Date: Fri, 07 Aug 1998 21:05:31 +0800
A Devil Walks Among Us
by: Ian

* * *

     "A-a monster! It had to have been a monster!" the Monster thought
as it sped away from the camp. It had never met anything that could DO
that, ever! It was unfathomable, and the sheer impossiblility it imposed
pressed ever stronger in it's mind as it raced away. No! It was the King
here! It was Master! It was- Trapped! The other one, the boy, had
somehow gotten ahead of it. Ah, but this was only a boy, and boys fall
easily. Just as easily as it had thought the other would fall... That
thought brought the reality of the situation resonating clearly in it's
mind. These were obviously not just ordinary humans. But the King was
hungry, and hunger must be sated. Determination reinkindled, it growled,
baring ivory teeth that dripped both saliva and a tiny bit of blood
where they sheared  the gum. It growled, and sped towards it's target. 

     Shinji clenched his teeth and dropped into his fighting stance. His
mind was still foggy from Teri's projection, and that made him worry. If
he couldn't dodge fast enough, he would be torn to shreds. Hmm...maybe
this was a little too impulsive after all. No time for doubt. No time
for second guessing. The call to battle was sounding like massive bass
drums in his ears, drowning out all thoughts, all doubt. He watched his
opponent, moving like a bat out of hell, and waited. 

     The monster reared up with a great roar, leaping like a tiger upon
it's prey. Shinji pulled back, waiting for the last possible second...
and then striking! With a shout to rival that of the monster, he leapt
forward, right under the arch of the monsters massive claws as they
sliced through the air, his long, white bandana following behind him in
a wavy titanium stream. He landed right below its line of flight,
overhsadowed in the night by it's enourmous shadow. He clenshed a gloved
arm and hurled it up as hard as he could. It connected with the monsters
tough hide with a sick, padded thud. Shinji kicked up out of his crouch,
forcing himself and the monster high into the air. The monsters eyes
were wide with disbelief as it turned it's head to find it's assailant.
It glared at him, it's crimson eyes glowing malevolence, and he met the
gaze with one of his own. It snarled in fury, raising a huge white
clawed paw to cleave the human in two. It swung, but it's target was no
longer there. Confused, angry, and very very pissed, it swung it's head
frantically left and right to find it's target. He saw on the ground
beneath it, one hand gnarled into a five fingered claw, the other in
it's ready position. It roared in triumph, turning in mid-air to shred
the human to ragged ribbons of flesh. Shinji lept up to meet the monster
in mid-air. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. The two figures seemed to
move so slowly. The monsters claws moved in opposing pendulums, acting
like horrid pincers, it's slobbering jaw gaped open in a vice of death.
Shinji smiled, actually SMILED. He was so sure of this, but he just
didn't know why. His arm felt charged, as if his brief brush with Teri
as she was projecting at her highest yet somehow imbued it with power.
But he knew that this wasn't something as pure as emotion. It had a
darker, more sinister origin. He was back at the lake again, facing
those two reavers beneath the icy water. And again, just like then, his
right arm felt this way. It was the call to battle, the boiling of his
blood, the pounding of his temples. It all corelated right there, in his
right arm, and it felt magnificent. His smile broke into a roar just as
that feeling crested into a crimson peak. Suddenly, his hand was
engulfed in violet blue fire, it coarsed up his arm with thunderous
strength. His muscles throbbed with power that could level stone, and
with every ounce of energy those muscles held he thrust his hand into
the face of the monster. It half-roared, half-yelped at the searing pain
that echoed in it's head--and then beautiful serenity as it's head was
no more, followed by it's body, which was cleaved into two. The blue
fire ate through flesh, ate through bone, until it was all gone. Shinji
landed with a soft thud on the grassy floor, followed in quick
succession by the two body fragments. The fire flickered, and then
vanished entirely, and the power that had pulsed in his arm drained away
to nothing. The carcass crackled behind him. He opened his eyes, just
realizing he had closed them as he landed. The night was cold now,
almost bitterly so, but he didn't care. He smiled a somewhat evil smile,
his crimson eye glinting just a little brighter, before he got up and
began walking back to the others. After a few steps though, he grimaced.
Something wasn't right. He involuntarily lifted a hand to his
chest-plate as his legs gave way. He barely managed to keep up on one
knee. His head felt wrong. His chest felt wrong. His whole body felt
wrong. There was that feeling again, that feeling of displacement, as if
he had just lost something. He tried to stand, couldn't, tried again.
This time he fell face first into the ground. Why couldn't he stand? He
tried to push himself up from the ground, but he noticed something that
made his blood run cold. His right hand was totally burned. It was
burned a mottled black and red, and his gauntlet showed clear signs of
damage. 
 
     "That must be it," he thought. "It must be shock." He grunted with
pain as he forced himself onto his feet, stuggling to get his out of
control inner ear under control. He felt like he was spinning. He closed
his eyes and shook his head to clear it, but it didn't help. "No! I
won't fall, I won't fall!" he growled angrily at himself. Then, he took
a slow, agonizing step forward. He craddled his right hand with his
left. Walking helped. The pain helped. It helped to keep those thoughts
away. Those voices that taunted him in his mind. Those hideous, laughing
voices that WOULD NOT LEAVE HIM ALONE!!! He nearly collapsed again. The
voices then took a more sinister tone. 

     "Hah! He is weak!"
  
     "No. I am not!"

     "You ARE weak! How could he possibly be the one?! He can't even
stand on his own!"

     "I can stand on my own. And I AM the one!" Shinji shouted to the
dissembodied voice, arguing just for the sake of arguing, not caring
what it was about anymore.

     "Oh really? Well then, Damned One," it said those words with such
contempt. "why don't you prove that to us? Kill your friends."

     "No. No, they are my friends! How could I-"

     "IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO DECIDE! You WILL kill them! Not now maybe,
but soon enough. Soon enough you will have to kill them. What do you
think they will do when they learn what you are?"

      "What. . .what I am?"

      "Ah, but haven't you guessed yet? Aren't you in the least bit
curious? You have just begun to tap your power, and isn't it true that
even the longest jorney begins with but a step? I shall wait, for I have
time. Eventually I will have my time, for I am patient, and all things
come to he who waits. And when my time comes, this whole misserable
world will be bathed in blood!" 

      Shinji groaned as the pain in his head grew as the voice erupted
into malicious laughter, baying like some great hound in the resesses of
his conciousness. He fell over onto all fours, struggling to stay up.
His hand was suddenly engulfed in the same fire as before, but now it
spread onto his entire form, engulfing him in dark energy. He screamed
as he felt his flesh begin to melt away, until only a ragged, charred
skeleton remained. 

      Then he opened his eyes.

      He was back near the corpse of the monster, in the same crouch he
was in when he landed. He whirled around. The voice was gone. He glared
at his hand. It was whole again. Had it been a dream? Had he imagined
the whole thing? Right now he didn't want to think about that. Doing
that would only bring the voices back. Instead, he broke off into a run,
trying to leave that cursed place as fast as he could. He would get back
to his friends. He wouldn't tell them about this, they would think he
was insane. It was crazy! Pretty soon he fancied he'd be seeing ghosts
reaching out for him from the shadows. Of course, with what he just
dreamed, that no longer seemed to be such an impossibility. He
shuddered, then only quickened his pace. 

    It was crazy. 

    Wasn't it?