Smoke and fire; fear and death. All those things and what were similar to those things surrounded Gin as he stood upon the roof of an apartment building, eyes focusing on the huge shape of Dagarkra as said creature began to move back into the city; its powerful legs tearing through a building and causing the remains to collapse into dust. To the gigantic creature, it was akin to a human walking through some bushes. Pay them no more heed than to just move them out of the way. Of course around his feet it was absolute chaos for anyone, be they soldiers, civilians or police officers. They were just bugs and if they got in his way, that was their fault.

Gin watched all this with a look a slightly raised eyebrow. He had not been entirely expecting this. Obviously, the destruction was to be predicted, particularly given Dagarkra's aggressive nature, but seeing it actually took him by surprise a little. Huh, and I was calling for the damn monster. Damn, was I expecting him to be warm and fuzzy?

He shook these thoughts from his mind and quickly glanced around at the smoking trail of destruction, his ears filled the cries of wounded, the sirens that blared out through the night sky and, as he turned back to the creature, a loud crash as it knocked over another building. Dagarkra will complete and then deal with those pesky 'heroes' of this city, especially their new friend. As long as Gin held the spears, he had all the cards.

"GIN!"

Gin wheeled round to see three figures standing at the edge of the roof. Hime, Ao and 'Godzilla'.

"Oh, looks who's here!" he said with fake enthusiasm, emphasising it by throwing out his arms and letting them slap back into his sides. "I was wondering when you guys would get here and stop me."

"That's because we're going to, Gin!" Hime growled at him.

Gin rolled his eyes and huffed. "Oh, here it comes! The heroes state that they won't give up and that the villain is doomed. Oh no!" his voice turned mocking for a moment and then gave a chuckle as if someone had just told a joke. "You do realise that you three are alone and cannot even hope to stop me, let alone Dagarkra."

"Think again, Gin!" a voice declared from nearby.

Another five figures, two women, one dressed as a nun, and two men and young boy of about ten, landed alongside Hime, Ao and 'Godzilla'. Upon seeing them, Gin, rather than become nervous, just chuckled. "So the rest of the party has arrived. Glad you could join us."

Akina and Kyosuke glared at Gin and Kotoha, teeth gritted and eyes burning like they were going suddenly shoot fire at her adversary, held up a pistol towards him. Yae took out her swords and stood in an attack pose. The young boy did the same. Gin, chuckled when he saw them standing like this: May as well call them 'the Avengers'.

"You're not getting away from us!" She hissed at him. "You and that monster of yours are gone!"

Gin rolled his eyes and shook his head a little in disappointment. "You guys really don't understand it." He told them. "You can't beat Dagarkra! He's practically unstoppable. Why do you think he's called the 'Accursed Demon'? It's there for a reason! And you're steroid junkie of a friend here-" he nodded at 'Godzilla', who had both fists clenched tightly together and had a look akin to a bull that had just seen red and was ready to charge "-is of no help to you either. When this town is done, he's gonna come for you all. Especially you!" he added with a venomous tone towards 'Godzilla', who glared back at him.

Another series of loud booms drew their attention to Dagarkra, who growled and stomped down on something that was obscured by a row of buildings; the movement seemingly shaking the entire city. To the group, it was mostly likely that he had smashed into dust a group of police officers, or possibly even city residents who had tried to fight him. Though valiant, their defence was futile. Against a creature such as this, they could not hope to win. And Dagarkra continued on, flicking his arms out to take the tops off the surrounding buildings, raining death and destruction to those below who were able to avoid being flattened by his feet.

Gin exhaled and shook his head in disappointment, muttering a "Dear, dear, dear." Under his breath as he looked back at the group. "Looks like some people here don't understand not fighting something that's huge and can crush you like a bug."

"And you don't understand that coming here and trying to destroy Sakurashin was a big mistake!" Kyosuke growled.

Gin cackled, throwing his head back at the Oni's words. "Wow, and I thought you of all people, or whatever comes close to them, would have understood one thing!" he told him, breathing deeply as he tried, unsuccessfully, to control his laughter, resulting in a few more chuckles. "You do that your little sister is at the one place you don't want her to be right now."

For a moment, bewilderment and fear swept through the group as Gin took a few steps back and pointed with the spear in his right hand into the city. The human/Yokai group followed his arm and their eyes fell on a large grey building about a mile or two away. Lit up windows filled the areas of the building facing their direction, though some were quickly turning off as if they were trying to avoid attracting the attention of Dagarkra. No doubt the creature was heading towards the Nana-Gou a few hundred metres behind the hosp-

Kyosuke's eyes widened. Touka!

Yes! Gin saw his chance. Raising both spears into the air, the jade green crystals at their ends began to glow brightly at his command. Then, like a lumberjack chopping wood in two, he slammed them down onto the roof. A bright green wave of energy shot out in a circle around him, though he had to turn away because of the light. When he looked back he saw six motionless figures lying on the floor. Ha! No mat- wait! Six?!

WHAM! Something hit him square in the jaw. Next thing he knew he was flying through the air and then falling. He landed with a painful thud on the roof of the neighbouring building, sending short, but sharp jolts of pain shooting up and down his body. As he got up, he saw 'Godzilla' standing near the roof of the building, hand clenched into a fist and face contorted into a look of anger further evidenced by the gritted teeth. Next to him stood Hime, who held an equally furious expression, her hand gripped tightly around the handle of her katana. The group gradually picked themselves up behind them, trying to assess the situation.

"Nice try, assholes!" Gin shouted at them as he got up, putting himself in a battle-ready stance, spears at the ready for the coming fight. "But your steroid friend here isn't gonna help you get far."

"He's not going to!" Hime exclaimed.

She jumped across the gap between the two buildings and landed gracefully and with ease, as if she had made a simple leap over a small floor space. Her eyes glared at Gin with vehement anger, the redness within them blazing away as she gripped her katana with both hands, her mind set on one thing: Kill Gin. Not defeat; Kill!

Gin seemed to sense this because he smiled wickedly at her as if mockingly. "Getting a little hot-headed, are we?" he asked rhetorically. "Better watch yourself, mayor!"

"Hime!" 'Godzilla's deep voice exclaimed from behind as the others joined him in looking over at the two. "You cannot fight him alone!"

"Yes I can!" Hime shouted back, not taking her eyes off her opponent. "You guys go and stop Dagarkra. Get everyone you find out of that hospital! Get them to safety!"

"Hime-" Akina spoke up but she shouted him down.

"No, Akina! Get going!" She turned to look at them and one clear sight of her eyes that seemed to glow with anger shut them all up on the spot. With that, she turned back to face Gin. "You're dead!" she snarled and lunged at him with a yell, aiming a blow at his head which he blocked with his spears and forced her back and taking swing of his own at her, to which she ducked and rolled away a few feet before springing to her feet once again.

As the group watched the fight unfold, they felt themselves wanting to jump in and help her. She was going to need it! Even as skilled as she was with her katana, Gin was still very dangerous, and using two spears that had displayed their unspeakable power twice in the last few nights was going to be more than a match for Hime. She needed help! 'Godzilla' even started moving to jump across the gap between the buildings to her; Ao, Akina and Kotoha doing the same. Kyosuke, however, stopped them by uttering the mayor's orders of them needing to get to the hospital, his voice heavy with fear as he glanced in said building's direction to see the huge form of the monster stomping closer.

As much as it pained them to leave her, they had to face the facts. They had to get to the hospital. Otherwise many people would die, Touka and Juri, their nurse friend who possessed superhuman strength, included. And if they won, Hime would never let them forget it.

"C'mon!" Kyosuke urged them again and began leaping across the rooftops in the direction of the hospital as the others reluctantly followed.

Behind them, Hime and Gin continued to battle furiously, determined to defeat and kill the other.

If there was one, or a handful of words that could describe the hospital right now, it was chaos. Sheer, utter chaos. Doctors and nurses were pushing gurneys up and down corridors towards the elevators; some even going towards the stairs. One doctor was even pushing an elderly woman towards a window where a young woman with a pair of wings sprouting out of her back was waiting, nervously glancing at the approaching form of Dagarkra, now only a few hundred feet away. The stomps of his feet caused the building to shake a little; every passing moment making it more evident. Doctors were rushing up and down corridors and checking rooms and toilets to ensure nobody was being left behind.

"Juri, anyone in there?!"

"No, it's empty. The whole top floor is clear!"

Said nurse, a short, brown haired woman dressed in a nurse's uniform that was now untidy given the day's events and the current fear suddenly brought upon them by the arrival of this demonic creature, rushed down the corridor. She stopped outside another room and quickly poked her head in to see if anyone was there. No one. Good! I hope they got out. But How many more won't? I just hope Touka is okay.

As she continued on down the corridor, she found herself glancing at those in her surroundings. Gurneys carrying immobile or injured patients moved with those who could walk, all of them being guided by doctors, nurses and secretaries as well as a few police officers towards what they hoped was safety. The literal sea of heads, tens of voices all shouting or giving orders and the pushing to get out of the building prevented her from being able to focus on anyone for too long. But one thing she did pick up on was the order in this evacuation. Usually, people assumed that when faced with this sort of event, people would be panicked, terrified, each and every one of them acting like wild animals as they would think only of self-preservation. Not here. Though clearly worried about what was about to happen, everyone was evacuating in a mostly orderly manner. Maybe the hospital and law enforcement officials around them helped with this as they each kept calm as best they could. Juri could understand them. After all, they were literally trained to be calm and orderly even if there was a war raging right next to them. Their calm demeanour could be what eventually made everything go smoothly and not descend into anarchy. It was times like this when Juri really felt like she was making a difference, and right now that was something she needed to do.

As she rushed past a group of people and headed towards a room at the end of a corridor, the building quacked and the lights flickered, simultaneously accompanied by cries of terror and the rattling of various medical instruments and patient belongings falling to the floor. A loud roar sounded out from outside, followed by a loud crash as something big sounded like it was collapsing. Juri gulped, feeling her hear rate accelerate rapidly. Last room and then I better get out of here!

She reached the room and threw open the door, eyes quickly scanning the room to see it was empty. The bed's covers were strewn over its end and on the floor with a few machines laying next to it; the screens on one of them having cracked when it fell over. Juri was about to leave when her eyes looked towards the window and went wider than she could have ever thought possible.

Marching towards them was the huge form of a creature whose blood-red skin was only accentuated by the glow of the fires in the surroundings and of the lampposts that lined the street at its feet. Even though she could not see the face clearly from her vantage point – not that she was disappointed by this – the anger and hatred that burned within its eyes was enough to make her pass out. Too bad this place won't be any good for me given the situation! She watched as it paused for a moment and looked down as if disgusted with the people who were probably fleeing in droves like ants scurrying around a disturbed anthill, then raised its foot and brought it down with a thud that rocked the building a little more violently than before as loud crashes and panicked yelps and cries erupted up and down the corridor. Juri, having grabbed hold of the door to keep herself steady, looked on hopelessly, knowing what this thing had just done and that she, and likely everyone else in the hospital were bound to follow whoever had had their lives literally squashed in the blink of an eye. Oh, was there nothing that could stop this thing?!

"Juri, c'mon! We have to go!" A nurse shouted from further down the corridor.

She turned and went to leave but paused and looked back out the window at the creature as it had started moving towards the hospital once again. For a moment a look of anger came to her. What she wished on this thing was … well, to put it lightly, inhumane. She wished this thing would be hurt, beaten, even crushed or torn apart. But given the damage and destruction it was causing, nobody could really blame her.

She could only hope that something would deal with it soon. But as she turned to leave the room a loud whooshing sound filled the room, the source of the noise coming from outside. Then, a loud roar filled the air and she looked back at the window and was amazed at what she saw.

WOW! Talk about wishes being granted!

For Dagarkra, the searing pain was a big and painful shock for him. One moment he was storming towards the second Nana-Gou, tearing apart anything and everything human that stood in his way with reckless abandon. The next moment, something simultaneously lit up the night sky and heated up his skin like a rising sun. Pain quickly followed and flared up and down his shoulder, back and neck as it was clear something had exploded on his back. He roared loudly and sank to his knees, shaking the surrounding city and no doubt flattening several rows of cars, and people who had failed to get out of the way. He reached his hand back to the base of his neck and immediately retracted it as it stung like fire to the touch, making him emit a grunt of pain.

Something whooshed overhead and he looked up and growled to see a small vehicle pass over very quickly. Dagarkra, doing the best to ignore the pain, rose to his feet, only to duck again as another one shot past him at a few thousand feet above. Having them do this made him feel furious. Oh, he wished he could fly after them and knock them out of the sky and crush those who drove them into dust.

Wait! A loud noise filled the air behind him. He looked to see about four shapes moving towards him, large floodlights turned on and red and white lights blinking on and off randomly. The tops of them were spinning quickly and the sound of them reverberated in the air. He glared at them angrily. Those human machines he thought he had chased off earlier were back again for another round? Well, he was not going to disappoint them.

Two of the vehicles broke off and moved to his left whilst the others turned to the right. Large guns mounted to the sides began firing at him and he instinctively covered his head as the bullets collided with his arms and the spikes that ran down the back of his neck. They stung madly but his size meant that his skin was thicker than anything normal sized and so resistant to the humans' attempts at trying to harm him. Anyone on the street below or in one of the buildings looking up at this knew that though it was a valiant attempt to distract the creature, it was suicidal. What he had done to the other helicopters earlier on, knocking them out of the sky like flies, had proven that beyond doubt. And there was especially no doubt that those events were about to be repeated.

Dagarkra, still crouched, turned and then leapt up and swiped the nearest helicopter on his right out of the sky. The craft dropped like a stone onto a nearby glass building, exploding and breaking in two, leaving a huge gaping hole in the front with some of the remnants falling out of view to the street below. He moved onto the remaining three, ripping out a chunk of one of the buildings that only just reached to his knees, and tossing it at one the helicopters as it passed over a street about a hundred metres away. The ball of rubble missed but the pilot's evasive actions made the helicopter bank sharply left to get away. Another ball of rubble passed overhead, this time only just missing it.

"Goddamn it! Everyone hang on!" the pilot screamed into his radio as cries of panic and instructions from the other two helicopters rang out.

"Watch out!"

Another piece of rubble was thrown. This time it hits its target and the helicopter was struck in the rear rotor. The vehicle spun madly as the pilot tried in vain to keep it airborne, alarms ringing in the ears of the occupants. It fell towards the ground, clipped the side of a building and then crashed into the street, crushing two cars and a parked van and causing a few people who had been running from the hospital and one of the nearby apartment buildings to scream and dive for cover. Dagarkra, however did not even acknowledge it as he turned towards the hospital, locked onto his next target and, with a step forward, swung a punch, hitting the helicopter dead on and sending it careering towards the hospital.

Juri had gone from being amazed to feeling utterly devastated as she watched the battle unfold with the army. Two of the helicopters along with probably tens of innocent and defenceless people had their lives snuffed out by this thing, and without any effort on its part. Oh, she had to do something! She had superhuman strength, dammit! She could do something against this thing! She would. She would! She would run outside, grab the nearest car or piece of rubble and throw it as hard as she could at it. Hopefully she could cause some damage and get it to go after her, giving the people here a chance to escape before it caused any more deaths. It as going to be tough, but she felt like she had to do-

Something coming towards the window snapped her out of her thoughts. It was a helicopter and-

Juri barely had time to dive for cover before the room seemed to explode inward in a wave of rubble and fire and her world went black.

A/N: Hey fellow FF readers and writers. Apologies this one was a bit late. I had a lot of work. The progression and monster action will definitely pick up in the next two chapters.