CHAPTER XLIV: SHADOW HOUR

PART V: DEVOTION

DISCLAIMER: I claim NO OWNERSHIP to ANY of the characters in this story except (for in this chapter) Tojiro "Neo" Ankoku, Julius Tsuiho, Jason Hi, Alma Hanko and Vulcan Kikai. They are my original characters and thus owned by me. All other characters belong to their respective creators/owners.

Part 5 and the Shadow Hour Arc continues! The chapter title speaks for itself as Tojiro continues to either derail from his mission and fight out of vengeance or form a new resolve and go about saving humanity in the most righteous of ways. Which is true to Tojiro's mind? What would you commend to if you were in Tojiro's shoes? Any and all responses are welcome in the reviews section!

So much for invaluable. Tojiro blinked his eyes several times, staring off to the side. He suddenly placed his right hand on Hakufu's belly, causing a blue light to appear. The others looked in mystery at Tojiro's sudden action. Hakufu looked from her belly to the Cloakmaster. Even as the fatal wounds were miraculously healing, Hakufu wasn't surprised by his sudden healing abilities, but the sole expression on Tojiro's face. He was crying…crying his lonesome tears of blood.

Even for a Nightshade, as his skull began to crush on himself, the solemn tears streamed down his cheeks. Hakufu couldn't believe her eyes. The surprised look on her face was left frozen. The heartless Demigod of Death…was actually crying from the benevolent words from a fellow comrade. Tojiro finally took away his right hand, turning his back to the group.

The large barrier vanished, and he immediately leaped off the ground. Koukin, Bachou and Ryomou all stepped up to Hakufu's side, discovering that her wounds were completely healed! Hakufu continued to stare forward, in question.

"Tojiro…actually…does care about us." she said in distant thought. A smile formed on her face, and her orange colored eyes returned back to their greenish blue tint. Hakufu couldn't do more than simply form a smile on her enduring face.

Tojiro smacked Jason into the ground with a Chaos Kick to his jaw. Tojiro then blocked a blast of black Chaos energy from Julius, who the Demon Demigod quickly shot back, but Julius teleported out of it's way. Julius appeared behind Tojiro. The Cloakmaster of Purgery was fooled once Tojiro vanished in a puff of white smoke. Tojiro came down from above, in his Werehog form. His fur retained the dark crimson red color, and his pupils were still glowing gold.

"ONE THOUSAND FISTS OF CHAOTIC DEATH!" yelled the Demon Demigod.

Tojiro's fists formed elegant lights of golden Chaos energy around them. Tojiro stopped in mid-air, stretching both of his arms back and forth, violently pummeling Julius with one thousand Chaos Punches. Tojiro finally ended the mayhem by clapping his hands together and directly smashing them down on Julius, shooting him down into the earth, creating a gigantic dome of gold Chaos energy, blended with a fiery inferno to span out and ravage the two buildings on the left and right.

A black fog enwrapped Tojiro, reverting him back to his human form. He landed on the ground, unsheathing the Blade of Darkness with his left hand. The two set of Nightmare Claws suddenly split through Tojiro's back and out of his chest. His eyes widened with surprise. "You were foolish to use the Night Glare to copy this weapon as your own." said the snickering Jason. Tojiro suddenly hit Jason with the back of his head, forcing Jason to step back. Tojiro ran forward, the ten claws removed from his body. Tojiro slid to a demeaning halt, turning around halfway in the process.

"FIRE STORM OF CHAOS SPHERES!" yelled the ravaged Cloakmaster of Fire.

He pointed the Nightmare Claws up, keeping his palms exposed. A huge swarm of one hundred orange Chaos Spheres appeared over Jason's head. They all shot towards Tojiro with deadly intent to incinerate and destroy.

"Chaos…BLAST!" shouted the vigor of Tojiro's power.

A huge dome of red exploded forth, shooting multiple beams of red in every direction. The beams blew away Jason's multitude of Chaos Spheres. Hakufu and the others were forced to seek cover from Tojiro's insanity, dodging falling debris, flying cars that were asunder in flames, and even bits of sharpened steel. Vulcan charged for Tojiro, bashing him across the face, kicking him in the gut, then grabbing him by the face to toss him across the air for Alma to smack him with her golden glowing Staff of Judgment.

Tojiro shot back at Vulcan by boosting himself with Airbending. Tojiro performed a dive kick straight at Vulcan, but the Cloakmaster of Machines skidded to the left, leaving Tojiro to hit the ground. Tojiro turned halfway around, bending his spine back to dodge a sideways swing from Vulcan's furious fists. Tojiro quickly punched Vulcan directly in the gut, then grabbed him by the throat. Tojiro jumped backwards through the air, heading for Alma.

"Phantom Climax!" she yelled, pointing the Staff of Judgment forward.

The jewel in the center of her staff shot out blue and red beams of positive and negative Chaos energy. The beams combined into a large black sphere. It then released a single white beam with a red stream of Chaos energy going through the entire middle. Tojiro tossed Vulcan at the beam, then by pointing his hands down, Tojiro ascended higher into the air with Airbending. Vulcan was hit by the violent blast of Chaos energy, shot down to the ground by Julius's unconscious body. Tojiro pointed his arms down at Alma, releasing black Chaos Spears from the palms of his bleeding hands.

Alma created a silver barrier, but the Chaos Spears shattered through her barrier and pelted against her body with deadly force and deathly accuracy. Tojiro finally flew towards the stunned Cloakmaster of Defiance, spinning around her. Once passing behind her, he shot a single gold Chaos Spear that struck her in the back. Alma went crashing down to the position where both Vulcan and Julius were, unconscious.

Tojiro quickly flew up, dodging a dragon made up of flames. Jason shot towards Tojiro, delivering a fiery Chaos Sphere of Chaos energized flames into Tojiro's stomach. Tojiro shot down to the ground, managing to grab onto a light pole, and swing under it, launching himself back towards Jason.

"RASENGAN!" roared the Demigod of Death, smashing the swirling sphere of blue chakra into Jason's chest.

Jason shot across the air with intense speed. Tojiro, however, quickly launched out both Chains of Fear to wrap around Jason's legs. Tojiro turned around, swinging Jason across the sky and down into the other three Hell Gods, shooting a mountain of smoke into the air.

"Now…FOR THE FINAL BLOW!" echoed the Cloakmaster of Darkness. He stuck his left and right arms out to the side. A glowing blue Rasengan formed in his left hand while in his right formed a blood red Rasengan. In a flash, Tojiro shot down towards the four beaten Hell Gods.

"COLOSSAL RASENGAN OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT!" thundered the rage of Tojiro. He put the two Rasengans together, forming a single gigantic sphere with one half blue and the other red.

Tojiro roared to the heavens, smashing it down upon the four Hell Gods with all the strength he could summon. A glint of light sparked, immediately summoning a humongous sphere of swirling red and blue flames to expanded out, blowing apart the buildings they came close to. A single beam of white shot into the skies, tearing the clouds apart. Hakufu and the other fighters shielded themselves from the mass form of wind that couldn't knock them over. Ruined cars shot out, either passing right over them, or stopping at an instant once landed. The whirling sphere of fiery blue and red chaos vanished, the beam of white light shattered apart into particles of silver glitter. Hakufu quickly hurried forward.

"Hakufu, hold on!" called out the nervous Koukin, chasing after her.

Hakufu came to the clearing smoke, nearly falling into a ditch. She waved her arms back and forth, until Koukin came in and pulled her back.

"That was close! You should stop running into danger like that!" Koukin expressed, letting go of Hakufu's arm.

"Okay! Okay!" she complained, turning back to the so-called ditch.

The entire ground, along with a good half of the two buildings on the left and right were completely carved out into the shape of a half sphere. The shape resembled a Rasengan, and how it seemingly breaks through anything it manages to hit. Hakufu was first and the utmost adamant to leap into the magnificently, yet destructive, hole that carved into the earth. She landed with ease, hurrying to the center, coming across the bloodied and scarred Cloakmaster of Darkness.

She kneeled down by his side. Blood stained his torn up corpse, she didn't even know if she could touch him. Hakufu threw the thought away, seeing Tojiro as an honored fighter. She rested his head on her lap, and by this time the others were running over to Hakufu's side. His face was scathed with bruises and dirt marks, but the blood stopped spilling from his mouth and eyes.

"No…no! Tojiro, wake up! Come on, you're stronger than this!" she exclaimed with frantic hands that sought to wake him up.

Blood started to curl down from the crown of his head. Hakufu quickly wiped it away with angry eyes.

"Hakufu, is he all right?" asked a belligerent Koukin.

"I don't even know! I can't tell!" she said in fright.

"Is he even breathing?" Bachou implied quickly.

Hakufu took her advice. Hakufu lowered her head and used her right ear, hearing something faint.

"He's definitely breathing!" Hakufu quickly announced, sitting back up. From Tojiro's perspective, his eyes were hardly even open.

"Darkness…how quaint." his thoughts spoke. He watched the others crowd around him…and he could hear their voices fade as his eyes began to close.

"I can't…lose…now. I don't…I won't…die…heeere." he mumbled weakly in thought, his eyes shutting sealed, letting the darkness envelope him, letting the screaming voice of Hakufu and the others fade away from him.

After the chaos and destruction, Tojiro was thrown into a vast world of darkness and solitude. His senses were taken from him without regard or care. Nothing mattered. He could still feel the burning of his insides curl and twist, knowing this was a sign of his Chaos energy trying to rebuilt itself.

Within such emptiness, he heard uncertain voices reach his ears. Light managed to pierce his eyes, and after his unholy time in the world of unconsciousness, he awakened, staring at the ceiling of a room. His eyes were back to orange, and his hair was back to its blackish hue. Strips of white bandaged crossed across the left side of his face. With only his right eye revealed, he feverishly sat up, finding a blanket crossed over his body. His left arm was also covered in white bandage. Annoyed, yes. Bothered, no. Tojiro rolled the blanket off his legs.

"You're awake!" exclaimed the sudden voice of a small shrieking blonde haired girl that appeared behind the couch.

Tojiro's eyes widened freakishly by her surprising appearance.

"Please tell me this isn't Hell." Tojiro grieved.

"I've come to take you back to Yukinari's house! So get up and-"

"Hold on right there." he said, clamping the palm of his right hand onto the girl's face. Tojiro tilted his head, finally noticing this girl's familiarity. It was Tomoka Lana Jude.

"First, you're going to tell me where in this world of blasphemy and pain am I. And then, you're just going to let me get up. As…slow…as…I…want. Got it?" he demanded, his tone changing to a slow pace in his last sentence, just so Tomoka would understand.

He removed his hand and placed it over his left while resting them both on his lap.

"This hooded guy came over to see if you were alright, and so you were! After that, he decided to tell this girl Hakufu that brought you here to keep you over at this hotel until you would wake up! Hakufu helped with your bandages and threatened me to keep watch over you, or she would beat me into the ground until I couldn't breath, and so-"

"You know what, to hell with what I said. I'm just going to get up." Tojiro interfered, covering Tomoka's face with his right hand once again.

Taking great care of his body's healing process, Tojiro rose off the couch, his arms shaking as he used the couch as support to get himself on his feet. Tomoka ran around the coach, revealing Ebi, the strange little creature that resembled a large plump seal with the face of a cat and a bobbing antenna.

"So, where is Yukinari anyway?" asked the Demon Demigod.

"He's at school right now with Kirie and Miharu. They'll be back at Yukinari's place before you know it!" she continued to exclaim.

"Very well…then we shall go. Hurry it up." he said, heading for the door. Ebi perched with it's strange noises, yet it marked excitement.

"Indeed! Let us hurry! Let Tomo lead the way!" she continued to bolster loudly, running through the door that Tojiro opened.

Tojiro followed after her, closing the door behind him.

"Downstairs we go!" Tomoka called out again, running down the stairs, taking a sharp right down the next flight.

Tojiro cautiously followed after her, still feeling his legs sore and robbed of nearly all his Chaos energy. The two made it outside after a few moments later. Tojiro's half bandaged face stared up at the sky, finding it to be gray. Cold and silent, Tojiro ignored the presence of the world around him and followed after Tomoka who was already traveling down the right sidewalk, knowing Yukinari's house was to be his next destination.

Tomoka ran up to the front door of Yukinari's house, with Tojiro slowly walking up the front door as well. "And so we are here!" shouted the excited Tomoka.

"Halt it right there. You said Yukinari and the others are at school, right?" said the cloaked demon, standing in front of the door, then looking down at Tomoka.

"Yes! Why do you ask?" she replied, looking up at the Cloakmaster. Tojiro placed his right palm on the door.

"Strange I sense them inside the house." Tojiro removed his hand and opened the door, slowly.

He stepped inside, taking his time. Tomoka, with Ebi on her head, followed in suite. Tojiro shut the door, causing Tomoka to jump, as well as Ebi.

"What was that for? Why must you make loud noises!?" she shouted in annoyance.

"Calm yourself." noted the Cloakmaster, ignoring her, walking further into the house.

Suddenly, Tojiro was hit on the head with a steel pipe. Tojiro sighed, turning his head to the left, seeing a frightened Koyomi, holding it, with her eyes closed and her head lowered.

"Koyo! How could you!?" exclaimed the valiant Tomoka.

Yukinari suddenly came out from the kitchen.

"Tojiro? You're back!" called a relieved Yukinari, hurrying over to him.

"Hey, how come you're not at school? Don't tell me you're rebelling!?" Tomoka questioned with vigorous determination.

"They cancelled it actually. I don't know why, but they're preparing for some kind of big storm." Yukinari informed.

"A storm, huh? Well, as long as it's not loud, I just might find time to meditate." said the aloof Cloakmaster, walking over to the couch, sitting down on it.

"What about Kirie and Miharu then?" asked Tomoka, approaching Yukinari.

"They're taking a bath. They should be done soon." he replied, heading back to the kitchen.

"Have you lost count yet on how many times you still cling to life, Cloakmaster Ankoku?" said a commanding voice.

Tojiro turned his attention to behind him, seeing Ryu Kaze.

"How demeaning. An even bigger failure than I am. What do you want, Dragon Wind?" responded the aggravated Tojiro.

"You. Obviously. Akuma set a lock on your Chaos Control powers, yes?" Ryu identified.

"Yes. That much is true."

"And you were transferred to an altered timeline where the future version of Haruhi Suzumiya you were to die some time soon?" Ryu continued.

"Yes?" mumbled Tojiro, annoyed.

"And how your holy lock allowed you to live even as you transformed into the Pain Stage of your Nightmare Form?"

"You know Ryu, I should just kill you." the Cloakmaster deemed, removing Black Death from it's holster and pointing it at Ryu.

"WOW! Can I hold it?!" shouted an excited Tomoka.

"Now listen Tojiro, I simply wanted to assure we're on the same terms. I've come to remove the block on your Chaos Control powers. After that, you must hurry to Planet Reach." Ryu informed with an immediate tone.

"Reach, eh? Sorry. But I need my cloak back, Ryu. I won't be so able to fight as well without it." Tojiro demanded, turning to the door, strolling towards it.

"Of course. You know its location, I take it?" Tojiro opened the door, ignoring Ryu's question.

"Of course." he answered solemnly.

"You just got here! Why do you have to leave?" Tomoka questioned with confusion in her eyes.

"We apologize. Make sure you tell the others we had to leave. Give them my regards." Tojiro intervened, stopping Ryu from answering Tomoka's worrisome question.

"Okay. Be sure to visit! Tomo will be waiting!" she called out.

The Demon Demigod nodded his head, heading out the door, with Ryu following behind. The door was close shut by Ryu waving his staff after passing through it. Ryu stopped by Tojiro's side. The Cloakmaster removed the bandages from his face, no scars were present on his face.

"Let us make our leave, shall we?" Ryu presented, pointing the Golden Dragon Staff up, enwrapping the two cloak wearers in a blue flash.

Moments later, they reappeared on the outer rim of Mount Fuji.

"What are we doing here? I do believe you said you were ready to give me my Chaos Control powers back." Tojiro harshly enacted.

"I wish to settle something with you." Ryu swiftly interjected before Tojiro had another chance to utter a word.

Tojiro turned his dark gaze at Ryu, unappealing to believe this wouldn't happen.

"You know what you should be capable of. Thus far, I've seen what you are capable of."

"And I take it you're foolishly disappointed. Why? Am I not living up to your expectations? Believe it or not, but I hate saving this world from its own destruction." explained the surreal demon.

"That I've already foreseen. Then for what purpose does your Dragon serve you? It has a conscious for a reason, and that is why you possess that ability." continued the stoic Ryu, staring forward to the city in the distance.

"Ability? What ability are you speaking of?" responded the persistent Cloakmaster.

"Yoko was trying to tell you once you met up after she returned from an altered dimension. The Tsukikagegan. You possess it. It can only be learned by Chaos users who hold an animal form that has its own consciousness; thus a spirit and soul. The Dragon form inside you is smarter than you perceive it to be. It knows your thoughts and feelings. People feared this technique because when the Tsukikagegan is used, you're practically taking power from that creature inside you. And the more power you borrow from it, the more chance of its consciousness taking over your own becomes more probable. That is what I wish to settle with you." explained the lengthy seriousness of the man known as 'Dragon Wind'.

"You only wish to settle something as simple as that?"

"I pray you are taking this serious Cloakmaster Tojiro. You're giving the Dragon enough chances as it can get and-"

"Yet it still hasn't made a move. I'm not going to throw this all away over the loss of my own feelings. Albeit I have any left." mumbled the irritated demon.

"How come I was expecting you to say that?" responded the curious Ryu.

"Because your foresight can't see farther than your own contempt form of logic. Now…give me back my Chaos Control powers." demanded Tojiro, turning to face Ryu.

"First tell me this then if you are so wise; using your cloak as an excuse…is that truly all you're planning to retrieve?"

Tojiro's eyes tightened in form. Tojiro turned back to the city in the distance, somewhat shocked.

"Am I right?! Tojiro!" Ryu said, looking at the Cloakmaster.

Tojiro stared off to the left, hiding his expression. Ryu was left surprised, unaware to suspect this from Tojiro.

"My cloak or her. Which do you think I would choose?"

Ryu was left clueless by Tojiro's words, waiting for the Cloakmaster to continue on with an answer.

"I'd take the initiative of course…and choose both." the Demon Demigod revealed.

Ryu was stunned in his own way. He gazed towards the sky, sighing heavily.

"Yoko has had somewhat of an affect on you. Has she not?" wondered Dragon Wind.

"I don't know what to assume anymore. Not even my own wants." said the drastic voiced Cloakmaster.

"And what of your needs? Are they yours? Or the Dragon's?" denounced the official Nightshade.

"Still going on about that, huh? This cursed Dragon inside me isn't what put me in this spot. I never wanted to use its power! I wanted to use my own!" barked the furious Cloakmaster of Darkness, facing Ryu with apprehensiveness.

"And still you lie to yourself." answered the precautious Ryu.

Tojiro backed away, turning back forward, his head hung low and frozen.

"Yoko's changed you. She changed you to the point to where you can barely say an honest word about her. Are you truly…that lost in her?"

"I don't need to worry over anyone else's life. Death exists for that reason." the Cloakmaster randomly implied.

"Death has always been in your favor…and you controlled it like a puppet. No one that stood against you lived to-"

"There is only ONE individual that I would NEVER think of murdering! ONE!" shouted the insanely ravaged expression of Tojiro Ankoku, stepping up to Ryu with a rage filled soul.

Ryu was left blank, never hearing such a sentence from the heartless demon before. As Tojiro stepped away from Ryu, turning towards the city in the distance once more, he looked on with vigil in his eyes.

"Who is it?" asked the real Nightshade, in a calm and virtuous tone.

Tojiro remained silent, his fists clenched by his sides.

"After all the time I've spent in solitude and disillusion, my happiness seemed completely lost. Even now as I stand here and waste my time talking to you, I still think it's impossible for me to find true peace." he began to explain with disdain trenched by his deepening voice.

Ryu listened on closely to Tojiro's honest words.

"But…" continued the Cloakmaster, unclenching his fists, "…I managed to at least come to one truth."

Ryu waited, "And what is that?"

Tojiro lifted his head towards the horizon, keeping a sudden hesitance to himself, until the force in his spirit began to speak.

"She may not know it now; but I can honestly believe that I'm in love with her; Yoko Littner." confessed the Cloakmaster.

Left with a face of disbelief, Ryu's cloaked head and face was probably glued still. Tojiro turned his distinct glare of anger and hate to the man named Dragon Wind.

"You can aggravate every inch of belief out of me, I don't care. I'll always have something to back up what I believe in. You can take away my soul, but you won't have my spirit. Ever. Nothing can spoil my goal. My goal of vengeance and hatred shall only be completed once Akuma and his disrespectful followers of nihilism fall before me. I lived long enough to try and throw my hatred at someone. I needed to blame…someone," he began with regret inching around his ribs.

"This curse of mine gave me the hatred to unleash it upon anyone I deem as meaningless. So unless you wish to deny me and this boring world it's salvation; dissolve the lock inside me…so I can go rescue Yoko, retrieve the Nightmare Scythe, and then…go to Hell." spoke the beliefs of the Cloakmaster, holding out his right hand to Ryu.

The cloaked Ryu was beyond baffled, and you could definitely assume that his obscured face was left flabbergasted. Taking Tojiro's form of a promise into thought, Ryu pushed the top of the Golden Dragon Staff against Tojiro's stomach. Tojiro lowered his right hand, taken back by Ryu's choice.

"Then…so be it: Ol' Cloakmaster of Darkness." said the virtuous man in the cloak.

A mix of black and red formed on Tojiro's stomach, causing him to ache. Ryu slowly pulled the Golden Dragon Staff away. A stream of warpy colored blue energy was stuck to the front of Ryu's staff. Taking a close look at it, Tojiro remembered it to be the same energy that was injected into him. Ryu brought the staff close to his gaze, then grabbed onto the top of it, dissipating the energy for good. Tojiro was left in a bent posture, shortly and steadily standing himself back into a mild pose.

"On Reach, you shall find the portal that leads to Paragon. Through it, you will find the Nightmare Scythe." informed the true Nightshade.

Tojiro readily stood forward towards the distant horizon of silence.

"To Reach…I shall go." he summoned. By pointing his right arm forward, a red and black Chaos Portal appeared.

"So begins…the end." thought the trailing conscious of Tojiro.

He leapt into the portal, leaving Ryu behind to watch it vanish into nothingness. Ryu took one final gaze at the sky high clouds, his mind so filled with endless thoughts that they spread amongst every inch of his body.

"Take care…to what you believe in…Tojiro 'Neo' Ankoku."

つづく

To be continued

NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW

-With a unconscious Yoko Littner in his arms, Tojiro dashes down a hallway with a red sphere surrounding himself.- -Two Covenant Shade Turrets turn away from another and open fire in another scene.-

"Far from his mission to begin his one-man invasion through Hell, Tojiro sieges a Covenant Corvette cruiser to rescue Yoko." -Tojiro watches as a storm of golden Chaos energy streams erupt from the ground, blowing several squads of Grunts into the air.-

"As far as his will can take him, Tojiro reluctantly goes to battle with an entire ship's crew before dropping down to the very planet that spurs his attention."

-Five Jackals are swatted like flies by the force of a Gravity Hammer swing.- -A swarm of drones are electrocuted and burnt into onyx fried corpses.-

"With time reaching its peak it is only a matter of moments," -Yoko and Tojiro fall towards Reach, with auras of Chaos energy surround them.-

-Tojiro, down on one knee looks at an awakening Yoko in her jail cell; her hand resting on his left cheek.-

"Until Tojiro finds Paragon and retrieves the Nightmare Scythe."

-Tojiro reverts to Werehog Form and elbow drops a Phantom drop ship into the ground and into a storm of plasma fire.-

"The search to find the hidden Chaos Portal on Planet Reach begins now."

-Tojiro erupts with a Chaos Blast to annihilate three Phantom drop ships in one pulse in the middle of space.-

-Planet ground, Tojiro and Yoko tiredly bask at the sight...of Planet Reach.-

NEXT TIME!

The Nightmare Wars

CHAPTER XLV: SHADOW HOUR

PART VI: INITIATION