Sparks to the flame

Prologue


We live in a massive city deep below the surface of the Earth. Pushed to the brink and armed with steel and technology we survive. Computers and Nikkes barricade the public from the threat of the surface. From the Raptures.

It doesn't change the fact that there exists a lot of strange phenomena, bizarre beyond reason or logic.

Most folks just don't see them. That's because they cling to order, to any tiny happiness that comes their way, and they blind themselves with their technology and their war games.

There's a world of infinite darkness out there, beyond time or space. A world filled with evil that is undeniably real. In that world, there are things that run wild that have begun to turn their horrifying alien eyes upon us.

There is perhaps one small comfort in the face of the infinite darkness for Humanity. It is that if we fall, we will not face our demise alone. The Raptures will fall with us. Let us pray it does not come to that. Let us pray that the unrelenting Human spirit will pull through one last time.

- Diary Entry 257, September 16th -

- Commander Michael John Smith -


The sound of Gunfire and the Explosions of rocket propelled grenades cracked and shook the earth. The air was full of smoke and and the occasional flashes of automatic weapons as shrapnel and dirt was sent flying all across the broken land.

Fwooosh

The sound of a massive amount of Air being displaced and the resulting explosions of robots being destroyed had become an all too common noise for Annin these days. She had hidden herself away during the heydays of Humanity, yet now there was no point. Humanity was forced underground and yet she remained on the surface, protecting the Furnace of Eight divisions.

It was impossible to move the large furnace as it's spiritual power was greatest at this holy site.

Her black eyes were weary, and her once full figure was gaunt from the exhaustion that weighed upon her body. her long black hair was frayed and thin despite using her power to maintain her youthful appearance, and her age was beginning to show. The red and gold dress she wore was marred with soot and dozens of holes from automatic cannons. No matter how many times she repaired it with her magical ability, the weaponry of the Raptures would damage it again and again in their futile attempts to hurt her.

10,000 years. Not once in her life had she been so overworked and overwhelmed. As a goddess, she had immense strength, but she could not leave the furnace, lest the worst happen and the Demon realm be allowed to merge with the Earth, and even the strongest need rest. Yet she continued tending to the huge golden furnace with the Bansho Fan. The mountains of Rapture remains filled the land for miles around, as if it were a graveyard for the robotic beings, and sprinkled among those were fresh Nikke corpses. It seemed that Humanity had completely forgotten about her, and had confused her for the enemy.

It wasn't a surprise. She was constantly in her giant form, standing almost ten meters tall, as it allowed her to use her full power. The commanders had attacked first and retreated before any conversation was to be had. She didn't want to kill Humans if she didn't have to, and even the Nikkes had fragments of souls.

She held back from killing the Nikkes if she could, but in a fight, holding back isn't always possible.

She was getting tired. Getting old, and even now the thought of stopping, even if only for a while began creeping into her mind. Her divine purpose, given by the Kais 10,000 years ago upon her birth was nigh unshakeable, but even she needed rest. It had been over 100 years since she last slept, and the Raptures hadn't given her a moment's rest. Time was not on her side. Still, she fanned the flames, and maintained the magic that staved off total destruction.

She doubted either Humanity, nor the Raptures knew of her purpose, for if they did, interfering with her work would be the last thing they should do. She had tried building a home dozens of times, yet each time she created one, the Raptures would destroy it with their rockets and artillery. She was given no quarter. It was as if the Raptures lived for the sole purpose of killing every living being they detected, Human or not.

The fabric between the worlds was weakening on the planet, and she could feel the slow but steady grasp of the ones beyond corrupting the world silently and secretly.

As she was thinking, a fresh wave of several dozen Servant Class Raptures and six Master Class Knight Raptures began another Assault upon her.

The flash of Gunfire, the sharp scent of fire and gunpowder along with the cold metallic tinge filled the air. It was all she smelled these past decades. Well, that was until the rotten smell of decaying brain matter from dead Nikkes occasionally was blown in to her with the wind that whistled in through the corpse piles.

Swinging the massive fan, a blast of wind capable of uprooting a mountain completely shattered the Raptures and sent thousands of Rapture scraps flying for over a mile. After she swung the fan, Annin slumped over on to her knees.

"You wage a futile struggle" a woman's voice sounded from behind a mountain of Rapture scraps.

Annin tried to rise to her feet, but wobbled and fell to her knees again.

"I don't know who or what you are, and honestly I don't care. But the Queen says you're worth Keeping busy" A woman with long red hair and a large black armored frame spoke. Her chest was almost completely exposed if not for some armor covering her large voluptuous breasts from the sides. large black metal maws like those of a dragon extended from her back like two writhing dragon heads, with large sharp teeth and red eyes, each with spikes as long as blades along the edges. Humming cannons rested inside the maws, giving the woman a feral and dangerous look compared to Annin's ragged yet still slightly refined look.

The woman that faced her kicked some rapture parts at her, and even though they were easily several dozen meters away the metal shot forward with supersonic speeds, striking Annin on the face. To Annin's credit, she didn't even flinch. Such an attack could not hurt her, even if this Heretic focused all her attacks upon her full power for several weeks, she would hardly have a scratch.

"Stop interfering with my work" Annin growled out weakly, and stood up slowly, Walking back to the furnace on wobbly legs.

The redhead's face morphed into a vicious snarl.

"See, that's what I hate about you. You never hit me back and only respond when I threaten your stupid furnace. What does it even do?" The woman growled before raising her cannons towards Annin's furnace and released a burning torrent of gunfire and blasts of fire on top of it. Annin stopped her walk, swinging the Bansho fan towards the Redhead with a cracking sonic boom and even then the wind was immensely powerful, deflecting the attack and sending her flying several hundred meters before she righted herself midair.

Her scream of rage could be heard for miles around, if there was anyone there to hear it.

Shooting across the sky like a blazing comet right towards Annin, she pulled back her fist in rage and swung at Annin's face. Annin, despite her exhaustion was able to react to her attack, dodging out of the way at the last second. However, Nihilister used the miss to transition to a barrage of firepower as she zipped around the Giant in close quarters landing hit after hit with resounding cracks and booms where she could not properly use the Bansho fan.

Annin raised her free arm above her eyes to shield them from the attacks, but that's what Nihilister wanted, instantly she switched targets and unleashed a barrage on the golden furnace that she had attacked hundreds of times before, yet it was all for naught.

Untill it wasn't.

"Noo!" Annin shouted in horror as a hairline fracture grew on the edge of the furnace.

"Run, while I still can hold it closed" Annin shouted with terror and fright in her voice as a crack began forming on the furnace, and the sky was dyed dark purple. For a moment Nihilster thought the woman was playing her for a fool but then she was thrown to the ground and flattened by a presence that was beginning to force it's way through into the world.

She heard a screaming that overwhelmed her in such intensity that everything else was completely drowned out as her vision went black. her mind was crushed under the weight of the entire universe and she could not move for even a centimeter.

Despite her almost completely mechanical body, The still human part of her brain was immediately overwhelmed and the brash and fearless Nihilister met hopelessness face to face. As she stayed stock still, she could not find it within herself to do anything but curl up on the ground and pray to whatever god there was that whatever was forcing it's way into their reality was pushed back. The presence was so overwhelming, so higher dimensional that just being in the vicinity of it tore all the will to resist from her heart and crushed it like dirt in a hurricane.

She could do nothing but watch in primal terror as Annin stood against the purple energy that was seeping through the crack on the golden furnace, a golden flaming energy flared around her, but it was being sucked into the furnace as she struggled and growled against the impossible presence.

"Flee you fool!" Annin shouted as immense wind tore across the land, and her voice barely made it to Nihilister's ears. However, she could not move, rather, she would not dare move, lest that immense presence swallow her whole and destroy her completely.

Annin was barely in a better state, her body violently shaking like a leaf in a typhoon. Raising her hands wide above her head, Annin shouted out some incomprehensible words, and with the sound of that like a crack of lightning, the purple that died the world was sucked back into the furnace and the presence vanished.

Annin, now fully drained of her power shrunk down into the size of a normal human and fell to the ground. She twitched and groaned in pain on the ground helplessly underneath the fifteen foot tall golden furnace.

Nihilister, to her credit recovered slowly and got up several minutes later. It took a moment for her brain to recalibrate and operate the machinery again, as the presence had so thoroughly washed over her that she had almost lost herself in abject terror. Slowly taking to the air and hovering over to Annin, she landed next to her and turned over the twitching and shivering Annin.

Annin looked up defiantly at her, but Nihilister didn't attack her. She needed answers and she needed them now.

"What the hell was that?" She growled, gripping Annin by the collar, but her voice was still shaky from her fear that still hadn't left her.

"M..Mech...Mechi" Annin tried to speak, but couldn't continue as it was too hard to even talk.

"What the fuck do you keep locked up in that furnace?" Nihilister who didn't curse often couldn't help but reveal her unnerved and entirely shaken words, and pulled her closer.

"Tell me God damn it!" Nihilister shouted again, straddling the Goddess and not even bothering to wait for Annin's reply before slamming her fist into the Goddesses face over and over. Loud booms shook the ground as each blow connected, and Annin couldn't even resist. She hated the feeling of helplessness that she had just felt. She joined the Rapture queen to never feal that weakness again.

Despite her loss of power, Annin took Nihilister's strikes which could level skyscrapers on their own many times over before weakly coughing out to stop.

Nihilister raised her right arm one more time before stopping and rolling off of her, just lying on the ground next to her.

Annin took a few seconds to breathe before mustering the strength to speak.

"That was Machikabura's power. He is Demon God from the Demon Realm. My furnace holds the barrier between the Demon Realm and the Universe closed" Annin spoke before falling into a coughing fit as blood spurted from her mouth, nose, and eyes. The strain of using power well beyond her ability had weakened her, and it would take years for her full power to return.

"Hold on, you mean to say that Demons are real?" Nihilister asked, some of her bravado returning as she sat up.

Annin coughed up more blood that at this time was pooling all around her face and forming small streams down her cheeks. Seeing this, Nihilister couldn't help but feel bad for the Goddess to a small degree.

"Yes...Please, carry me to the furnace" Annin coughed out with a violent spasm.

"Don't get your blood on me damnit. I might just kill you" Nihilister threatened, but deep inside she knew she couldn't. No, unless she was given a direct order she wouldn't. Whatever Annin was keeping contained in that "Demon Realm" needed to stay there. Destroying Nikkes and Humanity wasn't an issue, but if just that fraction of whatever Mechikabura was could defeat her so thoroughly, she didn't dare think of what would happen of that being actually entered the Universe.

Picking up the Goddess with one hand by the collar and holding her out, she made her way over to the golden furnace and tossed the Goddess against it from several meters away, not wanting to be very close to it any longer than she had to be.

When Annin's body struck the golden furnace, a bright golden flash shone and Nihilister flinched despite herself.

When the golden light died down, Annin's injuries quickly mended themselves as her pallid demeanor slowly returned back to a semi energized one.

Letting out a long breath, Annin stood up.

"Thank you for listening to my request" Annin spoke and looked towards Nihilister who was standing cautiously several meters away, one edge.

Nihilister, not bothering to reply to the thanks spoke up.

"Talk. Now" She commanded, but was somewhat concerned that she no longer held the advantage in a contest of strength now that Annin had been healed by the furnace.

"Well do you have time to listen to the history of this universe?" Annin asked, resting against the cauldron, on hand resting on her knee, the other laying on the ground.

"Keep it brief" Nihilister said, still wary of this strange being that she now saw in a new light.

"Well, my story started 10,000 years ago when the God of Destruction, Angel, and all the Kais of this universe gave their lives to seal Mechikabura back in the Demon Realm" Annin spoke, but Nihilister interrupted.

"You need to back it up a lot. What is a God of Destruction, A Kai, and do you expect me to really believe that Angels also exist?" Nihilister growled, finding it hard to stomach.

"They did exist. They no longer do. When Mechikabura attempted to use this universe as nourishment for his plans, the strongest beings in the universe gathered all their life force and formed a sealing barrier to stop Machikabura from manifesting and taking the power of the universe for himself. To put it simply, there was a hierarchy among the gods of the universe and the galaxies.

To put it simply, the Kais were the lowest level of Gods above my own minor godhood though, each capable of creating planets, stars, and even solar systems with a wave of their hand, next came the God of Destruction. His job was to destroy worlds, stars, and even galaxies if there was an imbalance of life.

And finally. the Angel. An immensely powerful being completely impervious to anything the universe could throw at it, however Angels are meant to be neutral. In seeing the situation with Mechikabura, the Angel had broke his neutrality and was stripped of his power and his punishment was to be used as the power that sustains the barrier fully. Thus leading to me here and this furnace.

This furnace is the catalyst that contains the angel's power. However, it is quite fragile" Annin spoke and let out a long exhale afterwards.

Nihilister put her hands to her face in frustration.

"So you're saying these gods or whatever sealed away this demon god, and the only thing stopping him from returning to destroy the universe, is you and your furnace?" Nihlister asked, beginning to piece the puzzle together.

Then her eyes went wide as if she had been distracted by something.

"Wait" She exclaimed seemingly to no one before nodding resignedly.

Looking to Annin, she spoke up.

"Damnit I gotta go" She scowled before turning away and shooting off across the horizon.

All that night, no more Raptures attacked Annin, nor the next morning, or the next after that.


Author's Note: Alright, let me get some things across now before anyone asks.

I know that in DBZ Annin guards the barrier between the universe and the afterlife, but in this story she guards the barrier between the universe and the Demon Realm.

This is mainly the Nikke Earth with the exception of Annin and the Demon Realm. So no Goku or Vegeta to save them. The Nikke verse in this is just one of the infinite in the SDBH continuity. Also the Angel, The GoD, and the Kais of this universe are all dead as explained in the story.

Obviously the Nikke verse has no way to deal with let alone Fight Mechikabura. Heck even Annin would steamroll the verse, but that's not the point of the story. Think of it more as a survival story instead of a battle story, outside of the Raptures and Humanity of course. The whole point of this story is for the Nikke Earth to find a way to stop the unsealing of Mechikabura before he even enters the universe. Think of it like rushing to disarm a bomb before it goes off. I hope you stick with me on that. I have some interesting ideas planned for that.

Anyways, if you have any thoughts on the story let me know.

Till next time.