Got some nice feedback for the last chapter. Actually got slightly more than I was expecting, given what I'm working with here. Main thing to add right now is that I'm pretty much mining other Go Nagai works for the supporting cast, with some emphasis on the Mazinsaga.
"Kuuuuoooooaaaahhhhh!"
With that hot-blooded yell, Agito unleashed his finishing move and destroyed the demon with one punch, causing it to explode.
A moment later, the amor faded, and in Agito's place stood the American from before. Scowling at the bloody mess the demon had left of its human meal, the man muttered, "I hate this crap."
He ran one hand through his hair in an attempt to relieve some stress, while flipping open his phone to tip off the police about the murder with his other hand. I've seen this kind of bloody carnage so many times now, he thought to himself, that it doesn't really even bother me anymore.
"Ah, yes, um, I'm calling to report a murder in the alleyway between..."
I've become desensitized to it. But, the fact that I can look on this and no longer be infuriated by it... isn't that a bad thing?
The year is 200X. The locale, a metropolitan city in Japan. This concrete jungle, unbeknownst to its populace, has become the focal point of a war for mankind's very survival.
Flipping his phone shut with a sigh, our protagonist muttered, "And the home team's getting wrecked..."
Jogging at full tilt, I eventually made it back to the stadium. Completely, totally out of breath. Dammit, I hate this body. Granted, it's my own damn fault for not taking care of it. Just what a lazy bastard like me deserves.
"And here we thought you were anxious for us to get here."
The woman's tone is playful, but... dammit all, I despise it when people tease me. Can't help but to fix the bespectacled girl with the kind of glare you see all the time in Stanley Kubrick movies.
A second voice. "I thought you were a Spidey fanatic. So where'd all the venom come from?"
I slowly swivel toward the latest person to quip at my expense, offering them the very same glare. I'm recovering from one hell of a sore throat, so my voice is still a bit raspy. "Screw you too, Miki."
A third voice, this time a male. "Nah, Akira's the only one who gets to tap that."
I abruptly force myself to stand perfectly upright again and breathe at a more proper, measured pace. I wanna see this.
Yep, sure enough, a brunette shouts in outrage and slaps the shit out of the guy who said that. "TETSUYA!"
Standing in front of me, expressing amusement at the bullshit that is this conversation, are some people I hang out with. I don't really know them all that well personally, and I think that holds true the other way around too, but... if they call me their friend, then I guess it's okay for me to say the same thing?
They are... oh, hell, I'll be blunt. They're the main characters of the Mazinsaga. Koji Kabuto and his girlfriend Sayaka Yumi. Koji stands slightly shorter than myself, and is a hotheaded but righteous-minded youth. ...I call him a youth, but the fact is that I'm only three years older than he is. As for Sayaka, well... rockin' that archetypical "soft tsundere" personality as always.
A few years older than those two, and about my own age, are Tetsuya Tsurugi and Jun Honoo. Tetsuya, a muscular guy who's even taller than me - and I'm a solid six-foot-two, when I stand up straight - acts like kind of an ass from time to time, but he's got sort of a "big brother" vibe about him. As for Jun, she's as cool as she is hot. Far as I'm concerned, she's kind of like the mom I never had. ...actually, no, the more accurate statement is "better than the mom I hardly did have".
And then finally, Miki Makimura. Quite possibly the most important girl in the world. ...not really on her own merits, but because of how much she means to Akira Fudou, better known around the world as Devilman.
...I'm sure that putting it bluntly like that sounds horribly, horribly sexist, but hey. I call the situation like I see it. Now, having said that, I actually do think Miki's pretty cool. A couple of muggers went after her the other day, so she went and pulled out a home-made switchblade knife on 'em. It was awesome. ...although, it probably sounds less so in my telling of it. Honestly, you had to be there.
"What, did you flash back to some game you played as a kid again, or something?"
"Nah, just enjoying watching Sayaka slap the shock out of Tetsuya."
...'shock?' Really? Did I really just say that? ...Maybe I should lay off the Spider-Man 2099 comics for a while...
In any case, you're probably wondering how the hell I got into this situation.
...eh, it's the same kind of story you've heard a million times. Fresh college grad fires up the internet on his umpteenth attempt at finding a job, is suddenly face-grabbed by the Go Nagai version of Archangel Lucifer through the computer screen, and forcibly dragged through the LCD fourth wall into the middle of a fight between Devilman and some random devil mook.
Cue the mind-splitting headache, followed by a trance-like transformation into Agito.
...yeah, I wish I had some better details about it too, but whenever I become Agito, my memories and my perception get distorted as all hell. Although given that I'm still physically intact, and the other guy seems to be fine as well, it's probably safe to conclude that Agito and Devilman didn't wind up killing each other. ...although with these screwy memories, for all I know they could still have made a decent go at it.
...but then, if I somehow awakened as an Agito, then what the hell is going on? I haven't - as far as I know - encountered any Unknowns/Lords, and the Seed of Agito seems to be driving me to fight Devils. Which, really doesn't make a lot of sense to me, since the Overlord of Light only gave humans the potential to become Agito as a dying "fuck you" to the Overlord of Darkness, who liked his humans the same way he liked his dinosaurs - evolutionary potential LIMITED.
Humans being murdered and devoured by demons... wouldn't that be just as much of a revenge against the OOD as evolution into Agito is?
And if the Seed of Agito habitually bodyjacks me into fighting devils, why would it not send me into combat against Devilman? ...but then, Devilman can also be considered an "evolution" - or, alternately a "corruption" - of humanity, so that particular detail actually does appear to fit back into the puzzle as I've always understood it.
...but then, is the Overlord of Light really the source of my powers as an Agito? I mean, if Lucifer was able to drag me through the fourth wall, from his side of it, then wouldn't it be a trivial thing for him to endow me with some manner of equivalent to the Seed of Agito?
...but if that's what happened, Regis, then the million-dollar question is, 'Why-
"HOLY SHIT, DID THAT GUY JUST DO A FLYING HEADBUTT OFF THE TOP ROPE?! ON A GUY THAT ISN'T EVEN IN THE RING?!"
"Yes," Jun replies with some sass and no small degree of amusement, "that's exactly what he just did."
Oh, Japanese Professional Wrestling, you never cease to stun and amaze me.
Another day, another devil doing its dirty deeds, another stabbing pain inside my head prompting me to turn into a superhero and kill it.
The evening wind blows through, sending a chill down my spine.
...no, wait. This dread I'm feeling... it's more than just the weather or my general sense of anxiety. Something... bad is going to happen.
A female voice, barely kept aloft by the wind. "You should hide yourself, O lovely moon. ...unless you wish to see something truly horrible."
...no. No no no no no. I recognize that phrase. And now the moon's going behind some cloud cover? Shit, Silene's about to make her move, isn't she?
But then, does that really concern me? If I don't go and involve myself, Akira should be able to protect the Makimuras well enough, and Devilman's going to survive the night while Silene and Caim won't.
...but then, those two weren't like most of the other demons. They had... sentiment. Honor. It might be possible to get them to change sides...
"GAAAAH!"
Blinding, white-hot pain inside my skull. It seems the decision is being made for me. As if of its own accord, my mouth moves and says, "Transform!"
To be continued...?