The Dark World
Prologue
In a far off galaxy, there existed a chaotic dark world that was populated by many insane monstrous creatures; however they were not always monsters. In fact they were all once normal humanoid beings, but many of these carnivorous monsters had long since forgotten who they were, and the ones that still remembered would eventually fall under the control of one being. He was originally known as Berenkar, but after the world’s terrifying transformation, he was from then on referred to as the Dark World Master, he ruled with an iron fist over the planet, and he was the one responsible for turning the citizens into these terrifying abominations that were only obedient to him.
The Dark World Master lived inside a giant floating black castle that hovered above the clouds. Large, jagged spikes protruded from the top of the castle, and sharp spires emerged from the bottom as well. The castle had lavender window frames and a large door in the shape of a skull. The inside of the castle had always remained dark and murky. A single long rickety flight of stairs led to the monarch’s main room. The corridors were adorned with colossal eyeballs that were embedded into the walls, these organic eyes were in every room, always watching their surroundings as a reminder to every one of his minions that the dreadful master was watching their every move, so that in case they betrayed him or disobeyed any of his laws in any way, they would be taken directly to the ruler to be punished, whether it meant exile or execution. The huge glaring eyeballs in the pitch black walls allowed him to observe every move, nothing would avert his gaze, nothing could be hidden from him.
The skeletal, yet muscular figure of the Dark World Master sat on his obsidian throne of darkness, his bloodshot eyes were watching over all of his servants along with his nightmarish world. His triangular serpentine slits for pupils darted around, he looked at the screens in front of him and observed the titanic monsters that resided on the surface of the Dark World as they wandered the planet, lashing out at anything that crossed their path, undoubtedly he knew they would destroy those who opposed their master, little did these mindless creatures know that they would get their chance, as he was monitoring his slaves at full alert, since he had heard that there had been a traitor in his fortress. He growled as he tapped his claws against the armrest of his throne, after long hours of searching for the traitor, he had seen one of the screens cut to static. He smirked, showing some of his sharp teeth as he was confident that he had finally found him, and he was not going to be let off easily. “You have made the biggest mistake of your life...Vertukai.” The Dark World Master then arose from his throne, walking through the darkness as his purple cape flowed behind him.
Vertukai was a Griffin-like creature; he had large bat-like wings that emerged from his back. He had a long, golden beak as well as immensely sharp talons on his feet. He donned purple knight armour that consisted of flat shoulder pads and golden cuffs on each arm, muscular upper torso armour and metal plates as his lower torso armour. Vertukai was huddled in a dark corner of the room, leaning over his desk, drawing up blueprints of the cryptic castle, the eye embedded into his wall having been scratched up. He had hoped this would buy him some time to complete his plans. However, he stopped sketching out the blueprints the moment he heard the Dark World Master speak in his echoing demonic voice. “Vertukai...why are you hiding from me?”
Vertukai felt chills run down his spine, he stood there, his fear rendering him completely immobile. “I know what you’re up to, do not deny it.” The muscular king struck open the door with his mighty blade, opening it widely. He stormed into the room and grabbed his traitorous minion by the neck, dragging him towards his main chambers.
“Contemptible traitor!”
“Destroy him, Master!”
“No, let me devour his flesh!”
“And I, his eyes!”
Multiple monstrous creatures roared within the shadows as Vertukai was dragged into the center of the room and then beaten senseless. The chaotic king delivered various harsh blows to his face. He spat out blood, regretting that he got caught. Vertukai stood up and turned around to face the Dark World Master.
“My master, you have this all wrong, betraying you has never once crossed my mind!” Vertukai exclaimed. “It’s never even occurred to me, I swear it...please, have mercy on my poor soul...”
“Hmm…” Berenkar eyed the avian monster suspiciously. “In that case...” He took out the blueprints that mapped out his castle and handed them to him. “Care to explain this?”
“What is that?”
“Explain yourself!”
“Kill him, Master!”
The King raised his hand, the beastly voices quieted down, allowing Vertukai to explain himself. He paused momentarily, searching his mind trying to seek a perfectly reasonable answer. “Umm…well…you see…” He grunted in pain as he looked at the leering eyes glaring down at him from the shadows. “They were...simple renovation plans, weapons that I could implement throughout the castle to keep unwanted intruders out of here.”
“And why was the eye monitoring you scratched?” The Dark World Master asked.
“I...wished for it to be a surprise.” Vertukai told him. “I could not find a way to deactivate it...so I had to take drastic measures. Humblest of apologies, Master.”
“An interesting tale.” The Dark World Master walked up to him and grabbed him by the neck, raising him up in the air. “Too bad that’s all it is...you’re forgetting that I can see into your soul, I could always sense your hatred towards me ever since we had exchanged glances.” The evil king held him close to his skeletal face, his head adorned by a three pronged samurai-like helmet in the shape of a twisted crown with spears and curved horns jutting from the spikes. He tossed him against the wall. “Stop lying and confess your sins!”
Vertukai coughed as he felt his grip getting even tighter, his grip loosened to let him speak. “Alright, damn you! I admit it...I planned to betray you ever since you ruled over this world!” The Dark World Master let out a demonic laugh in response, his laugher echoed throughout the castle walls. Vertukai glared at the monstrous king. “Someday…” Vertukai said in a mellow voice “…someday I will put a stop to your misdeeds, I will change everyone back to how they were, and free the world from your tyranny!”
The Dark World Master laughed even harder now, this time joined by his hideous minions. Once this laughing had ceased, his grip on Vertukai’s neck tightened. “Even if you could escape from my wrath, what makes you think that you can vanquish me?” His grip on Vertukai’s neck had gotten stronger, his victim had started choking once more. “I am very disappointed in you Vertukai, one of my greatest warriors standing up against me, I know I had seen it coming, but it is still nonetheless…unfortunate…” The Dark World Master had clutched the sword with his powerful hand. He immediately struck Vertukai in the center of his stomach with the flat end of the dark sword, that precise blow had sent Vertukai flying through the murky corridor until he smashed into a solid brick wall, dust had flown everywhere and a couple of brick chunks broke and plummeted to the ground, Vertukai was in such immense pain that he could hardly talk. He had fallen to the ground, powerless.
“This is what you deserve for betraying me; you should have seen this coming. I should execute you right now, but I think my loyal subjects wish to torment you before you are slain. Besides, you have served my cause well for a time, so instead, I shall be merciful and exile you, as you no longer belong to this world.” Vertukai weakly got up, having regained some of his strength; he turned around, opened his beak and breathed out a ball of fire at the wall, breaking it apart upon impact. Vertukai jumped into the air and flew out of the hole, he soared through the sky, flapping his wings as he silently flew away from the castle.
“Of course, he knows that I will send my forces after him, and they will do everything in their power to destroy him.” The Dark World Master pointed his finger towards Vertukai as big, floating eyeballs with waving slimy tentacles on their backs had entered the room, floating by his side. “Eye monsters…you know what to do.” The Dark World Master had whispered to them as he grinned. The eyeball creatures silently nodded and then rocketed out of the gap.
Vertukai looked back and saw three monstrous eyeballs flying after him. He flapped his wings even more rapidly, propelling himself upwards, the eyeballs however, like heat seeking missiles, launched themselves in the same direction, careening straight towards him. Vertukai flew past the clouds, and took many sharp turns, swerving left, swaying right until he had gone through the planet’s atmosphere and then entered space.
“There, I’m off your accursed planet, now leave me be!” Vertukai had taken a backwards glance a second time; the three eyeballs were still following him. “Damn! I can’t shake them off my tail.” He cursed to himself, he looked ahead as he glared off in the distance. He raised his hand, his palm crackling with fiery purple energy, he moved his arm back and then thrust it forwards, launching an energy ball that he flew forwards, forcefully stabbing it with his claws, he pulled outwards until the energy started to tear open, morphing into a portal in front of his eyes, he quickly flew into it, then turned around and shut it behind him as quickly as he could, he observed his surroundings, as the portal had taken him to another universe. It was one he was unfamiliar with, as he did not have enough time to carefully choose his destination.
Vertukai searched for a galaxy to hide in, when a white light caught his eye, a hazy light that spanned across a wide arc. Vertukai flapped his wings and flew as fast as he could, entering this galaxy that others knew as the Milky Way. Vertukai looked over his shoulder one more time and was glad to see that his pursuers had lost him. Relieved that these eyes had stopped following him, he raised his arms in triumph and started laughing, he let out a victory cry to celebrate his success. “I did it!”
Unfortunately for him, the eyeballs flew as fast as Vertukai did, slipping through the portal after he had entered and just before he closed it, silently pursuing him throughout the exact same universe. Just after Vertukai shouted out in victory, one of the eyeballs tracked him down, it flew in from the right and struck him in the side of the ribcage. Vertukai’s shout of victory had altered into a cry of pain as he clutched his chest and growled. “Damn it...you’ll pay for that...” He was about to swipe at the eyeball with his claws when another one of the eyeballs hit him in the back, and the final eyeball had made a direct blow to his stomach.
Vertukai was furious, he scratched the first eyeball and breathed out a fireball at the second eyeball, the creatures had narrowly avoided his attacks however and continuously struck him all over his body. Angrily swiping and breathing fire at them, they had broken out in a fight, the eyeballs narrowly avoiding every attack the weakened monster made, they had traveled across the galaxy scratching and crashing towards each other until three of the eyeballs hit him in the chest all at once, knocking him back, he had then entered Earth’s atmosphere and plummeted down to the watery planet below.
---
Meanwhile, on Earth, a 16 year old boy who lived in Tokyo was walking home. This teenager was named Makasu Hiroshi. Makasu had spiky black hair and wore a red bandana with a Yin and Yang symbol in the center of it over his forehead. Hiragana for “Hi” was written on the left side, and Katakana for “Hope” was written on the right side. Makasu wore a long, plain white t-shirt, he also wore a black belt across his waist along with large, baggy white pants. He often walked around barefoot, rarely ever wearing footwear. Makasu had narrow, dark brown eyes, a short, pointy nose and long sharp canine teeth that overlapped his other teeth and were more prominent whenever he grinned.
As soon as Makasu got home, he knocked on the door. He watched the door open as his father Sesu stepped out to greet him. Sesu was a stocky man who was much shorter than his son was, he had grey hair that was tied up in a bun along with a thick full beard that enveloped his chin. He had wrinkled eyes and wore a blue kimono. He smiled as he greeted his son at the door, then folded his hands together. Makasu followed suit and bowed to his elder.
“Welcome back, Makasu.” Sesu greeted him warmly as he bowed. “How was your day at school?”
“Same old, same old, I can’t complain, really.” Makasu smirked as he bowed. “Well, it was a little boring, that much I can complain about.” He chuckled.
“Even still, you must realize that your studies are important.” Sesu said in his gruff, stern voice.
“I know, don’t worry, I’m keeping on top of everything, my grades have been fine.” Makasu reassured him.
“Good.” Sesu stood aside and motioned for him to come inside. “Now come, there is much work for you to do at the store.”
The Hiroshi family had a tradition, as soon as the child was old enough to learn about responsibility, they would take up a job at the Hiroshi family’s resident sushi store where they would help their parents around the place. This was true for Makasu as well; he helped his father chop up the sushi before selling it. This day in particular was a busy one. Makasu was carefully preparing around thirty batches, cutting up the raw fish with expert precision.
“Almost...got it!” Makasu looked at the food closely as he carefully prepared it.
“Excellent work, my boy.” His father smiled warmly at him as he sliced his knife across the fish.
“Nothing to it.” Makasu smirked confidently.
They ate any leftovers they had at the end of the day for dinner before restocking them, and they would have their share of any new shipments if it was sold out.
“Ahh, love this stuff!” Makasu said as he ate the remaining sushi as quickly as he could.
“Makasu, you eat faster than anyone I’ve ever known.” He wagged his finger at him. “You must watch yourself, you could choke or get a stomach ache if you’re not careful.”
“Aw, come on, dad. You know I have a big appetite.” Makasu rubbed the back of his head as he grinned.
“Oh, believe me, I know.” His father chuckled. “You’ve always been a big eater ever since you were born.”
Makasu chuckled nervously before he smiled and held his plate out. “Seconds, please!”
“How many plates are you on now?” Sesu raised an eyebrow.
“Uhh...six.” Makasu shifted his eyes back and forth. “Maybe eight? I kinda...lost count.” He sheepishly admitted.
“I swear, there’s a black hole in that stomach of yours.” Sesu closed his eyes and shook his head.
“Well, I need my strength so that I can train.” Makasu shrugged.
Every day 30 minutes after supper, Makasu would grab his sheathed sword from his room, and excitedly run outside to train. For he had come from a long line of samurai, every one of them did something great for the country, leaving their mark on the world in some way by fighting various battles and wars. Although the samurai era ended around 1870, his father had been a great swordsman in his own right who just recently retired after his latest battle in order to settle down and focus more on his shop, having opened up in a new location and while Makasu enjoyed the quiet life, he always wanted something more. He knew great things were expected of him and he set his aspirations high, wishing to be an excellent swordsman, he had hoped to even bring the samurai era back, it was his dream to become one of the greatest samurai in the world, feeling that he not only wanted to save his country, but the entire world as well.
Makasu wanted to be known for his bravery and strength, he did his best to train every day after supper in order to hone his skills, conquer his fears and build his strength most of all. He wanted to make his father proud of him, but he wanted a good heroic reputation more than anything, and wished to be known worldwide. He couldn’t express in words how soon he wanted this day to come, he looked forward to it ever since he learned of his heritage.
There was one thing that was getting in the way however, although Makasu wanted nothing more than to be a hero, at the same time he was very fun loving and far too overconfident in his skills, his father always told him to sharpen his wits, that he should remain humble no matter how much recognition he gets, and that if he were to be a skilled samurai, then he would have to be far less cocky, and more serious in his endeavors. He did his best to follow his father’s teachings, although sometimes it was easy to lose sight of his goals. His father was always patient with him, as he was young and still had time to learn.
Makasu stepped outside for his training, he sat on the prickly green grass, remaining completely silent with his eyes closed. It was as if time itself had stopped for a while, nothing happened until he was joined by his father. “Are you ready, my son?” Sesu asked as he scratched his beard.
“Always.” Makasu smirked as he opened his eyes and stood up.
“If you insist, but remember to leave that attitude at the doorstep.” Sesu pulled a lever, causing wooden catapults to rise up, launching wooden blocks into the air, arcing towards the young samurai.
The moment he saw the wooden block heading towards him, Makasu immediately unsheathed his sword, he leaned to the left, narrowly avoiding the wooden block which just barely brushed past his ear. He swung his sword to the right, slicing the wooden block in half.
He saw three other wooden blocks heading towards him, he took his sword in both hands and leapt into the air, swinging his sword vertically multiple times, slicing the three blocks apart at the same time.
“Well done.” Sesu clapped. “Your senses are getting much sharper.”
“I guess so, but I don’t feel like it’s enough...” Makasu mumbled before rushing off into a nearby forest.
“Makasu, where are you going?” Sesu ran after his son. “Makasu!”
“Hmm...” Makasu looked around, searching for anything that would be willing to fight back until he stumbled across a bee and caught it in between his fingers, crushing it. “Gotchya!”
“Makasu, what are you...” Sesu ran into the forest and watched as Makasu dropped the crushed insect to the ground. “Oh no...”
The teenager ran up to the nearest beehive and drove his sword upwards and to the right, slicing the hive clean in half. He heard a loud sound and looked up as a swarm of surviving bees that emerged from the hive flew upwards. Makasu smirked confidently and raised his sword. “Now things are getting interesting, bring it on!”
They had smelled the blood of their deceased worker bee and then dove downwards, heading straight towards its killer. The swarm charged after Makasu as he simply ran towards them, slashing noises were then heard as groups of bees fell to the ground.
“Makasu, no!” Sesu reached towards him, but it was too late, Makasu was in the heat of battle, and nothing would deter him.
“HYAH! HYAH! HYAH!” Makasu yelled out a series of battle cries as he drove his sword every which way, slicing across every direction at a rapid pace until the rest of the swarm was killed, he leaped into the air and sliced downward, delivering a final strike to the remaining bees, severing them all in half.
“Hmph, you call that a challenge?” Marcus smirked as he slung the handle of his sword over his shoulder. “That took absolutely no effort.” He glanced back as he sheathed his sword.
“Makasu!” Sesu scolded his son. “What was that all about?”
“I wanted more of a fight, just to see if I could take on some targets that had a chance at fighting back.” Makasu pointed his thumb behind him. “So much for that, huh? Did you see all that?”
“I did, and that is no way a samurai should live!” Sesu yelled in a strict manner. “You must not go recklessly looking for fights, especially not at your age where you could get seriously hurt!”
“But dad...targets and blocks and all that are fine, but they can only go so far, I’m ready for bigger things, I just know I am!”
“You must not rush it. If you do so, you will only get yourself injured, or worse.” Sesu looked down at all the bees. “Those were innocent creatures just doing what nature asked of them, you should know better than to disrupt the natural balance of the world.”
Makasu sighed. “I’ll keep that in mind for next time, alright? I just wanted to try something new.”
Sesu scowled and walked away. “I’m going to bed, I suggest you do the same once you get all this adrenaline out of your system.”
“Right...” Makasu sighed. “Guess I’ll go out for a walk, then...” He ventured further into the forest.
“He doesn’t understand.” The two muttered at the same time.
The Dark World Master lived inside a giant floating black castle that hovered above the clouds. Large, jagged spikes protruded from the top of the castle, and sharp spires emerged from the bottom as well. The castle had lavender window frames and a large door in the shape of a skull. The inside of the castle had always remained dark and murky. A single long rickety flight of stairs led to the monarch’s main room. The corridors were adorned with colossal eyeballs that were embedded into the walls, these organic eyes were in every room, always watching their surroundings as a reminder to every one of his minions that the dreadful master was watching their every move, so that in case they betrayed him or disobeyed any of his laws in any way, they would be taken directly to the ruler to be punished, whether it meant exile or execution. The huge glaring eyeballs in the pitch black walls allowed him to observe every move, nothing would avert his gaze, nothing could be hidden from him.
The skeletal, yet muscular figure of the Dark World Master sat on his obsidian throne of darkness, his bloodshot eyes were watching over all of his servants along with his nightmarish world. His triangular serpentine slits for pupils darted around, he looked at the screens in front of him and observed the titanic monsters that resided on the surface of the Dark World as they wandered the planet, lashing out at anything that crossed their path, undoubtedly he knew they would destroy those who opposed their master, little did these mindless creatures know that they would get their chance, as he was monitoring his slaves at full alert, since he had heard that there had been a traitor in his fortress. He growled as he tapped his claws against the armrest of his throne, after long hours of searching for the traitor, he had seen one of the screens cut to static. He smirked, showing some of his sharp teeth as he was confident that he had finally found him, and he was not going to be let off easily. “You have made the biggest mistake of your life...Vertukai.” The Dark World Master then arose from his throne, walking through the darkness as his purple cape flowed behind him.
Vertukai was a Griffin-like creature; he had large bat-like wings that emerged from his back. He had a long, golden beak as well as immensely sharp talons on his feet. He donned purple knight armour that consisted of flat shoulder pads and golden cuffs on each arm, muscular upper torso armour and metal plates as his lower torso armour. Vertukai was huddled in a dark corner of the room, leaning over his desk, drawing up blueprints of the cryptic castle, the eye embedded into his wall having been scratched up. He had hoped this would buy him some time to complete his plans. However, he stopped sketching out the blueprints the moment he heard the Dark World Master speak in his echoing demonic voice. “Vertukai...why are you hiding from me?”
Vertukai felt chills run down his spine, he stood there, his fear rendering him completely immobile. “I know what you’re up to, do not deny it.” The muscular king struck open the door with his mighty blade, opening it widely. He stormed into the room and grabbed his traitorous minion by the neck, dragging him towards his main chambers.
“Contemptible traitor!”
“Destroy him, Master!”
“No, let me devour his flesh!”
“And I, his eyes!”
Multiple monstrous creatures roared within the shadows as Vertukai was dragged into the center of the room and then beaten senseless. The chaotic king delivered various harsh blows to his face. He spat out blood, regretting that he got caught. Vertukai stood up and turned around to face the Dark World Master.
“My master, you have this all wrong, betraying you has never once crossed my mind!” Vertukai exclaimed. “It’s never even occurred to me, I swear it...please, have mercy on my poor soul...”
“Hmm…” Berenkar eyed the avian monster suspiciously. “In that case...” He took out the blueprints that mapped out his castle and handed them to him. “Care to explain this?”
“What is that?”
“Explain yourself!”
“Kill him, Master!”
The King raised his hand, the beastly voices quieted down, allowing Vertukai to explain himself. He paused momentarily, searching his mind trying to seek a perfectly reasonable answer. “Umm…well…you see…” He grunted in pain as he looked at the leering eyes glaring down at him from the shadows. “They were...simple renovation plans, weapons that I could implement throughout the castle to keep unwanted intruders out of here.”
“And why was the eye monitoring you scratched?” The Dark World Master asked.
“I...wished for it to be a surprise.” Vertukai told him. “I could not find a way to deactivate it...so I had to take drastic measures. Humblest of apologies, Master.”
“An interesting tale.” The Dark World Master walked up to him and grabbed him by the neck, raising him up in the air. “Too bad that’s all it is...you’re forgetting that I can see into your soul, I could always sense your hatred towards me ever since we had exchanged glances.” The evil king held him close to his skeletal face, his head adorned by a three pronged samurai-like helmet in the shape of a twisted crown with spears and curved horns jutting from the spikes. He tossed him against the wall. “Stop lying and confess your sins!”
Vertukai coughed as he felt his grip getting even tighter, his grip loosened to let him speak. “Alright, damn you! I admit it...I planned to betray you ever since you ruled over this world!” The Dark World Master let out a demonic laugh in response, his laugher echoed throughout the castle walls. Vertukai glared at the monstrous king. “Someday…” Vertukai said in a mellow voice “…someday I will put a stop to your misdeeds, I will change everyone back to how they were, and free the world from your tyranny!”
The Dark World Master laughed even harder now, this time joined by his hideous minions. Once this laughing had ceased, his grip on Vertukai’s neck tightened. “Even if you could escape from my wrath, what makes you think that you can vanquish me?” His grip on Vertukai’s neck had gotten stronger, his victim had started choking once more. “I am very disappointed in you Vertukai, one of my greatest warriors standing up against me, I know I had seen it coming, but it is still nonetheless…unfortunate…” The Dark World Master had clutched the sword with his powerful hand. He immediately struck Vertukai in the center of his stomach with the flat end of the dark sword, that precise blow had sent Vertukai flying through the murky corridor until he smashed into a solid brick wall, dust had flown everywhere and a couple of brick chunks broke and plummeted to the ground, Vertukai was in such immense pain that he could hardly talk. He had fallen to the ground, powerless.
“This is what you deserve for betraying me; you should have seen this coming. I should execute you right now, but I think my loyal subjects wish to torment you before you are slain. Besides, you have served my cause well for a time, so instead, I shall be merciful and exile you, as you no longer belong to this world.” Vertukai weakly got up, having regained some of his strength; he turned around, opened his beak and breathed out a ball of fire at the wall, breaking it apart upon impact. Vertukai jumped into the air and flew out of the hole, he soared through the sky, flapping his wings as he silently flew away from the castle.
“Of course, he knows that I will send my forces after him, and they will do everything in their power to destroy him.” The Dark World Master pointed his finger towards Vertukai as big, floating eyeballs with waving slimy tentacles on their backs had entered the room, floating by his side. “Eye monsters…you know what to do.” The Dark World Master had whispered to them as he grinned. The eyeball creatures silently nodded and then rocketed out of the gap.
Vertukai looked back and saw three monstrous eyeballs flying after him. He flapped his wings even more rapidly, propelling himself upwards, the eyeballs however, like heat seeking missiles, launched themselves in the same direction, careening straight towards him. Vertukai flew past the clouds, and took many sharp turns, swerving left, swaying right until he had gone through the planet’s atmosphere and then entered space.
“There, I’m off your accursed planet, now leave me be!” Vertukai had taken a backwards glance a second time; the three eyeballs were still following him. “Damn! I can’t shake them off my tail.” He cursed to himself, he looked ahead as he glared off in the distance. He raised his hand, his palm crackling with fiery purple energy, he moved his arm back and then thrust it forwards, launching an energy ball that he flew forwards, forcefully stabbing it with his claws, he pulled outwards until the energy started to tear open, morphing into a portal in front of his eyes, he quickly flew into it, then turned around and shut it behind him as quickly as he could, he observed his surroundings, as the portal had taken him to another universe. It was one he was unfamiliar with, as he did not have enough time to carefully choose his destination.
Vertukai searched for a galaxy to hide in, when a white light caught his eye, a hazy light that spanned across a wide arc. Vertukai flapped his wings and flew as fast as he could, entering this galaxy that others knew as the Milky Way. Vertukai looked over his shoulder one more time and was glad to see that his pursuers had lost him. Relieved that these eyes had stopped following him, he raised his arms in triumph and started laughing, he let out a victory cry to celebrate his success. “I did it!”
Unfortunately for him, the eyeballs flew as fast as Vertukai did, slipping through the portal after he had entered and just before he closed it, silently pursuing him throughout the exact same universe. Just after Vertukai shouted out in victory, one of the eyeballs tracked him down, it flew in from the right and struck him in the side of the ribcage. Vertukai’s shout of victory had altered into a cry of pain as he clutched his chest and growled. “Damn it...you’ll pay for that...” He was about to swipe at the eyeball with his claws when another one of the eyeballs hit him in the back, and the final eyeball had made a direct blow to his stomach.
Vertukai was furious, he scratched the first eyeball and breathed out a fireball at the second eyeball, the creatures had narrowly avoided his attacks however and continuously struck him all over his body. Angrily swiping and breathing fire at them, they had broken out in a fight, the eyeballs narrowly avoiding every attack the weakened monster made, they had traveled across the galaxy scratching and crashing towards each other until three of the eyeballs hit him in the chest all at once, knocking him back, he had then entered Earth’s atmosphere and plummeted down to the watery planet below.
---
Meanwhile, on Earth, a 16 year old boy who lived in Tokyo was walking home. This teenager was named Makasu Hiroshi. Makasu had spiky black hair and wore a red bandana with a Yin and Yang symbol in the center of it over his forehead. Hiragana for “Hi” was written on the left side, and Katakana for “Hope” was written on the right side. Makasu wore a long, plain white t-shirt, he also wore a black belt across his waist along with large, baggy white pants. He often walked around barefoot, rarely ever wearing footwear. Makasu had narrow, dark brown eyes, a short, pointy nose and long sharp canine teeth that overlapped his other teeth and were more prominent whenever he grinned.
As soon as Makasu got home, he knocked on the door. He watched the door open as his father Sesu stepped out to greet him. Sesu was a stocky man who was much shorter than his son was, he had grey hair that was tied up in a bun along with a thick full beard that enveloped his chin. He had wrinkled eyes and wore a blue kimono. He smiled as he greeted his son at the door, then folded his hands together. Makasu followed suit and bowed to his elder.
“Welcome back, Makasu.” Sesu greeted him warmly as he bowed. “How was your day at school?”
“Same old, same old, I can’t complain, really.” Makasu smirked as he bowed. “Well, it was a little boring, that much I can complain about.” He chuckled.
“Even still, you must realize that your studies are important.” Sesu said in his gruff, stern voice.
“I know, don’t worry, I’m keeping on top of everything, my grades have been fine.” Makasu reassured him.
“Good.” Sesu stood aside and motioned for him to come inside. “Now come, there is much work for you to do at the store.”
The Hiroshi family had a tradition, as soon as the child was old enough to learn about responsibility, they would take up a job at the Hiroshi family’s resident sushi store where they would help their parents around the place. This was true for Makasu as well; he helped his father chop up the sushi before selling it. This day in particular was a busy one. Makasu was carefully preparing around thirty batches, cutting up the raw fish with expert precision.
“Almost...got it!” Makasu looked at the food closely as he carefully prepared it.
“Excellent work, my boy.” His father smiled warmly at him as he sliced his knife across the fish.
“Nothing to it.” Makasu smirked confidently.
They ate any leftovers they had at the end of the day for dinner before restocking them, and they would have their share of any new shipments if it was sold out.
“Ahh, love this stuff!” Makasu said as he ate the remaining sushi as quickly as he could.
“Makasu, you eat faster than anyone I’ve ever known.” He wagged his finger at him. “You must watch yourself, you could choke or get a stomach ache if you’re not careful.”
“Aw, come on, dad. You know I have a big appetite.” Makasu rubbed the back of his head as he grinned.
“Oh, believe me, I know.” His father chuckled. “You’ve always been a big eater ever since you were born.”
Makasu chuckled nervously before he smiled and held his plate out. “Seconds, please!”
“How many plates are you on now?” Sesu raised an eyebrow.
“Uhh...six.” Makasu shifted his eyes back and forth. “Maybe eight? I kinda...lost count.” He sheepishly admitted.
“I swear, there’s a black hole in that stomach of yours.” Sesu closed his eyes and shook his head.
“Well, I need my strength so that I can train.” Makasu shrugged.
Every day 30 minutes after supper, Makasu would grab his sheathed sword from his room, and excitedly run outside to train. For he had come from a long line of samurai, every one of them did something great for the country, leaving their mark on the world in some way by fighting various battles and wars. Although the samurai era ended around 1870, his father had been a great swordsman in his own right who just recently retired after his latest battle in order to settle down and focus more on his shop, having opened up in a new location and while Makasu enjoyed the quiet life, he always wanted something more. He knew great things were expected of him and he set his aspirations high, wishing to be an excellent swordsman, he had hoped to even bring the samurai era back, it was his dream to become one of the greatest samurai in the world, feeling that he not only wanted to save his country, but the entire world as well.
Makasu wanted to be known for his bravery and strength, he did his best to train every day after supper in order to hone his skills, conquer his fears and build his strength most of all. He wanted to make his father proud of him, but he wanted a good heroic reputation more than anything, and wished to be known worldwide. He couldn’t express in words how soon he wanted this day to come, he looked forward to it ever since he learned of his heritage.
There was one thing that was getting in the way however, although Makasu wanted nothing more than to be a hero, at the same time he was very fun loving and far too overconfident in his skills, his father always told him to sharpen his wits, that he should remain humble no matter how much recognition he gets, and that if he were to be a skilled samurai, then he would have to be far less cocky, and more serious in his endeavors. He did his best to follow his father’s teachings, although sometimes it was easy to lose sight of his goals. His father was always patient with him, as he was young and still had time to learn.
Makasu stepped outside for his training, he sat on the prickly green grass, remaining completely silent with his eyes closed. It was as if time itself had stopped for a while, nothing happened until he was joined by his father. “Are you ready, my son?” Sesu asked as he scratched his beard.
“Always.” Makasu smirked as he opened his eyes and stood up.
“If you insist, but remember to leave that attitude at the doorstep.” Sesu pulled a lever, causing wooden catapults to rise up, launching wooden blocks into the air, arcing towards the young samurai.
The moment he saw the wooden block heading towards him, Makasu immediately unsheathed his sword, he leaned to the left, narrowly avoiding the wooden block which just barely brushed past his ear. He swung his sword to the right, slicing the wooden block in half.
He saw three other wooden blocks heading towards him, he took his sword in both hands and leapt into the air, swinging his sword vertically multiple times, slicing the three blocks apart at the same time.
“Well done.” Sesu clapped. “Your senses are getting much sharper.”
“I guess so, but I don’t feel like it’s enough...” Makasu mumbled before rushing off into a nearby forest.
“Makasu, where are you going?” Sesu ran after his son. “Makasu!”
“Hmm...” Makasu looked around, searching for anything that would be willing to fight back until he stumbled across a bee and caught it in between his fingers, crushing it. “Gotchya!”
“Makasu, what are you...” Sesu ran into the forest and watched as Makasu dropped the crushed insect to the ground. “Oh no...”
The teenager ran up to the nearest beehive and drove his sword upwards and to the right, slicing the hive clean in half. He heard a loud sound and looked up as a swarm of surviving bees that emerged from the hive flew upwards. Makasu smirked confidently and raised his sword. “Now things are getting interesting, bring it on!”
They had smelled the blood of their deceased worker bee and then dove downwards, heading straight towards its killer. The swarm charged after Makasu as he simply ran towards them, slashing noises were then heard as groups of bees fell to the ground.
“Makasu, no!” Sesu reached towards him, but it was too late, Makasu was in the heat of battle, and nothing would deter him.
“HYAH! HYAH! HYAH!” Makasu yelled out a series of battle cries as he drove his sword every which way, slicing across every direction at a rapid pace until the rest of the swarm was killed, he leaped into the air and sliced downward, delivering a final strike to the remaining bees, severing them all in half.
“Hmph, you call that a challenge?” Marcus smirked as he slung the handle of his sword over his shoulder. “That took absolutely no effort.” He glanced back as he sheathed his sword.
“Makasu!” Sesu scolded his son. “What was that all about?”
“I wanted more of a fight, just to see if I could take on some targets that had a chance at fighting back.” Makasu pointed his thumb behind him. “So much for that, huh? Did you see all that?”
“I did, and that is no way a samurai should live!” Sesu yelled in a strict manner. “You must not go recklessly looking for fights, especially not at your age where you could get seriously hurt!”
“But dad...targets and blocks and all that are fine, but they can only go so far, I’m ready for bigger things, I just know I am!”
“You must not rush it. If you do so, you will only get yourself injured, or worse.” Sesu looked down at all the bees. “Those were innocent creatures just doing what nature asked of them, you should know better than to disrupt the natural balance of the world.”
Makasu sighed. “I’ll keep that in mind for next time, alright? I just wanted to try something new.”
Sesu scowled and walked away. “I’m going to bed, I suggest you do the same once you get all this adrenaline out of your system.”
“Right...” Makasu sighed. “Guess I’ll go out for a walk, then...” He ventured further into the forest.
“He doesn’t understand.” The two muttered at the same time.