A Painful Past (82)

Akasan's mind was completely blank now.

This man, who he'd never seen in his entire life, just told him that he was his father.

Akasan spoke. "Aren't you... the master all of the Freedom members talk about?"

Jack nodded. "I encouraged all of them to follow me. I promised them a world of true freedom. The freedom to express themselves to the fullest."

Akasan looked down.

Jack leaned against the wall. "Much better. Now let me have a talk with my own son at least. After all it is our first time meeting in what, sixteen years? Though I didn't expect for you to be so soft. Your brother Ten is much more like me."

Akasan's head was spinning. He had so many questions, not enough answers.

His right eye turned purple. "Hey."

Jack looked at him. "Hm?"

Black mist was slowly rising out of Akasan's body. "Where's my mother?"

Jack sighed. "Ana? Well. I guess I at least owe you the story. So, about eighteen years ago, I was under... heat for doing what I was... known for. A serial killer they would call me. In your books, I'm a double S-Rank criminal, just because I was never caught. I was on a hunt for two things in the entire world. The Eyes of Creation, and the Eyes of Destruction. I changed my appearance often to avoid suspicion. And somewhere during one of my times in a disguise I met your mother. Pretty girl, she was. She never thought about me possibly being the Ripper, and I never told her, so we got along. Soon she even trusted me with all of her secrets. She had the blood of a god and an angel inside of her. Such a rare specimen. I found out that she also possessed the Eyes of Destruction. She never showed them in public so the people wouldn't think she was evil, and she never bothered fighting either. As soon as I found out that she had the bloodline that she had, I knew that there was an ever-so-small chance that if I had children with this woman, the baby might awaken the Eyes of Creation. So I did. You were the only child I had with that girl. Somehow Ana found out that I was the Ripper and refused to let me around you. So I told her that I'd kill you as her punishment. Heh, the damned woman went to such great lengths that she hid you somewhere I apparently never would have thought of looking. Obviously you're still alive. So I took her eyes from her instead. Then I killed her. So that's where she is. The afterlife. Enjoy the story?"

Akasan had a thick black aura around him. Both of his eyes were purple, and his head was tilted to the side. "You... killed... my mother?"

Jack paid him no mind. "Yeah. I did. Got a problem with that? It's not like you had an emotional connection to her."

"So I went through everything I did, because you tricked my mom and killed her. I was homeless. I had no family. I was poor. I had to steal from other homeless people just to eat that night. Nearly all of our food was rotten. The woman who took care of me tried to kill me and my friend. And why did all of this happen? Because... you... killed... her."

Tears streamed down Akasan's face, "That's enough. I don't care anymore. I can't even think straight. All I feel... is hatred."

Jack walked towards him. "Alright that's enough being a crybaby. Just let me take your eye and I'll be on my way. No one has to die." He reached his arm out towards Akasan's face.

A black shockwave threw him back as he hit the wall.

"Don't touch me. Scum. Filth. Die. I hate you. I'm going to kill you." Akasan's markings enveloped his entire body, turning all of his skin into the black-purple energy that was Nil.

Demon horns grew out of his forehead. He no longer looked human.

Jack stood up. "So we're fighting for this huh? I actually planned to kill you quietly and without you noticing, but it seems like that won't be happening."

Akasan screamed out in pain. He zipped towards Jack and hit him into the ceiling, breaking through everything he touched.

Jack couldn't even fight back in these circumstances.

Akasan was destroying the entire base off of his presence alone.

Akasan again hit Jack through several floors and walls with every hit.

Jack had a purple energy. He started using his Eye of Realms to move quicker.

Akasan started screaming again because he couldn't find Jack. He was flying over the spiral staircase room. He held up a hand. A small glowing white ball formed. He turned his hand over and dropped the orb.

When it hit the bottom an explosion rushed all the way up the entire building, killing just about everyone inside.

On the outside, it was quiet.

Then *fwoom!!!*

 A gigantic cloud of smoke and fire was visible from anywhere in the city.

Jack flew up and out of the explosion.

Akasan suddenly appeared in front of him and knocked him in his chest.

On impact a whole block's worth of buildings blew up.

--

Narumi was woken out of her sleep by the sound of an earthquake. She hopped out of bed and ran to the front entrance and looked out. She saw smoke. And a lot of it. "Guards!!"

She ran back inside to find the guards.

--

Jack slid back on the pavement. Akasan was already on his right, about to hit him again.

Jack looked at him, creating a portal.

Akasan swiped his arm through it.

Jack closed it up on his arm, cutting it off.

Akasan landed on the ground and looked at his arm. It didn't even look like flesh. One of his eyes briefly showed an Eye of Creation pattern, and his arm grew back.

Jack was amazed. "This power... I need it!!"

Akasan roared. His screams echoed throughout the city.

The roar emitted a shockwave that obliterated everything around it.

--

Agaki and Kuro arrived near the scene not too long after.

"Is that Akasan down there?" Agaki asked. "That energy is... insanely powerful. It feels like hatred..."

Kuro looked around. "Likely. We have to make sure there are as few casualties as possible. That's our first priority. Voltage."

Kuro dropped down and went to go find survivors.

Agaki reluctantly did as well.

--

Akasan was moving well over the speed of light right now.

Jack covered himself in dark energy. "Alright you monster. You wanna play games? Let's go."

The two clashed. Each hit resulted in a booming sound that tore up the ground. They ran around as they fought.

The two were destroying all of Zetsubo by themselves.

Akasan eventually caught Jack off guard and kicked him in the face.

The force sent him nearly a mile away, but Akasan was locked on to his target. He immediately flew after him.

Akasan jumped on top of Jack mid-air, held him by his coat, and repeatedly punched him in the face until they landed.

After the last punch a whirlwind of force went into the ground.

Akasan stood up to see if his target was still alive.

When the dust cleared, Jack was still there, with only some scratches. He grinned.

Akasan formed the Eye of Destruction.

"Oh, amazing! You even inherited Ana's eyes! Too bad I already have hers." Jack said.

Akasan screamed out of rage. A pillar of energy emitted from Akasan that was taller than any building.

The energy grew wider and wider, destroying everything along with it.

--

Narumi was rushing through the palace's halls.

Mayumi heard her running and left her bedroom to catch up with her. "What's going on? What's all the commotion?"

Narumi got to the door and left the palace.

Mayumi followed.

"It's Akasan. He's fighting somebody, and it got out of control!"

Mayumi frowned. "I'm coming with you!"

They hurried their way over to the scene.

--

Kuro and Agaki met back up.

"That's everyone." Agaki said.

Kuro looked over at the insane amounts of energy being used by Akasan. "Something's not right here."

"What's wrong?"

Kuro frowned. "Whoever's fighting Akasan should be dead by now. I've never seen anything like it. This energy clearly surpasses Naesrio's. That means Akasan's opponent is just that much stronger than he is. By a lot. And if that's true, then we should evacuate."

Sin stood on the building opposite of them.

They just noticed him there.

His shawl was gone, and his chains were wrapped around his torso. He had tattoos on his arms, and a tattoo of an eye on each palm. His chains magically unraveled themselves and were floating in the air in front of him. He also pulled out a dagger that had the same blade style as his chains.

Kuro whipped out his sword. He went into his Thunder God form.

Agaki tried to alter Sin's chains, but it wasn't working. "My molecular telekinesis won't work on his chains. They aren't made of metal. He must be using magic."

Kuro squinted. "Magic? So he's a wizard?"

Kuro quickly vanished and appeared next to Sin for a sneak attack.

Without even looking, one of his chains hit him in the stomach, and sent him away.

Kuro rolled back along a rooftop. "What's up with those chains? It's like hitting a wall."

Sin grinned. He tossed his dagger into the air and clapped his hands. "Magic Art: Circle of Death!" The dagger fell down to the ground and struck the dirt. A magic circle appeared on the ground. It stretched underneath Agaki and Kuro.

"Get away from the circle!!" Agaki yelled.

They both barely escaped as pink energy shot up out of the circle.

Sin jumped through the energy in the middle of Agaki's jump and hit him in the chest with a chain. He was thrown into a building.

Sin started laughing. "I wanna fight that Eye of Creation kid again! He looked fun! But master is fighting him now. So he'll be dead soon..."

--

Narumi and Mayumi followed the catastrophic waves of energy Akasan was giving off. What they saw was astounding.

Akasan was completely taken over by his Nil, and was trying to kill Jack.

Narumi recognized him instantly. "That's Jack the Ripper!!"

Mayumi took a closer look. "How can you tell?"

"My sister used to tell me about him, how they could never catch him because he has the Eyes of Realms. This is really bad."

Mayumi frowned. "Well I won't let him kill Akasan!" She held both of her hands out. "Magic Art: Aqua Torpedo Barrage!!"

A blue magic circle appeared. It started shooting out gigantic bullets of water.

Akasan noticed them coming and jumped back.

Mayumi was aiming for Jack.

Jack saw the two of them.

Less than a second later he was behind them. "Why are you interrupting my quality time with my son?"

Narumi's eyes grew wide. *"Son?! Is that why... Akasan went berserk?"* she thought.

Akasan saw Jack and just as quickly moved right between Narumi and Mayumi mid-air, and kicked Jack in the face with the force of a bullet train.

He chased him down, and they fought some more.

Mayumi had tears streaming down her face. She fell to her knees.

Narumi looked at her. "Mayumi?"

Mayumi was crying. "Can you imagine what Akasan must be going through right now? After all this time he finally meets his father and he's... a monster. And if that's his dad, then his mom must be..."

"Dead." Narumi finished.

Mayumi wiped tears from her face. "It's just not fair! Why does everything happen to Akasan? I want to be there with him... he shouldn't have to do it all by himself!! He doesn't even have boy friends his age! He's the only one who goes on missions anymore, we don't have the manpower to send anyone else... everyone else is either not strong enough or retired... we ask so much from him, but he never gets anything back!"

Narumi truly felt bad after hearing those words. "We won't win this fight." she said, a wave of determination across her face. "But I have an idea. It's the only way, but you're not going to like it. Mayumi. Come with me."

She sniffed and stood up. "Okay."

Akasan's rage felt no end. He couldn't stop himself.

No.

He didn't want to stop himself. He wanted to see Jack's blood. He wouldn't be satisfied until this man was dead.

Meanwhile Jack was having fun. He couldn't stop Akasan by cutting off limbs, as they would just grow back, and he couldn't really attack him either, or he'd die.

So he played passively, only dodging and running away. But he was getting bored of this game of chase. He flew away. "Playtime's over Akasan."

Jack's eyes began spinning. A black orb surrounded him.

Akasan wasn't thinking. He flew straight at it.

Jack closed the orb. "Gotcha."

Akasan flew into an all black space. He frantically looked around.

He was alone.

No one was there.

He screamed in rage for minutes at a time, but there was no one to direct his rage at.

The Nil finally dispersed, and Akasan was curled up on a cold ground, silently crying to himself.