His first impulse was to clear his throat of all the dust from debris. Some managed to cling to his eyes as well, so he found himself frantically rubbing them. That’s when he saw it. A sight that made him wish he’d just kept his eyes closed indefinitely.

A reflection to his right, a broken mirror greeted him. Through it, he saw the same wings from his dream, following him. This time, they seemed to be glitching in and out, like a bad television signal. The halo was absent, but the sight still shook him -resulting in him flinching backwards.

He continued to desperately rub his eyes, hoping this was just his vision playing tricks. But to no avail. There they were, still glitching in and out of reality.

And then he turned his head.

A disaster of emotions flood through his mind. He was confused, scared and his body didn’t even try to hide it. He could only sit there, trembling, hoping this was all some bad dream. I could only describe that sensation as absolute despair.

The building was completely gutted by the flames and only a few sections of metal still held together -like the skeletal frame of a long dead house of bones. And in the middle of that house, there was him, just lying on his butt.

The stench of iron was so strong and pungent, it made him gag every time he caught a whiff. But it was also a familiar scent. One that he remembered. But from where? It was as if that part of his mind was covered in a thick fog.

Slowly, he crept backwards in terror of the horror before him. And as he did, he felt the warmth and texture of some thick and slippery liquid. For some, it would feel like a foreign feeling but for him it was one he had quite some history with. And yet, though he had the feeling it was familiar, he just couldn’t remember where.

Beside his right hand was the head of the 3-year-old baby he saw earlier with a small piece of apple slice still in her mouth. Her neck looked as if it were ripped off from the rest of the body. You could even see a fragment of her spinal cord sticking out the head.

My guess is that the force from the explosion must have sent her mother and father at a speed different than her’s, resulting in her ripping apart. Though at this point anything could be on the table.

By this time, Akuma’s chest was reaching a level far exceeding regular pounding. He stood up to scan the area, advancing while grabbing his chest to ease the speaker blooming in his chest. After about 6 steps he tripped on a large piece of rubble and slammed straight to the floor. He picked himself back up and continued his quest to find at least one survivor but to his surprise that only made things worse. MUCH WORSE!

He stumbled shortly after and almost slipped in a pool of blood. Turning back to see what it was he tripped on, he saw what should have been a happy couple burning with passion and life, replaced with two butchered bodies. On the figure that looked male, the upper half was right next to the lower half and the legs were nowhere to be found. On the female figure, she was missing her right hand, and half her skull had vanished. The sight dropped him to his knees, and his vomit shot out like an arrow from the bowstring of hell itself. It landed in front of him, smearing the debris with a coat of disgust. The stench brought him to his very edge and lunged him straight off. He spewed anything his guts had to offer straight back up, even covering his shirt with it. That’s when he realized something extremely dire. Something of high importance was missing. His mind asked the question of the highest importance. A question he regretted not asking from the very beginning…

Where was Tenshi?

He desperately looked everywhere, flipping every piece of debris in his path, hoping he would just be there. Perhaps he was already dead. Perhaps he was on the verge of it. Anything could have happened, but the only thing that mattered was finding him. And it was then, as he continued to hopefully look through every debris and organs in his path, that he spotted someone’s burnt body. It was the only body he found in one piece, but they were dead all the same.

It was lying face up with some type of short iron pole lodged through their chest. They had a familiar looking skull ring on their right index finger that made him want to take a closer look, in hopes that he was wrong. But standing there above the burnt body, he realized his judgment wasn’t wrong. There was no doubt. It was Tenshi.

He fell to his knees in disbelief, as he bared witness to his brother’s unrecognizable form. The ring was honestly the only reason he knew it was him. Only he would ever wear such a eggy thing. On his index finger no less. In truth it was just a cheap gift Akma gave him for his birthday that he for some reason kept a hold of, even after all these years.

“Now this is just pathetic.” a deep voice proclaimed as they began to laugh. Hearing his voice alone felt as if he were stranded in a blizzard of sharp razors. “Just look at yourself. You're covered in your own vomit and down on your knees like some insignificant little worm. This is just ridiculously funny!”

As Akuma turned his head to match their gaze, the sight of what he could only assume to be a foot, smashed into my face. The sheer impact should have caved in his facial bones and the blow sent me flying into one of the few remaining pillars. The second his back made contact, he felt an intense pain circulating throughout his entire body and fell into a brief unconsciousness. One would question how he could survive such an attack, but that was the farthest thing from his mind. Immediately after opening his eyes, there was a fist waiting to greet him. One that sent him flipping through the wall and into the parking lot, caught by Tenshi’s car. Blood pooled down his face, and a mixture of blood and saliva dripped from his mouth.

After such a deadly attack he didn't even need to see that thing to know it wasn't human.

“Such a fragile and weak creature you are.” The monster scoffed, walking across the parking lot. “You might actually be worse than an insect. I can’t believe I was so cautious as I approached you too! Even after reducing this place to rubble, I stayed back to gauge your reaction! Just for you to be this pathetic? This is just too funny!”

It was the first time since hearing his eerie voice that Akuma managed to catch a good look at him. Laid out on the damaged car, he saw a being equally as unbelievable as the angel in his dream, no, this one was definitely worse.

His lanky body towered over his, a shadowy combination of crimson markings and obsidian skin. And before he knew it, death was only inches away from him, almost in slow motion.

At that very moment, time as he knew it reconstructed itself and a wave of memories began broadcasting into his brain. Events like getting punched by his dad during training and even lying about doing his homework. Weirdly, he even remembered things like, all the times he said “good morning” to his brother, working part-time at a fast-food restaurant and even eating with some friends. Well, that part was from a dream as he had no friends. However, there was one real memory. Alice. How he wished he could have seen her smile just a couple more times. Maybe even just once.

(I see… so this is what it feels like to have your life flash before your eyes… Am I really gonna die here? …Die...Die? Death... Hm. What exactly…does it mean to die? Will I see God? Will I see Satan? ...Or will I simply vanish away? Times like these... I wish I was the one to decide… Then I wouldn’t have to worry about judgment. I could be the one to judge others… When exactly did I start feeling this way? How long as it been, since I’ve started calling myself God… Y’know… I don’t think… I wanna die right here.)

With adrenaline cursing throughout his body, he rose up and took a stance that was perfect for both defense and offense. He carried his left leg forward and slightly bent his knees while shifting his weight toward the left leg. Then he put up his left hand with my elbow slightly bent out, and his right fist charged just above his waist.

With this stance he’d be able to block and reflect attacks with my left hand and simultaneously attack with the right hand.

The sight of Akuma choosing to retaliate instead of cowering in fear put a grin the monster’s face.

In an instant, his fast made its way to Akuma’s face, at a speed beyond humans. And yet, in a way, it seemed slow. The wings glitching on his back became a sold white for an instant, allowing Akuma to react. He used the back of his left hand and shifted his forearm away from himself, leaving his head and torso completely open. Then he used his right hand and fired a quick jab to his nose, followed by a hook to his jaw. Though he seemed to have felt the hit, that wasn’t nearly enough to knock him unconscious.

The monster retaliated with a hook using his left arm but expecting this, Akuma ducked and countered with a raging uppercut using his right fist. Which he followed with a sweep to his legs, resulted in him sliding to the left. But this boy, angered and desperate, wasn’t going to let him off easy. He sent his fist to assist with the fall by connecting to the monster's right cheek. The connection sounded like an explosion, giving off a large "BOOM!" sound. The force produced shattered the asphalt into pieces, cleared the debris and created an impressive crater.

While most would question where this sudden power came from, and how it came into their possession, the only thing on his mind was destroying this clown.