Cross Slash 001: Heaven or Hell (1/2)

CROSS SLASH !!

The City Named Heaven Arc // 001: Heaven or Hell (1/2)

Written By

K.D. Howard

Dr. Sven Cain is evil…

From a time in innocent youth, Sven was once the leading force in medical science and robotic engineering. He immersed himself in his studies until he drowned in it. Astounded by the amount of scientific knowledge he amassed from both his robotic engineering and his medical practices, Sven earned an irrefutable reputation as a genius; even so, he continued to strive further in his field…

…the more he succeeded in his professions the more his desire for knowledge became a matter of pure pride. Sven wanted to be the best in every way could be.

Through the eyes of friends and colleagues, they caught a glimpse of his tender approach to his medical practice. Also his achievements in robotics were well received. Dr. Sven was respected and very well considered as a genius.

However, through the eyes of those who saw through his benevolent facade... they noticed that Sven was becoming unhinged.

They stayed away from him.

Unfortunately for the remaining few who put their faith in his surgical procedures, they became the inadvertent martyrs for his pursuit of forbidden science…

…along the way, Dr. Cain lost count of the death toll he reaped and cared not for a single one of his victims.

#

In the vein of the angel who fell, Sven fell from the Grace of God. His diabolical deeds was known world wide. Dr. Cain was shunned by everyone; he became a pariah among those who once loved them and respected him; but oh how they now loathed him; Oh how they reviled him for having a mind so maladjusted; a mind so twisted; a mind so lost in villainy and depravity.

#

Six months after Sven was ostracized; he vanished; like an ember strayed from the flame from whence it came…

…a promise of hellfire and brimstone soon to come.

No longer does Sven desire to further his science for the benefit of mortal flesh but instead he furthered his robotics to pursue immortality; not with flesh and blood but with iron and steel.

Sven meticulously builds and builds: day by day; one creation after another; each deadlier than the last.

Time after time he labored without a single bead of sweat. The blood these machines will eventually spill, but it will never quench his vengeful bloodthirst nor will the bloodshed even come close enough to sate this bloodthirsty madman.

Such unhinged savagery; to what madness does Sven's heart tick; what madness distorts his mind?

#

10 Years Later

From an overlook's edge, Sven fixes his gaze upon Tengoku: the city named Heaven.

Even in the distance, the view of Tengoku is brilliant and glorious. The very image of its sublime nature and sublime peace irks..

Sickened, Dr. Cain clenches his fist until it bleeds. He tucks the bleeding fist in his pocket. The blood soaks through the pocket. His blood drips through the fabric.

The blood drenches his hand; and with the same bloody hand, Dr. Cain swipes across the distant image of Tengoku's skyline; as if to erase its existence.

He clenches his bloody fist; the blood squelches.

Fury consumes him.

Dr. Cain thrusts his bloody fist towards the sky as if he was that one who rallied his band of rebel angels to lift themselves from the fiery pool and to wage war against that Holy Realm.

How pitiful an attempted coup d'etat the fallen angel made.

How pitiful it was for the rebel angels who dared to challenge God.

Regardless, the rebel army advances to Tengoku: The city named Heaven.

Upon arrival of Tengoku’s premises, Dr. Cain orders his robotic armada to seek and slaughter every citizen of Tengoku City.

If his army encounters any resistance... well it's better put by the vile scientist himself:

"To those who resist you... make an example out of them! Peel their flesh off and feed it to the rats! Grind their bones into dust and cast it into the wind! Collect their skulls as trophies of your triumph!

The rebels obey.

With haste they seek their victims; with haste they slaughter.

Not even a single emotion sways Dr. Cain. Not even when the citizens' gnarled remains are tossing about every which way.

Broken bodies pile beneath him. His nerves remain solid as steel, amidst this grotesque scene of bloodshed so much he is not even fazed when a bloody, beaten pulp whisks past his head and splatters upon the wall behind him.

What chords of evil does his heart pluck!?

The Phantom Elite, a group of five reanimated corpses wearing cybernetic armor, serve as Sven's personal guard.

Like assassins they cling to darkness. With shadows they cloak their weapons; with malice they eviscerate countless bodies.

The Phantom Elite: ghosts from another realm; silent assassins from another era.

Blood spills… blood floods through the cobble-stoned streets of Tengoku.

It flows through the streets for the dogs to lap. Such innocent creatures are the dogs; for they know not of the chaos transpiring around them. They do not know from whence the blood flows…

Dr. Cain's sky fleets are robots fashioned after both the Tengu of the Forests and the Tengu of the Mountains...

#

Not too soon after he was ostracized, Dr. Cain ventured to the forests and mountains with an irrefutable offer to the Tengu.

In exchange for immortal bodies, members of Tengu Clans offered bodies of flesh; they too followed Dr. Can in his dark pursuits; foolishly beguiled like the damsel in the garden; the maiden was deceived by a forked tongue.

Dr. Cain fashioned two models after the mystic Tengu: One model is fashioned after the grotesque, elongated nosed goblins; the Tengu of the Forest. The other model is fashioned after the vicious; proud, black feathered raven-like creatures: the Tengu of the Mountains.

The Tengu have always been isolated creatures. Their kind is forbidden to tread in human territories; however

Dr. Cain's offer for immortality proved itself to be more than just an irrefutable offer.

Terrible greed enraptured some of the Tengu; As for their more noble brethren, they loathed the mad genius. They disowned their foolish brethren and ventured back to their homes.

#

The rest of Sven's robotic armada resemble a motley of flesh and blood animals. Their images mirrored beasts of the land, fowl of the air, and creatures of the sea; thus they were dubbed as The Beasts: savage in form: deadly by their deeds.

These monstrosities killed their share of victims as well.

No longer are the skies of Tengoku serene and carefree; neither is there laughter and neither is there merriment lingering about every avenue and around every corner. Instead, sadness and weeping resonate in one single cry; desperate pleas echoing throughout the sky; bodies pile and their spilt blood lapped by dogs…

When will He answer!?

Destruction and turmoil spans throughout Tengoku City. Fire engulfs heaps of flesh and rubble; the rot of ruin satiates the air with its putrid stench. Buildings topple one by one; one by one they fall further away from Heaven above, to which the skyscrapers desperately reach, but only to fall six feet further into the Hell below; into that fabled burning heap Gehenna: the old fiery pit of yore smolders and smolders with fire and brimmstone.

Effortlessly the robotic squadrons capture and slay scores of Tengoku's citizens, spilling even more of their blood... have the dogs had their fill; or perhaps they’re licking the wounds of their slain masters…

…the poor things.

Sven's Raptor Fleet are vicious and heartless robots fashioned after Birds of Prey. The Raptors and Tengu soar side by side through the ashen sky; in fleets the Raptors haul gigantic prisoner cells across the fiery sky. They drop the prisoner cells into which the frightened and weeping citizens are cast into by the Beast Units. They organize the citizens in rows four by four... will they live or will they die?

Amidst the group, there is a fiery red-headed youth with hair smooth from the roots to the spiky curled ends. She has piercing green eyes and a tender heart.

She witnesses the atrocities transpiring before her eyes. Her name is Cherri.

She is helpless against the machines. Unable to flee and hide fast enough, she prays to God instead. Sorrow and her despair mingle in her heart; tears are streaming down her cheeks

"The LORD will save us from this nightmare," she cries out. Desperately she prays; her tearful pleas lifted by hefts of sorrow in her voice.

A Beast: a savage mechanical lion overhears those pleas. He laughs in the girl's face then proceeds to grab her by the shoulders. His clutch grows even firmer as his laughter waxes strong: such hideous and depraved laughter. His claws sink into her shoulders until they bleed.

Once again the depraved robot laughs in the girl’s face.

"There will be no hero to save you from your nightmare! There will be no savior to vanquish us!”

The robotic minion adds pressure to his already tight grip. Cherri squirms as he slowly lifts her, ready to toss her in the prisoner cell.

...death approaches...

Suddenly a blonde youth rushes in and with his massive sword. He runs the Beast through and proceeds to slice the robot's chest open.

The mechanical fiend loses his grip on the girl's shoulders. She lands softly back on her wheelchair.

Cherri is free!

She immediately backs away from the ruined beast; this panicking robot who will now die the death of the humans he has slain.

Oil gushes profoundly from his gash; a fatal wound…

He sways side by side, refusing to die like those filthy mortals he slew; however, despite desperate attempts, his wound will never heal. It's futile for him to even fight against this fatal fate.

Cobbled together, an oily bundle of wires, cords, and his interior circuitry proceeds to spill; not any different from human entrails gushing forth from his fatal wound.

He collapses and wildly writhes about; unable to comprehend this foreign sensation of pain; the only pain one without a soul can feel.

This pitiful creature…

… he can neither cross through the gates of Paradise nor will he fall into the bowls of the Abyss. He will utterly perish; another heap for that old fiery pit. Gehenna, constantly smoldering everything it devours.

Gehenna is burning.

The grudge of his slain victims; rightfully rectified. Their Peril for his peril, the wounded robot will die… just a bit more slowly as the pathetic creature writhes.

The last of Cherri's tears dry as she focuses her gaze upon her hero; the spiky-blonde haired swordsman garbed in black. The heroic youth approaches the girl and wipes away the final tear. He consoles her as she does.

Cherri re-adjusts herself in her wheelchair and dusts off her clothes.

She smiles. "Thank you for rescuing me." She twiddles her thumbs; her head turned to the side with a bit of a flush in her cheeks.

She looks at him again...

The girl's eyes meet with the boy's eyes...

Cherri observes the boy…

…such a handsome face for one with his spikey blonde hair

Such youth behind his steely-blue eyes flickers and glow with purity.

"What soul lies beyond his stern gaze?"

"What thoughts linger within his mind?"

"What secrets does his heart whisper to his soul?"

"Who...are you?"

These are the thoughts her heart ponders, throbbing anxiously for an answer…

#

Clyde… What does he see in the girl..?

He looks to the side as well.

He's a bit flustered by the girl's curious gaze…

…Those piercing green eyes; such innocent eyes.

Her soul is pure as a crystal-clear spring.

It's for people like her he fights…

But how can someone, with such a clouded mind as his, continue to fight? How can he continue to fight without forging a conviction to cling to? What led him here to begin with; why is he here…

These are the thoughts he ponders.

After a moment of silence...Clyde gives Cherri instructions.

"Get outta sight and flee before more of those robots come..."

Clyde's act of gallantry imbues Cherri with hope. His voice is calm, cool, and collected.

Her vigor renews. She smiles confidently.

"Sure thing!" Cherri hastens to the other captives. She rallies them with ardent fervor. Beaming with this new surge of positive energy Cherri leads them away; she's moving faster than she ever has before. She's smiling; a testament of renewed hope...

#

Distraught and facing dire peril, the fallen mechanical beast makes a desperate, final attempt to repair itself. He struggles with scooping up his innards the sheer sight of the dying robot begets pity and misery; but to no avail the mass of his greased and oily innards is just too slippery.

He fumbles with his oily innards until they finally splatter onto the ground…

…death approaches.

The end is nigh and yet, even in his dying moments he is ever so loyal to Dr. Sven Cain....

Good and Evil he never deciphered. He was just carrying out his master's orders; and thus as a final act of loyal obedience he alerts his comrades with a dire distress signal.

"DANGER! DANGER! Be on the lookout for a teenager with spikey blonde hair and steely blue eyes. He wields a massive sword. Engage with extreme caution."

And with that he succumbs. His body writhes until it's motionless.

The sight of him is tragic; neither Heaven nor Hell will accept him.

Without a soul to be saved or a soul to be damned his ruined carcass will forever be as the rising smoke in that old fiery pit; that fabled Gehenna…

Burn Gehenna burn...