmuring could be heard throughout the audience. The judge called for silence, and in that instant, everyone immediately shut up. "I see. Is it true you hail from a town called Tremorton?"

"Yes sir. My girlfriend lived there before I moved to the city."

"And is it true that your lover's name was Jennifer Wakeman, daughter of Nora Wakeman?"

"Yes, your honor."

"Very well. Now is it also true that the two of you had fought crime and villains who threatened the planet?"

"Yes, your honor. We fought together after becoming close friends after I found her ready to commit suicide. Time had passed, and she agreed to be my eternal lover."

At this, the judge said nothing. But then he said, "I see your predicament. Apparently, you were burned by rage and the need to protect your town, so you went and blew away Death's very existence. Is this true?"

"Yes, your honor. You're absolutely correct."

"Understood. The other judges and I must converse about this for a few moments." The judge turned his back and began chatting with the other men and women. Kyo could hear a few snippets of chatter, such as "we should make him Death" and "he must pay for his crime." Kyo did hear the judge say something.

"I am sympathetic to his situation. However, I disagree with his destruction of Death. But, we would have had to destroy him, Death, anyways. He was completely under Xelnas' control, and everything we tried to get him out of his possession failed. I say that we take a vote for the boy's fate."

The judge returned facing the audience. "Kyo, you have arrived on the planet of gods and "fantasy creatures," as humans call them, Ephemera. We watch over all other planets and our own. Death had originated here, so as to prevent the overcrowding of Earth, and to allow people to pass on to the next life. The judges and I have reached a point where we will take a vote on how your punishment will be enforced." The judge directed his gaze upon the audience. "Residents of Ephemera, we, the gods of the planet, must take a vote. All of those in favor of Kyo Isawa taking the role of Death until the day he has children or someone else that can fulfill his role say aye."

The vote was a unanimous decision.

"The court has decided," the god/judge declared. Kyo Isawa, you will take on the role of Death until either you have a wife that bears children, or someone voluntarily takes your duties. Note that if you choose the former, your children must be at least 16 before they can accept the responsibilities. Court adjourned," he said with a final smack of his gavel. Kyo chains broke, and he fell to the ground, where the pitch black hands from earlier reappeared and pulled him into another black hole.

Kyo found himself in a small room, where ancient drawings could be seen on the walls. They were in odd, circular patterns, and emitted an eerie glow. Immediately, the room began to shake, and Kyo, standing on top of one pattern, felt some sort of strange power flowing towards him. He felt physical pain for the first time in his life and let out deafening screams of anguish. The pain ripped throughout his body, as he wished for it to stop. It only increased as his right arm thrashed about uncontrollably in a seizure-like fit. He tried to make it stop, but it only made the pain worse. Eventually, black energy enveloped it, causing an intense burning sensation.

The pain kept eating away at him until, 2 hours later, it stopped abruptly. Kyo, barely clinging to consciousness, felt something warm inside his chest. "My God…" he said, knowing that he now had a heart. A harder metal replaced the titanium alloy that had been his body before. It was soft, yet durable, and was much like human skin in the way it behaved. His right arm was enveloped in black energy that whipped and thrashed about. He felt something in his abdomen, and figured that it must be a stomach, connected to his heart. Kyo looked at the ground he kneeled upon, and saw that he was in a small pool of his new blood. "It must have leaked out as I was changing," he thought. In fact, he felt warm. He felt warmth. It was an amazing sensation. Now he could feel the ground beneath him, and the differences in temperature, and know what Jenny's embrace would feel like.

Kyo noticed a strange feeling in his mouth. It was a sense of taste. A quick feel inside alerted him to the presence of taste sensors, rather than a tongue. Another entirely new world opened for Kyo, so that he could eat without having to use the restroom, or become obese. Kyo could also smell the musty room's odor, which mingled with the strange scent of his blood upon the ground. He now possessed all five senses. His sense of smell was strange, though, as he could smell things without nasal cavities. Also, his clothes felt baggy and loose. They were real clothes, just like the kinds that humans wore. However, they felt somewhat metallic, so Kyo figured that they were not only comfortable, but also protective. He removed his boots and saw his feet. They lacked toes, and looked somewhat like flippers, but were far smaller. They were medium-sized, and looked normal, in the sense that they were constructed in the same fashion as a human foot, but were made of metal. Kyo decided to have a look at his new body, and saw a mirror hanging on the wall.

He stripped himself of his garments and studied his reflection. His hair felt thin and soft. It was just like standard human hair. It was short and spiky, with a particularly long bang in the front mixed with the shorter ones. Looking below his waistline, Kyo laughed. He had become more human than he thought. It hung limply, but began to harden and become warmer all of a sudden. "So this is what a penis is," Kyo thought. "I may have paid attention to those sexual education videos when the teachers showed 'em, but I never thought that I'd one day be able to reproduce." After a few moments, Kyo's erection died down. He turned around and saw that he lacked an anus. It didn't matter, as he wouldn't have to use the restroom. Kyo then dressed himself after a few moments, and continued to look around the room.

Further away from him laid a long black scythe and a black cloak with red trim outlining the zipper that ran up to the neck. It had no hood. Kyo donned the cloak and grabbed the scythe, which wasn't completely black, but had a blade and handle that were both half black and half white, shiny and brand new without a single scratch. Kyo swung the scythe around for a few moments, getting adjusted to his new weapon, then ran a systems scan to see if he had any of his original weapons left. Most of them had gone offline, but a few remained, such as the arm cannon, the PSG7 sniper rifle that Jenny's mother had installed in him, and a few other things. He retained his previous combat knowledge, knowing every single martial art. Most of his gadgets functioned, like night vision and his extendable arms. However, his jet boots no longer functioned. Kyo's left arm remained the same. The cloak was rather striking, albeit dark. It made Kyo feel warmer than he did with just his clothes on.

But this didn't completely please him. After seeing and observing himself, and enduring pain for several hours, Kyo realized that he had become what he had hated; Death itself.