(PLEASE READ THE OVERVIEW FIRST) Language warning. Hellraisers Book 1:1 -- Hellraisers United By Aaron Eaton With assistance by David Johnston "Yeah, I know he's coming, but I can't stop him myself." Maieson said, aloud. Switchblade was the name of the second soul inside Maieson's body. For all the trouble bearing it had cost him, it had also helped him through his darker moments, including the break up with Rain, his high school sweetheart. The soul had been his mentor and friend for the past eight years, and they had grown accustomed to each other. "Maieson?" asked a sweet female voice. As Maieson turned he saw Megumi, Amano's Sister. "I didn't know anyone else was up," Maieson said. "I couldn't sleep either." Megumi said, softly, as she joined him at the railing. As they stood there, they heard the faint roar of a lion at the zoo, two blocks away. "Nightmares?" The street was quiet again, except for the chirping of crickets. "Yes, about Nagumo and the demons." "Same here." "I'm not at all sure we can beat them." "We'll find out soon enough." Maieson fell silent as they listened to the crickets. Switchblade stirred within him, sensing something, and then the silence was shattered by an explosion, leveling a zoo building. "It's Nagumo, isn't it?" "Get the others, Megumi, it's time to go to work" "Gotcha" Megumi said just before another explosion occurred even closer to the house "And hurry!" Maieson snapped as he ran to his room to hastily pull on his "working clothes", a black jumpsuit, swordbelt, red cape and mask. The others quickly joined him and they proceeded in force to the site of the latest explosion. Switchblade took over as they saw Naroth, Nagumo's black-cloaked flunky, backed by ten demons. "Naroth, you son of a bitch, you're gonna pay!" Switchblade snarled as he drew his swords, irritated by Nagumo's lack of respect in sending his errand boy to take them on. Leaving the lesser demons to be handled by the others, he charged straight at Naroth, hitting the man at full speed to send him slamming into a concrete wall. As Naroth rose, he assumed his Demon Master form, and a blade of flame formed in his left hand. He stalked silently toward Switchblade, a fire blast shooting out toward his opponent. Switchblade dodged, letting the blast immolate the demon attacking Mido. "Pathetic. If your attitude is as bad as your aim you're as good as dead," Switchblade mocked as he prepared a blast of his own and as Naroth evaded, tossed a sword spinning outward to slash Naroth in the side. As Naroth's blood sprayed, the sword returned to Switchblade's hand and he charged recklessly forward for the kill. Naroth leapt back desperately, just enough to keep his chest wound from being lethal. A barrier of fire erupted between them, and as Naroth noted the casualties on his side he snarled, "Foolish immortal, we'll meet again under other circumstances. Count on it, you have not heard the last of Nagumo's empire," and disappeared in a cloud of fire. In Osaka Nagumo was seated on his throne in Edo Castle when Naroth reappeared in front of him, bleeding from his wounds. "Naroth reporting Lord Nagumo." "And what do you have to report?" "We failed to kill the Hellraisers but we did..." Instantly Nagumo was on his feet, slapping Naroth to silence. Naroth cringed as he felt his cheek. It felt more like a baseball bat had hit him in the face. "You lost all ten demons without killing a single Hellraiser?" "Yes, Lord Nagumo" "I see. Commander Naroth, I'm very disappointed in you. The point of this exercise was to test and demoralise our enemies, not to give them a light workout. Ten demons should have been more than adequate to take out at least one of them, if adequately led. Quite a few of your recent assignments have been bungled..." Nagumo kept Naroth in suspense for a moment, then continued, "But I won't kill you this time. I'll give you one more chance to show me what you can do." >From the corner of his eye he saw Faust Munihausen, Nagumo's advisor and the General of the demon forces, looking on coldly. Faust was tireless in his hatred of Amano, who had shredded half of his body, Himi for being the True Cho-Jin, and Switchblade, of course, for forming and leading the Hellraisers. He was full of half-baked schemes to destroy them, schemes that Naroth had to execute, only to get punched, kicked and even stabbed by Nagumo when Munihausen's ideas failed. Munihausen took all the credit for successes, Naroth took all the blame for defeats. Sometimes Naroth wondered why he had been chosen. he thought. Later in the house Switchblade was still angry. Only luck, and Naroth's poor leadership had kept the Hellraisers from disaster. They'd won, but not without injury. Mido had taken some of the backlash from Naroth's fireblast, plus cuts and bruises. Amano had taken a pounding from two demons. Megumi had a gash, the length of a pencil, in her midsection and was being attended by Himi, who had already healed herself. Buju was only somewhat bruised, but none of his people had entirely escaped harm. Switchblade took off the mask and smashed the table they were sitting by in half. "Maieson calm yourself," Mido said, as Maieson walked away from the table. "Nagumo had us where he wanted us! The only reason we won is because he didn't respect us enough to send someone better than Naroth!" Maieson said as he threw a chair at one of the walls. "Damn it, Maieson, don't be such a pissass. All we need now is you in a bad mood" Buju said clutching his ribs "He's playing with us!" Maieson snarled as he punched through the closest wall. Amano walked painfully over to Maieson and slapped Maieson in the face. "Don't you go loco on us, now. It was you who brought us together and made us the team we are. Right now, this stuff will happen the way it always does when a new group gets together. You have to get past it." "I know but Nagumo...." "FUCK NAGUMO! Nagumo will kill our asses if you let him get to you this way! And I'll kill you before you let that happen!" The last time Maieson saw Amano this angry was the bar fight in Kyoto where Amano completely leveled the place. Since, he'd avoided pushing him, but right now he was going to break that rule as he grabbed Amano by the collar and gave him a look like a lion hunting for dinner. "Listen Amano I'm in a bad mood because Nagumo came damn close to killing all of us today and it's tearing me apart! So don't threaten me, because you just might have to back it up!" Maieson then released Amano and went into the garage. Maybe a spin on his bike would help him relax... Chapter 2 Switchblade's Battle Jagged Rock was a lookout point facing toward the Pacific about 15 miles away from Kobe, a peacefully scenic place to brood. Maieson thought. Maieson stared out toward the predawn light and America, wishing he could just leave, put a couple of thousand miles of ocean between himself and a fight he was starting to think couldn't be won. Naroth sat in his room, brooding. Nagumo was becoming more abusive as time went by and failures accumulated. As he felt his bruised cheek, he looked up to see Faust in the doorway. He sullenly acknowledged the advisor's presence with, "What do you want?" Munihausen tsked derisively and mocked, "Not exactly a stellar performance, was it? The best you could manage was to fry one of your own command, and you didn't even put a scratch on Switch..." Naroth interrupted Munihausen by slamming him against the wall. Naroth's voice was dangerously calm as he said, "I don't need this crap. When's the last time _you_ volunteered for frontline duty against them? If the only reason you are visiting is to needle me, then you can just piss off." "Careful," Munihausen cautioned. "Let's remember who has the rank and favor here. In any case, I came to tell you that Maieson has been spotted on his own at Jagged Rock. This is your chance for a rematch." "I'll leave immediately." As the sun rose Maieson was enjoying the feeling of the wind in his face, and the smell of the salt water when he felt the forewarning again. Tension building within him, he stood and began to slowly make his way back to his motorcycle. Too late. Fire and smoke erupted from the ground, as Naroth and a new pack of demons materialised in front of him. He snarled, "Can't stay away, can you?" "Silence! Maieson, one way or the other, Nagumo will have your soul. Attack!" as the order was given, all ten demons converged. "FIREBLAST" The blast ripped through the group, killing half of them, but the rest were wrestling him to the ground before he could make another move. Naroth loomed over him like a vulture as he gloated, "Game's over, and you lose!". "Not..." Maieson kicked out at the two demons grabbing onto his legs, propelling them over the cliff and down 50 feet into the ocean. "...yet!" Startled, Naroth stepped back and began to transform as Maieson slammed the two demons on his arms together and rolled to his feet. "If you want to catch me, Naroth, you'll have to do it personally." "Catch you? I want to kill you!" Naroth raged, as he slashed Maieson in the chest with his flaming sword. Maieson reeled backward, hurt worse than than in any of their previous fights. Desperately, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small glass bottle, tossing it at Naroth. The contents ignited in his opponents face, blinding Naroth as Maieson leapt forward, wrapping his hands around the Demon Master's throat, as he howled, "I AM SICK...OF... YOU...NOW...DIE!" Before he could snap Naroth's neck, Naroth broke the hold, and fire billowed around him, as he taunted, "It's only a matter of time until Nagumo has your soul. Until next time, then." He vanished, laughing theatrically. Maieson stood up again, a little unsteadily and vowed, "Next time will be the last time." Chapter 3 -- Maieson's Folly Maieson woke up in pain and confusion. He was back in his own bed, and as he pulled the covers away, he could see that his chest had been bandaged. As he noted that it was night time again, he tried to sit up. As he groaned, Amano, head and eye still bandaged, walked into the room to check on him. "How'd I get back?" Maieson asked. "You passed out when you were almost here, hit your head pretty hard. D'you remember what happened to you?" "Naroth jumped me with another pack, took me by surprise. I remember winning, but the trip back's a blank." "Surprise attack? Well, I'm not surprised. You set yourself up for them. Sure looks like they did a job on you." "You noticed?" There was a slight edge to Maieson's voice. "Cheer up. You could be dead instead." "True." Maieson looked at his arm and noted that apart from the injuries Naroth had inflicted, and his headache, he also had a case of road rash. That brought a more important issue to mind, "How's the bike?" he asked. "It sorta went head on into a telephone pole." "Damn, and I just tuned it up." "I'll work on it. It's not beyond repair." "When I'm ambulatory, I'll help." "No rush. I don't wanna see you passing out when you see the condition it's in. " "No problem." As Amano left, Maieson closed his eyes. Naroth had come that close this time. Then he felt a kiss on his forehead and opened his eyes to see Miko. "You looked like you could use some some cheering up." Mido said as she hovered over the bed. "Thanks Miko, but I'm not in the mood to be cheered up right now." Miko giggled and answered, "If you were in the mood to be cheerful, you wouldn't need to be cheered up, now would you?" Without waiting for his answer she changed the subject, "I heard you talking about the attack. Why does Nagumo want you in particular, so much more than the rest of us?" "For the soul of Switchblade. If Naroth captured me, it could be transferred into Nagumo and corrupted. Added to the power he already has, he'd be unbeatable by anything or anyone." "Don't worry Maeison. We won't let that happen," Mido assured him. She leaned over again and gave him a kiss on the lips. Having Miko for a girlfriend was an uncomfortable paradox. Because of the nature of her magic as leader of the Miroku clan, even though sex was her power source, she had to remain a virgin, at least technically. This left him occasionally wanting...more. ______________________________________________________________ Amano couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned, a vague sensation of guilt gnawing at him. If he hadn't pissed off Maieson, Maieson wouldn't have wandered off, and Naroth wouldn't have nearly punched Maieson's ticket. Eventually, he got up and went to the dining room. He could see somebody sitting in one of the chairs outside, cigarette tip glowing as he inhaled. Amano took a seat beside Maieson, the only other real smoker in the house. "Got one for a friend?" "Yeah." Maieson answered, handing Amano a cigarette and lighting it. "Back up already?" "Accelerated healing is part of the Switchblade package." "You look O.K. now." "Looks can be deceiving." "But there was no permanent damage, right?" Amano pushed. "Don't give me that! Because of this injury, Naroth's gonna die first. After that, Munihausen, and finally Nagumo and I'm going to enjoy ripping his head off his shoulders!" "Calm down, willya? You knew Naroth's a sneaky bastard but he lost, and each time he loses he costs Nagumo more power and you get stronger." "Amano you sound like I did when we started." "You've been getting stronger. I've been getting smarter. But it looks like you're forgetting why you started this." "Don't start..." Amano's guilt was gone, leaving his anger, as he snarled, "You've been getting more and more out of control ever since you put Naroth through that wall last night. That's bad when you're supposed to be running the show. Get with the program!" the soul interrupted. "Stay the hell out of this!" Maieson accidentally said aloud. Frustration washed through Amano. It took an effort of will to keep his cool when Maieson wasn't acting like an obsessed loon. His self control snapped, "Maieson, if I have to, I'll beat some sense into you!" Maieson answered, "You wouldn't dare", knowing even as he said it that Amano would take any dare, that it was the exact wrong thing to say, but somehow he couldn't think clearly enough to stop himself. As Maieson said it, Amano lashed out, knocking Maieson through the side of the patio. Falling to the ground, as Maieson hit he kiped up, shook his head and started to charge up. The fire blast missed Amano by inches as he dived onto Maieson, tackling him to the ground the way Maieson had tackled Naroth earlier. Enraged, Maieson flung Amano off, and a blazing aura of power now formed around Maieson as the two of them faced off. "I recommend stopping this now, Amano. I don't want to hurt you." "You should have listened to me then! I don't back down!" As Amano charged, Maieson's power flared out from his hands taking the shape of a flaming bird as he called out, "PHOENIX BLAST!" As the bird shape struck Amano, Maieson heard an explosion and and as he collapsed the last thought running through his mind was . Chapter 4 -- Nagumo's Next Attack "Munihausen," Nagumo's voice was calm, but slightly edged. "Would you happen to know where Naroth wandered off?" "I think he may have taken it into his head to try for a second shot at Maieson, my lord." "I assume you gave him that idea. You set him up to fail. Why? Your plan to undermine Maieson's stability seemed to be working." "Naroth hardly needed my help to fail. He does so quite nicely on a regular basis. He was a liability. But this time, knowing that failure meant death, he could probably do some damage to Maieson before Maieson saved us the bother of disposing of the incompetent. Maieson has been physically and spiritually weakened in the process and should be ready to be neutralised now." Nagumo considered, "And a former rival of yours has been finally dispatched. Clever, I suppose. But you still must finish the job. Take as much force as you want. But destroy Maieson's allies, and bring him back alive. By this point, his sanity should have decayed to the point where it will be practical." "As you command, Lord Nagumo" ____________________________________________________ Maieson awoke and tried to stretch, but found his hands were handcuffed. Apparently he'd been restrained and put to bed. They had to be kidding. A single pulse of his power was enough to free him. He sat up on on his bed, then it came back him. He'd...killed Amano. Bleak despair filled him, as he saw his actions in the brutal light of rationality. He'd ruined everything, destroyed all hope for the Hellblazers, Japan, maybe the world- The spirit's voice was cold and uncompromising.. It's thoughts were warmer as it answered, He left a note of apology, took one of the radios and left while everyone else still slept. As Maieson walked down what was left of the streets of Kobe, he remembered the time before Nagumo devastated Japan, when children played in the streets and high school students walked regularly to school. In his memory, he could relive the smells of food from a street of what used to be restaurants and small shops. Switchblade stirred, Maieson nodded to himself and circled around stealthily. The devastated street gave him plenty of cover and as he closed in he heard, "You know the plan. Make sure that you take Maieson alive. As soon as he is incapacitated, grab him and pull out." Munnihausen, with a small demonic army. This was one problem he didn't want to handle solo. He backed off, and took out his radio. "Anyone, this is Maieson come in". He repeated the message when there was no answer, paused for a moment, and then as he was snapping, "Respond, damn it. Don't be a bunch of-" a response came. "Aren't you supposed to be taking some nap time?" Amano's voice said from the radio "Later. Munihausen is in Kobe with a small army. It looks like Nagumo has stopped playing around." "Shit. I'll get the others. Where are you?" "No need, stay right there. Munihausen will come to you." "O.K. Maieson get your ass back here. I don't want you playing another act." "Not planning to. Unless Munihausen catches up with me, I'll be right there. Maieson out." Maieson was 60 metres away from the compound when Munnihausen's force intercepted him. They charged in a misshapen horde, bunching together in their eagerness to be the first to claim the prize. Very convenient for someone with an explosive attack such as Maieson's "fire burst". The explosion toasted the lead clump of the demonic horde, stopping their charge dead in it's tracks. While Munihausen got his forces sorted out, Maieson took advantage of the confusion to bolt for the garage. Munihausen was still confident, now that his force was back under control. The members of the Hellblazers who were charging out to engage his forces were still obviously recovering from the injuries inflicted on them by Naroth's attack, and were substantially outnumbered. No sign of Maieson, which meant that he'd abandoned them like lambs to the slaughter. Then, as they engaged, Maieson burst out of the garage on a motorcycle and in costume. The demons were caught in a crossfire as Maieson tossed grenades at the ones in the rear, while the other Hellblazers held their own in front. Munihausen ordered, "If you are unengaged, take Switchblade. The rest of you hold the others off." and pulled out a green glowing orb. Maieson/Switchblade bailed out of the bike a moment before the Orb's power caused it to explode, rolling to his feet and drawing his swords as the remaining demons charged. "Don't go anywhere, Munihausen. I want to have a talk with you once I'm done with your playmates," Maieson said, as he crossed his swords and began to glow. At the last moment, he called out "Whirlwind Spin!" and began to spin with blinding speed, dicing demons in every direction. A tornado of ichor and body parts seemed to form around him, decimating the demonic force surrounding him. Stunned, Munihausen stood there awestruck. Maieson hadn't even had close to this degree of power in their previous encounter. Before he could think twice, his entire force had been destroyed and Maieson had a sword to his throat, saying, "Pathetic. You brough four times the firepower that you gave Naroth, and didn't even put a scratch on us." Munihausen strained to teleport, but something seemed to be blocking him. Maieson looked up and shouted, "Nagumo! I know you're watching! Stop sending these worthless flunkies after me! You want a piece of me, come yourself! If you don't have the guts, then cease your attacks, or I'll have to come to Osaka and find out for myself the colour of your blood!" Maieson's hand shook a little with the urge to drive his sword into his captive, he hesitated, and then said, "Let's face it, Munihausen. You just aren't dangerous enough to kill. Mido? You can let him go." Spinning into a roundhouse kick, he sent Munihausen flying, but Nagumo's Advisor vanished in midair before he could hit the ground as Mido stopped maintaining her teleport block. Munihausen reappeared in front of Nagumo and slammed into the floor of the throne room. Nagumo ignored him. Consideration of Munihausen's punishment would have wait until later. Nagumo's eyes glowed red with rage as he considered Maieson's taunts. Something would have to be done about Maieson, and soon. Back in Kobe, the group were stunned by Maieson's new power. Amano spoke up, first, "OK, I'm impressed. But I'm still pissed about you nearly killing me." "Sorry. I think I was having a little trouble mentally, handling my power increase. " "So, what's the real reason didn't you kill Munihausen?" "You were telling me I had to get back in control. Truth is, I let him live because I wanted to kill him, way too much." Meanwhile, in New Osaka, Naroth had been waiting for a certain someone for a few hours. By now, Munihausen should have made his move, and assuming he fumbled it, Naroth would be off the hot seat. Provided of course that he brought a suitable consolation prize. And there he was, a burly man in a red cloak, and a red mask, with the image of a axe on it. He stalked up to the bar, and ordered, "The usual." As the bartender turned to get him a drink, the masked man grabbed him by the throat and warned, "Don't water it this time." As soon as his subject had settled himself in a dark corner with his drink, Naroth approached. The masked man looked up and commented, "I wasn't looking for company." Naroth smiled thinly. "Please excuse my intrusion, but I have a business proposal." "You've got my attention." "The Hellraisers? I believe you may be somewhat familiar with them?" "What about them?" "I'd like to hire you to...deal with them. In particular, one Robert Maieson." "Robert Maieson is my brother. Did you know that when you approached me?" "I had heard that might be the case. Interested?" "Oh yeah. Yeah, I'm definitely...interested in your offer." TO BE CONTINUED IN BOOK 1:2