The Chronicles of Exodus 2: Wrath of the Fallen

Chapter 14 Inner Demons

I blinked dirt and grime out from my eyes and peered out at the screen ahead of me. The dot was glowing a bright yellow. Just as I stood up, the glass shattered! Boom! I fell to the floor and looked up. It was Cooper. My eyes narrowed as I readied for a fight. I struggled to get up as he kicked me to the floor. "Cooper, why?" I asked. He punched me dead in the face. I wiped blood from my lip and looked up at him. "You betrayed me! Now, you try to kill me! You've already murdered our cousin! Who's next!" He yelled, kicking me again. "That day, up on that cliff we came to you for help! But instead to gunned us down in cold blood!" He yelled. "You wanted to attack me! I shot you in defence!" I argued. "Defence? How could we harm you? Your cells-""My cells can fight off any disease ever conceived..." I was yelling but stopped. A realization struck me like a truck. I really had gunned them down in cold blood. "You killed them!" a deep, slithering voice mocked in my head. I had no time to figure out who that was, now I had to worry about my brother. "You admit it! All these years you knew it! You killed us for your own personal gain!" Cooper yelled. He grabbed me by the throat. "Now I want you to feel exactly what you made me feel!" He pulled out his sword and smirked maliciously. He raised his sword and... Shing! I screamed in pain and watched as my arm dropped to floor, lifeless. I reached for my shoulder. He had sliced my right arm off just above the elbow. I clutched my shoulder and eyed him down. I gasped and crumpled to the floor as he pulled his sword out my leg. He then grabbed my left eye and squeezed. "No!" I yelled but it was too late. He ripped my already wounded eye from its socket. He tortured me over and over, delivering punches, kicks and even burned me. I remained on my knees, bleeding. He grabbed part of my blood and put it in a small cup. I felt lightheaded but now even more so. "Cooper, please no more." I groaned. "Silence!" He yelled punching my face and breaking my nose. I felt myself fade in and out of consciousness. As I did the same voice from earlier spoke, "Kill. Him.." It growled. I wanted to. I wanted rip out his spleen and stab out his chest! I wanted to rip out his eyes and tear open his stomach! The rage was beginning to grow, and I knew he could tell. My eye burned a hot fiery red. Cooper suddenly grabbed my throat. I grabbed his hand and tried to rip it away, but he was too strong. I watched was he slowly pulled out my old revolver and placed the barrel of it against my chest. I stood up straight, no matter how hurt I was. I looked him in the eyes and waited his move. Bang! The bullet pierced my skin and flew out my back. I groaned and wished for death. "We were gods once, all of us! Mortals were once scared of us, but now they think their weapons can easily stop us! When I'm done with you, I'm going to torture every single one of your friends!" He cackled. He raised his fist and...Boom! I was sent flying out the back of Kaiser obliterator's head and flew through the air. I saw small glimpses of the ground below. I saw the massive cliffs and plains where I fought the kaiju and Cooper, then I saw the endless amount of snow and rain. But just as I thought everything was over crash! I struck the ground and bounced before skidding to a halt at the top of...Dragon Mountain.

I felt the coal, rock and dust below me. I felt the hot rock and dried magma singe my skin and warm flecks of ash land on my face. But most of all, I felt every ounce of pain that had been inflicted upon me. I noticed my heart slow down and breathing becoming almost unnoticeable. I closed my eye and let it all go. "Stop fighting, stop resisting, rest now", a voice calmed me. Just as my vision faded to black I felt something crawl up across my chest and remain there, almost like a comforting hand. An odd and tingly sensation washed over me and I began to see bright, swirling yellow specks in the darkness. Suddenly, I opened my eyes. All around me was an empty void with pitch black tendrils suspending me in the middle of all of it. "I know who you are, but you don't know me, even though you should." A deep slithering voice boomed from the abyss. Gradually, I massive, toothy grin filled my vision. Its teeth were yellow and were placed perfectly inline with each other. Some of the teeth were chipped or had cracks, but all came together to make a despicable, evil, creepy grin. The mouth began to move, and spoke, "Jira, God of Destruction, Bringer of pain, The Quiet One, you are dying and only I have the power to save you", it said. "Who are you?" I questioned. The whole area quaked as the mouth began to laugh, cackling manically. I felt a sharp pain in my face and chest as the tendrils gripped me harder. "I am the Shadow Demon, The Reaper, The Smiler, I am the one who they do not name!" the smile erupted. As I floated there, suspended in the abyss the demon gripped me, latching onto me like a parasite. "Now, I have a proposal!" The Reaper bellowed. "I will revive you, allow you to have full control over your body and mind, be able to kill your enemies and slaughter the deserving and those who are not! But, in return, you must allow me to live in you, a secondary conscience to you own! Now, do you accept?" I contemplated the offer. I could guess my blood must be tainted or impurified after the beat down Cooper had on me. Then again, if I were to die, I could see her again, I could see them again. But then who would be there to stop Cooper? To stop the kaiju? Me. I am the only one standing between humanity's extinction and certain death. "I accept!" I yelled.

Slowly I awakened. I opened my eyes, my vision repaired, my wounds sealed, and my arm regenerated. I looked down my body, our body, a trail of black goo seeped across my skin leading all the way to my chest and to the jar. The very same jar hades gave me. A large crack was in the side of the jar. Presumably, the jar had been getting progressively more damaged, and all it took was one well-placed punch and a plummet to the ground to break it open. This was that demon, and it had awakened to save me. My eyes flickered a bright bioluminescent yellow as I gained control over my body again. I walked to the top of the volcano; the hot air combined with the endless smoke would normally sting my eyes but no longer. I peered down the pit of the volcano. Down there, somewhere, was my blades, The Banes of Destruction. I leaped in but floated slowly down. I soon realized that the demon had sprouted a pair of wings to allow me to glide slowly down. I glid towards a wall and ran across it before leaping to a large rock. I looked around, frantically searching. Even the demon was using its tendrils to flip over rocks but being careful as to avoid the lava. Just as I was about to climb out, I saw something. The shining glow of metal. I cautiously approached the sight. There right in front of my eyes was my greatest tools of war, wrapped in cloth and fabric. I scooped them up and unsheathed the blades. I held them firmly, tightening my grasp on the handles. I looked up at the sky before running at the wall of the volcano, stabbing the blades into the rock and began climbing out. Every time I ripped the blades from the rock, chunks of minerals and stone flew out and landed in the lava below. I was up out of the volcano in just under five minutes. I looked around, peering out at the storm and snow-covered country. The snow was less heavy and less abundant than a year ago. The number of zombies, hel-walkers and raiders had decreased immensely, and I had a theory as to why. A bright, blinding shot of lightning flashed to the east. "Cooper...', I scowled, and the demon growled and began to spread across my body. Covering me head to toe with its pitch black, gooey flesh. My eyes shot open, glowing a hot yellow. Wings tore out from my back and spikes shot out from neck and spine, and a wide, toothy smile spread across my face. I looked down at my blades. A small tentacle of goo spiralled up the hilt of one of the swords, it climbed up before seeping into the carving of a skull just above the handle. It filled the carving of where the eye should be before spreading out, filling the cracks and chips before completely capturing it. It then proceeded to capture the other blade before screeching. I roared as the blades ignited with a terrible yellow flame. We roared to the sky as thunder crashed in the far distance. A new demon had arrived on this world...