Chapter 12: New Heights

Kaiza floated through a black void like area, the last thing he could remember were the strange black symbols, flying into him as everything went black. Kaiza looked around, wondering where he was, as the void became a desert-like landscape, colors of red, browns and rust filled the area.

A cloaked person walked through the sandstorm, holding a bundle of something against their chest, they were walking toward him, he was about to speak until he heard a familiar voice, Kaiza was seeing things through Pride's eyes.

"Lust, why are you taking so long?" Pride asked.

"You try keeping this thing safe, in this Chaos Storm." Lust said.

"What is Wrath's plan with him anyway?" Pride asked.

"He will help raise the Master from where he sleeps." Lust said.

"What was this thing called anyway?" Pride asked.

"He was called Kaiza Akuma." Lust said, removing the cloak from the bundle, revealing a sleeping baby.

The image returned to the void, Kaiza was speechless, how much were the Sinful Seven connected to him, he needed answers. The scene once again changed to that of a cave like throne room, Kaiza saw his child self again, he looked to be about a year old.

"Why do I have to help you with those?" Gluttony asked.

Kaiza now realized he was looking through the eyes of Gluttony.

"It's because you're a big tub of lard and because you should know what is good for him." Lust said.

"I can eat anything, he barely even has teeth to enjoy the good stuff." Gluttony complained.

"I didn't ask to be stuck with this kid, I should be out there having fun!" Lust yelled.

Kaiza starts crying, making Lust start calming him down.

"You're the only one who can take care of him." Gluttony said.

"I know and I hate it, I can't wait until he is gone." Lust said.

The scene closed again, Kaiza was left floating in the void, more questions were given then answers, where did the Sinful Seven get him, who is the Master, why did Lust have to take care of him. Kaiza's vision went blurry, as he blacked out again.

Kaiza awoke in bed, he looked around the room, getting up slowly, leaving the room, until he bumped into someone.

"Kaiza you're awake!" Sora said, surprised.

"Where am I?" Kaiza asked.

"The Crusader Dreadnaught, this is the room given to you, mine is farther down." Sora said.

"Not far, you should have been in my room." Kaiza said.

Sora's cheeks went red, as she punched Kaiza in the stomach, he laughed and rubbed his belly.

"Nothing to throw up now." Kaiza said. "So anyway, how long have I been out?"

"Not too long, only a couple hours." Sora replied.

They left to go to the mess hall, there were two choices of food, some sort of foreign pasta dish and a charred pizza.

"I have an idea who made the pizza." Kaiza said.

"It was Jan." Sora said. "You should have seen what he made for lunch."

Kaiza got himself a bowl of pasta, then a loud yell rang out through the hall.

"KAIZA!" Koko yelled.

Kaiza turned, in time for Koko to run into him.

"Woah easy there, I have food." Kaiza said.

"I'm sorry." Koko said, looking down sad.

Kaiza sighed, rubbing her head, causing her to look up at him and smile.

"I made a new friend!" Koko said, excited.

"Well that is good, I can't wait to meet them." Kaiza said.

"It's nice to meet you, Mister Kaiza." A voice spoke up behind him.

A chill shot up his back, as he looked back, seeing a familiar face.

"Oh you're the girl, who those kids were bullying, how are you doing?" Kaiza asked.

"It's so nice of you to remember me." She said smiling. "My name is Desiree."

"Well it is nice to meet you Desiree." Kaiza said.

"Kaiza, what is that on the top of your hand?" Koko said.

Kaiza looked at both of his hands, seeing a strange marking on his left hand.

"Well that's new." Kaiza said.

"That looked to have appeared after your fight with Pride, after those strange black symbols hit you." Sora said.

"Well whatever, I want to eat." Kaiza said, sitting down and starting to eat the pasta.

The group sat around a table, Kaiza and Sora sat near each other, Akumu and Hikari sat together, Gishiki and Jan sat close by, Ryu was standing up using a PowerPoint show.

"So with the recent battle, both Pride and Gluttony of the Sinful Seven have been defeated. According to Sora's information given from Pride, their Sacrifice Mode is a last ditch effort to finish us off, their power spikes and they gain new and unknown powers." Ryu explained. "We were able to defeat them as a group, but I do not know if a single Warrior will be able to defeat them on their own. So for you to be ready for the upcoming fights, you will be living within the Crusader Dreadnaught, for the remaining battle against the Sinful Seven."

"These strange black symbols that flew into me after their deaths, I experienced some memories of both of them." Kaiza said.

"Please do tell Sir Kaiza." Ryu said.

"Guess I should start with Pride, which seems to come first in the Timeline. Through Pride's eyes, the landscape wasn't like anything found on earth, a desert of reds, browns and rust colors, there were sand storms blowing through all the time, which Pride referred to as a ``Chaos Storm." Kaiza explained. "Lust came up with a bundle, then they talked about the bundle being a sacrifice to bring their Master back to life."

"So there's a Master, who we only know by the name of the Master." Ryu said, moving a name over the PowerPoint. "Whoever was the bundle we have to find them."

Sora looked at Kaiza who looked on edge.

"Kaiza, do you know the name of the child they have?" Sora asked.

Kaiza let out a breath, then spoke.

"The child's name was Kaiza Akuma, the child was myself."

Everyone looked at him surprised.

"Maybe it could have been another Kaiza Akuma." Gishiki said.

"This is literally a name, not many people have a name like that." Kaiza said.

"Then what was through Gluttony's memories?" Jan asked.

"Not much, it seems like it took place a year after the first one and that Lust has a duty of taking care of me, while I was with the Sinful Seven, as well as a throne-like room, located somewhere in the weird area from the first vision."

"So I'm guessing this is all the information that we have?" Hikari asked.

"Not quite." Kaiza said, revealing the mark on his left hand. "This appeared after the fight and I have no clue what it could be. It seems like it has some sort of connection to the Sinful Seven and the strange world."

"Well for the time being this meeting is adjourned, report to training, when you can and I mean all of you." Ryu said.

"Sir I have enough training, I will train them instead." Jan said, getting up heading for the door.

"You will be training Jan, you are the most reckless out of all of them, I feel that there will be a large fight over the horizon." Ryu said.

"Fine sir." Jan said.

Kaiza chuckled a bit, causing Jan to glare at him.

"Got something to say soldier?" Jan barked.

"Easy there cream puff, wouldn't want to start a fight in an enclosed space.." Kaiza said.

Jan's face turned red, as he charged toward Kaiza, only for Ryu to swiftly take him out.

"Sir Kaiza, please reframe from teasing others." Ryu said.

"Can't help it, it's my lovely charm." Kaiza said.

Ryu sighed, taking Jan to his room. The others soon left, as a small being uncloaked themselves, holding up a snake, whispering something to it, causing it to slither away shortly after.

"I finally found you!" Koko said, walking in grabbing the being by the hand, pulling them out of the room. "Let's go play Desiree."

The scene pans over to Akumu's room

Akumu slid his hand over the sturdy desk in his room, moving toward the bookshelf, pulling out a random book, flipping through it.

"Checking out something interesting?" Hikari asked, walking into the room.

"Not used to a room this nice, you remember the place I was staying at." Akumu said, putting the book back. "You know you never had to stay with me, a skeleton proclaiming he knew you many years ago."

"Well yeah it is weird, but so what demons, weird powers and some other things I don't understand. But with what you told me, it felt right after hearing it, like this was something that I was missing." Hikari said, plopping down on a chair.

"Even so, your life has spiraled out of control because of it." Akumu said, not facing her.

"If I turned back, then later in life I would come to regret never following you." Hikari said, getting up, walking over to Akumu hugging him from behind. "I love you."

"I love you too." Akumu said softly, laying his hands on Hikari's.

The scene then panned over to the training room

Kaiza was in the midst of hitting a punching bag, as a sharply dressed demon walked into the room with Ryu.

"Sir Kaiza, this is Malum, he is a demon who has agreed to help us, he has been with us for a long time and is highly trained. He will be your training instructor." Ryu explained.

Kaiza looked at him, sliding back his sweaty hair, taking a drink from his container.

"Well alright then, am I gonna have to hold back?" Kaiza asked.

"No but you are not allowed to access any of your forms." Malum said.

Kaiza instantly rushed him, causing Malum to kick him, Kaiza caught his left foot, having Malum spin kick him with his free foot, his foot connected to the left side of Kaiza's face, sending him into some exercise equipment.

"Is this all you can do?" Malum said tauntingly.

"As if." Kaiza said, rushing him once more.

The scene changes to the small but well kept library

Gishiki sat around, scrolling through books, learning whatever he could. Desiree snuck in trying to hide from Koko, causing Gishiki to look up from his books.

"Who might you be?" Gishiki asked.

Desiree slightly jumped, looking over to see Gishiki.

"I'm Desiree, I wouldn't have thought that someone would be in here." Desiree said softly.

"Well I'm here to study whatever I can." Gishiki replied.

"Are you one of the Warriors?" Desiree asked.

"Yes I am." Gishiki said.

"Do you have a significant other?" Desiree asked.

"There is someone dear to me, but I wouldn't call them my significant other." Gishiki said softly. "She shares the same name with you, she was the secretary of the Heaven's Rite Foundation."

Desiree was taken aback, she knew Gishiki when he was a part of a gang, she didn't know that he held her to such regard.

"I used to be part of a gang, I was feared by a lot of people, I went by "Fallen Angel", as things went on, my members slowly left getting real jobs, I continued living my life the way I wanted. Then one day I encountered the Devil Kizer himself, he beat me half to death, for messing with someone weaker than I." Gishiki explained. "While I was bleeding out, waiting for an ambulance, she came to me, taking care of me, she was an angel to me and I decided to become a hero, protecting the ones that can't protect themselves, besides hurting them myself."

Desiree smiled, knowing that she could use this to get Gishiki to fight with the other Warriors.

"Thank you for telling me." Desiree said, leaving shortly after.

Gishiki watched her leave, feeling a strange familiarity with her, but shrugged it off, going back to his studying.

In Jan's room

Jan woke up, sitting up fast.

"I forgot I left the oven on!" Jan yelled.

In an unknown location in the city

A man with a bulky frame, ran through the streets of the ruined Tokyo, he held something close to him, he was trying to get away from a swarm of monsters. He rounded a corner, heading down a secluded alleyway, he got to the end of it, opening a hidden hatch, then headed in, he removed the food he had, he then set it down.

He had some dog and cat food, a few treats and some other things he needed for his animals. He filled the food bowls, as his dog and two cats came over and started eating. He walked over to the far back, sitting down on the ground. After the animals were done eating, they came over to the man laying against or on the man, he started to pet the animals, the room shook due to the monsters, scraping sounds echoed from right outside of the hidden door.

The sound of breathing could be heard right against the hidden door, the man kept his animals quiet, as the scraping and breathing became quiet as the monster left the area. The man went back to petting his pets, closing his eyes and getting some rest. Some time has passed as the man woke up to find his pets missing, he got up looking around, seeing the hidden door slightly open, he moved out of his hiding spot, going to the other side of the alley, trying to find his pets.

The roar of several orcs rang out, making the man look in their direction, seeing his pets being held by the orcs, making him go over to them, trying to get them back. One of the orcs roared, swinging his right arm, hitting the man on his left side, sending him into a nearby wall. There was a shout, as the orcs dropped to the ground their bodies broke away, another man walked over, helping the man up.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kaiza asked.

The man looked up at Kaiza, saying nothing but nodded, his pets came over, the dogs licked his face. The man got up, then started to walk away.

"Hey, the streets aren't safe, come with me I can take you to a safe zone." Kaiza said.

The man looked back at Kaiza, then looked at his animals.

"There is enough food for them, we can probably give the dogs the cooking that Jan has made." Kaiza said.

His dogs looked happy, then the man looked back at Kaiza then nodded.

"Alright, just follow me." Kaiza said, bringing the man to the nearest safe zone.

After some time had passed, Kaiza brought the man into the local safe zone, the dog ran farther in and started eating a freshly burnt pizza, the man went over to stop him, but Kaiza stopped him.

"Don't worry about it, if one person or in this case one dog, can eat that, then it doesn't matter. Jan sucks at making food." Kaiza said.

The man nodded seeing his dog enjoying the burnt food.

"KITTENS!" Koko shrieked.

She went over to Kaiza and the man, reaching for a cat, the man flinched, stepping back.

"Easy she won't hurt them and Koko before you try to take something from someone, you have to ask them first." Kaiza said.

"I'm sorry, may I please see one of them?" Koko asked.

The man looked down at her, then over to his dog enjoying the burnt food, then up to Kaiza and then nodded his head, handing a kitten to Koko. She gently took hold of the kitten cradling it in her arms, then looked up at the man with the cutest smile.

"They are so cute, what is their name?" Koko asked.

The man tilted his head, Sora soon walked into the room seeing the man.

"Oh wow, you found a Golem." Sora said.

"You mean those things that gained up on me and forced me to Heaven's Rite Foundation?" Kaiza asked.

"Oh um yeah." Sora said, caution of Kaiza. "They are good at carrying heavy objects, but they lack vocal cords, so they have the inability to talk."

"That explains the nodding." Kaiza said.

"Being a force of nature, they are able to make friends with animals easily." Ryu said, walking into the room with Jan.

"My food!" Jan said, going over to the dog, seeing that it ate everything, the dog looked up at him still hungry. "Fine, I will make you some more."

"Oh god this will be …" Kaiza was saying, before he dodged a kick from Malum.

"Damnit Malum!" Kaiza yelled, swinging a punch at Malum, just for Malum to grab his fist, judo flipping Kaiza into the ground.

Kaiza put his hands onto the ground, raising his feet up, shoving them toward Malum's chin, Kaiza's feet almost connected until Malum jumped back, Kaiza hopped onto his feet rushing at Malum.

"They're at it again, they won't be done until Kaiza is unconscious or Kaiza can finally hit Malum." Sora said, sighing. Sora looked at the Golem, as he was looking around nervously. "Hey buddy, relax, we are all friends here, no one will harm you."

The Golem nodded his head, sitting down against a wall, gently petting the remaining pet that he had, Koko's mother called for her, so she returned the cat she had and the dog returned to the Golem resting against him.

Soon after everyone else entered, Jan was in the middle of forgetting that he had food in the oven, Akumu and Hikari were having a meal together, Gishiki was eating as he flipped through a book, and Golem looked around sensing the calm atmosphere.

"This will never last." A snake said, while wrapped around the Golem's neck. "We are meant to kill, you are meant to kill."

The Golem couldn't say anything, even if he could speak, he didn't even try to move from his spot.

"Monsters are Monsters, kill them all before they kill you." The snake said, moving toward the pets biting their necks. "I just gave them a slow acting poison, I will give them the antidote after you kill every major threat to the Sinful Seven."

The snake slithered away, then moved toward Desiree, slithering up her left leg, then wrapped around her neck, as they both grinned.

Hikari moved over to the Golem.

"Are you okay, you don't look too well, well for a Golem." Hikari said.

The Golem got up slowly, then swung his right arm toward Hikari's head, just for Akumu to catch his fist, the Golem lounged forward, hitting Akumu several times in the head.

Both Jan and Gishiki came over, pulling the Golem off of Akumu, using his immense strength the Golem threw both Jan and Gishiki off of him, stomping down hard on Akumu's chest. He started stomping onto his chest repeatedly, Hikari tried pushing him off, Sora ran over drop kicking the Golem's head knocking him back a bit.

Both Malum and Kaiza ran into the room hearing the commotion, the Golem looked around then rushed out of the room.

"What the hell is going on!" Kaiza yelled.

"I don't know, he just started attacking Hikari." Sora said.

Hikari was helping Akumu up, Koko walked in with her mother, as her eyes went wide rushing over to the pets laying on the ground, examining them.

"These animals have been bitten by a snake, the poison is slow but the effects are lethal." Koko's Mother said. "I'm a vet, you can call me Aizo."

"I will take you where you need to go." Jan said, gently picking up the dog. "Don't worry, I will make sure you get enough burnt pizza once you are healthy."

Jan and Hikari took the animals, bringing Aizo to a workplace.

"Will they be okay?" Koko asked.

"If your mom is as good as she says, they should be fine." Sora said.

"There is the snake!" Kaiza said, seeing the snake slither past the door, he ran after it.

Kaiza ran through the halls, seeing the glimpse of the snake, he rounded the corner seeing Desiree.

"Watch out!" Kaiza yelled, lounging forward, as the snake lounged at Desiree.

Kaiza scooped her up into his arms, but was bit by the snake, Kaiza ripped the snake off his arm, slapping it hard against the wall.

"Hey are you okay?" Kaiza asked.

"Yes, I am good." Desiree said smiling, she was very happy that her trap worked well and with Kaiza no less.

Kaiza set her down, looking a bit ill, walking down the hall, then fell to the ground hard.

Akumu, Sora and Gishiki decided to follow after the Golem, he had left the Crusader Dreadnought, the small group chased him, they were catching up with him.

"There he is!" Gishiki shouted.

The Golem flinched a bit, but continued running; they were about to reach him, until a blur moved fast in front of them, stopping, revealing a sharply dressed mobster.

"I will take care of these poor peasants." The man said.

The Golem continued leaving, Akumu ran forward, but the man appeared behind Akumu instantly snapping his neck, Akumu dropped to the ground, the man became blurred once more appearing behind Gishiki, hitting the back of his neck hard, then moved toward Sora.

She stood her ground, swinging her fist, but she didn't connect with the man and the man didn't hit her, a man appeared in front of her, stopping the man's hand.

"Hello dear brother Don'yoku." Malum said. "Or should I call you Greed now."

Greed jumped back, glaring at Malum.

"Well if it isn't Malum, playing on the side of the humans, how far have you lowered yourself." Greed said, appearing behind Sora, only for Malum to knock him back.

"Go and get that Golem." Malum said.

Sora nodded, as Akumu sat up snapping his neck back into place, they picked up Gishiki, taking him toward the Golem.

"Let's have another one of our matches dear brother." Malum said.

"Let's." Greed said grinning.