Journal of a Tortured

SOUL

Written By: Kain

Episode 5:  The Deciding Battle

The year is New Beginning 35. The planet is shaken with the battle between the Resistance and the Soldiers of Fortune. Damien and Kain are ending a war that has been fought for years. The war between Damien’s desire for peace and his hunger for vengeance will end soon. Guerin looks on with Kylie as the battle unfolds. Little do either of them know, Kain’s plans are just beginning to unfold.

“Regardless of what you think, Kain, I am no savior.”

“Ah, but you are, Damien, for it is you alone that can stop me. You must understand though, that even as a savior, it doesn’t guarantee your victory. I will still live on and in that life conquer this planet and put forth the ideas of the greatest mind of all into the masses. I am a tyrant the likes of which no one has ever seen. Unlike those bumbling fools that tried before me, I can succeed in taking over this world.”

“You’re mad, Kain. How will your rule differ from others? As long as someone is there to oppose you, you will never gain complete control. I won’t be the last to fight against you. I won’t let a parasite like you take over. For Kylie, the one I have taken in as my little sister, you must die, Kain.”

“How poetic. Do you know how she feels about you, Damien? Do you know if she thinks of you as a brother, or something more? Possibly she is sick of even having you around. Did you ever think to ask her about her feelings? No, I didn’t think so. You are a savior, Damien...a weak and pathetic one, but a savior nonetheless. It’s time to end this.”

“Bring me all you’ve got, Kain. I’ll crush you, and throw your ashes into the wind.” Damien grasps the sword of a Soldier of Fortune. He and Kain are locked in a trance. All soldiers are locked in the trance of the righteousness of their cause. As Kain lifts the Dread Maker, Damien lunges.

Biosoldier is having a grand old time, firing upon Soldiers of Fortune and the Resistance alike. Screams of, “Get that guy!” can be heard all over the battlefield. Biosoldier just laughs maniacally while watching the soldiers drop like flies. Then he runs out of ammo. “Shiiit.” All the soldiers scrambling for cover turn to Biosoldier, take out their assault rifles, and fire at will. Biosoldier runs like mad without looking back once. Cheesy Boy is left hanging on the wall of the trench, still trying to climb out. While running from the enraged soldiers, Biosoldier trips on a piece of steel sticking out of the ground. He falls straight to the ground, tearing his shin apart. He gets up as quickly as possible and, hobbling, continues his escape.

Time and time again people fight. Time and time again, people die for their land, their country, or their property. This fight is for something more. This is a fight for pride and survival. Kain’s skill can’t be denied as he parries every slash Damien can swing. Damien is fighting viciously. Damien slashes wildly as he begins to realize that he can’t possibly beat Kain this way. Kain remains calm, cool, and collective, while Damien is pushing himself to find a way to survive. How can Kain possibly be this much better than I? It doesn’t make sense unless... Damien’s flash with horror as one fatal error in his plan to stop Kain makes itself known. Kain is everything he knows about battle, and as such, Kain learns techniques and strategies almost instantaneously. That’s how Kain knows how to counter each attack as it comes. Damien can’t surprise Kain using the techniques he knows, and if he does surprise Kain, it won’t work more than once. As if the realization weren’t enough, Kain’s abilities are further lodged in to Damien’s mind as a swift kick to the gut knocks Damien clear across the room. He hits the wall with a sickening thud. He falls to the ground leaving a trail of blood along the wall. He looks up only to see Kain lunging full force at him.

“What’s taking Damien so long?” Kylie hasn’t stopped watching the window looking out over the tunnel entrance. “He’s been gone so long. You don’t think anything happened to him do you?”

“...” Guerin refuses to say anything. He knows that Damien has as good of chances at being alive as he does of being dead. Kylie can see in his face that he doesn’t suspect the best. She begins to cry, but catches herself and stops.

“I won’t cry. I have to be strong, like Damien. If Damien loses, it’s up to me to kill Kain. I must be strong enough to stand on my own feet, for Damien’s sake.”

“...”

Biosoldier hides in a dumpster as the soldiers skewer the lands looking for him. If they find him, they plan to gut him like a fish, hence his hiding out. The Soldiers of Fortune are still firing upon the Resistance while they look for Biosoldier. Biosoldier is in over his head. He didn’t know they would fire back at him. He now hated Damien more than ever. Damien hit him with a pipe, and then he lured him into this mess. Biosoldier wants his revenge now.

Kain and Damien are still locked in combat. Though Damien is in very poor condition, he is putting out everything he has. It just doesn’t seem to be enough. Damien is bleeding from all his limbs, his mouth, his nose, his forehead, and his chest. Kain chuckles confidently as a single stream of blood courses down the side of his mouth. Damien tries to take Kain by surprise with a rising slash, but Kain swings the Dread Maker over his head, coming down with an incredible force. Damien’s blade shatters on contact. In an act of desperation, Damien throws the handle at Kain, who just bats it away. Damien closes his eyes and prays for Kylie to forgive him. Kain backs into position and lunges forward. Blood spews out of Damien’s mouth as the Dread Maker tears through his chest, impaling him. He was dead before he hit the floor. Kain lets out a raucous laughter. He won. He had told Damien that he would. Now, his plans could continue. He rips his sword from Damien’s chest and watches his body fall face down to the floor. “What was it you asked me? How would my rule differ from others? I won’t give them enough power to overthrow me. I know the history books. They say that the worst dictators of all time were men named Hitler, Stalin, Strickland, Gregor, Maximus, and, more recently, Forin.

Not able to find Biosoldier, the armies quickly go back to concentrating on each other. The battle intensifies quickly. Cheesy Boy is still trying to get out of the trench. It would help if he didn’t try to climb up the spot that is covered in oil. Without warning, the Soldiers of Fortune stopped firing. They were listening to a radio transmission in their helmets. They looked around, and then retreated to the base line. In that instant, the shelter’s base defenses were activated. Twin chain guns and rocket launchers popped up from the ground like daisies. The Resistance started to flee but to no avail. The defenses mowed them down like...well...daisies.

“My god. He turned on us. Kain activated the defenses! The soldiers don’t stand a chance!” Kylie, too scared to even move, can do nothing but watch the horrendous scene take place. She now knows that Damien has indeed failed. He is dead and it is up to her. Tears begin to roll down her face. She knows that if Damien couldn’t stop him, she wouldn’t have a prayer.

Kain sits at the control panel of the defense system in the shelter. He has been radioing to the soldiers for a few minutes now. “All right, soldiers, I want you to appoint one man to take a rocket launcher and blow up the lookout tower in section 3G.”

A static-filled voice answers him. “And who are you to give us commands?”

“I’m your new leader. My name is Kain. Your former leader, Sasha, has been killed. I’m her replacement. Now, if you want to win, do as I say!” A soldier quickly runs to a rocket launcher and heads off in the direction of the tower. The others just watch and wait.

Guerin looks out over the dieing battle and prepares to give his soldiers the command to fall back. He looks at Kylie and picks up the radio. His face distorts in horror as he sees a single rocket heading straight toward him. He jumps and tackles Kylie, using his body to shield her.

The mighty explosion rocked the tower. Half of the lookout was destroyed. Kylie pushes Guerin off of her and moves the rubble that had fallen on them. She looks at Guerin. She stares into his blank eyes. Now she really felt like crying. Both Damien and Guerin are dead. She is the last one left. There is nothing more for her to do. She has to get away. Kain is too strong. He will kill anything in his way. She has no doubt that in some way, in some sense she is in his way. She runs out of the tower and doesn’t stop running until she literally runs into Cheesy Boy, knocking him back into the trench he just climbed out of. Cursing, he stands up. “Cheese! We have to get out of here!” Cheesy Boy stares blankly at her.

“Sure, why not?” She helps him out of the trench and they both jump into a military ATV. They don’t realize that the ATV is from the Soldiers of Fortune. As the driver, Sgt. Leon K. Murdock of the 24th Division, gets into the ATV, they cover up with a blanket to hide from sight. Soon, they find themselves in the shelter that Damien had so recently ventured into. As they grab a couple of extra uniforms, they look around for a sign of what to do. They change into the uniforms and head in the direction Sgt. Leon K. Murdock of the 24th Division went. They catch up to him quickly. He is standing in a crowd of soldiers, all of which are looking up at a podium. There, stands the canker destined to destroy their land. Behind him, hung the bodies of Damien and Sasha. “I am Kain. You all have done well, but this battle was only to make the next battles easier. As your new leader, I declare war on this world. We will conquer it and build a new world. All who are with me will enjoy the finest life has to offer. Those who oppose me, die. All those in my favor?”

All the soldiers whistle and cheer. “Good. Now, my Nemesis, we will go and destroy what was old and make it new again.” More cheering and whistling ensues. Kylie almost screams at Kain, but she is able to keep herself under control. She turns to speak to Cheesy Boy, but he is gone. She looks all around but is unable to find him. Then she looks over at the buffet table. Cheesy Boy is cooking sausage for the soldiers. She then looks up to Kain who, she realizes in horror, is staring straight back at her smiling. He motions for her to come to him. Slowly, she goes. He stares into her eyes. “Did it hurt when you realized that Damien was dead?”

She couldn’t contain herself. She swung at Kain. Kain laughed and caught her hand. He pulled her close to him. “Now, little girl, I will make Cheesy Boy a chef in my army, and you, ha, you will be a toy for the soldiers.” With a callous laugh, Kain throws her to the ground and walks toward Cheesy Boy. She looks up just in time to see Cheesy Boy shaking hands with Kain. Cursing herself, she slips out of the grand hall and hides in a storage room. She curls up against the wall and cries herself to sleep. That night, she had a peculiar dream.

Deep in space, Kylie floats. She doesn’t know where she is. Suddenly, she sees many familiar faces. All of the faces are of the people she’s known over the years. Damien and her family are at the head of the group. She smiles at Damien, who smiles back. She thinks to herself, this must be a dream. A loud roar fills her mind. A large demonic creature with two gigantic horns on his head, large bat-like wings, skin as red as blood, claws like swords, and eyes of flames, rises from the depths of space. In one mighty sweep, his claws tear the people apart. Damien is the last one left. She watches in horror as Damien vainly tries to fight it, but in the end, is callously murdered. Then she feels someone shaking her.

“Hey, wake up. You’re having a nightmare. Wake up.”

“Huh? What happened?”

“You were having a nightmare. You all right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m Sgt. Leon K. Murdock of the 24th Division, and you are?”

“I’m Kyl...Private Kylie Sharelton. I have no division yet.”

“You don’t? Well, you can tag along with me until Kain gives you a division, how’s that?”

“Thank you. I appreciate this.” Together, they ride out of the shelter and into the world. Kylie vows to return and show Kain that she doesn’t fear him. First, she has to see what Kain would bring to this world. If he does well, she mustn’t stop him. If he turns out to be a plague on this world, she would have no choice but to confront him. If she dies trying, then she would at least be on scale with the bravest of them all. “Sooner or later, I’ll see you again, Damien. I hope to meet the woman that helped you fight Kain, too.”

The Nemesis continued to roam the world, destroying whatever resistances were in their way. Kain rules over the territories they have conquered. They battle against massive armies, but none prevail. Kain seems to be the one to rule over all of humanity, until...


Next: The Final Chapter