Resurrecting Vengeance

[Kenpachi Zaraki]

The fiery feline’s knees buckled as he crossed over the dimensional divide, his snout dropping to smear against the strangely smooth floor of the Nexus. The newcomer drew ragged breaths as stars danced before his eyes, the pesky phosphenes providing sporadic splashes of color over the otherwise blank canvas of the Omniverse hub. As his vision began to clear, Nanaki felt too the agony and fatigue evaporate from his bones. It seemed that somehow or another he had left them in the Danteverse.

Magical healing or not, it was several minutes before the disoriented Prime could finally get a firm grasp on his bearings. With his body and mind having recovered from the grueling trials of trans-dimensional travel, Red peered around at his surroundings. Save for the familiar silhouette of the colossal fountain that marked the center of the Nexus, nothing else of note met his eyes. At the far end of the void, toward the Coruscant end, he caught sight of a small group of stormtroopers chatting amongst themselves, no doubt assigned to keep the peace and sway the off Prime to their end of the spectrum. The soldiers seemed entirely disinterested in Nanaki’s arrival, only bearing acknowledging him before returning to their chatter. 

Nanaki finally got to his feet, taking a single step before noticing a steel attache case lying neatly by his side. Stamped into the metal near the handle was his assumed moniker, both the letters and the roman numerals painted a matte crimson. He clawed clumsily at the latches for a few moments before finally popping the cover, the case springing open to reveal its contents. An index card had been taped to the topmost item, upon which a note of appreciation from Karl Jak was scribbled. Red swiped the memo aside with his paw, flicking the paperboard absentmindedly into the fountain. His eyes widened as he caught sight of the prizes left for him.

“Huh?” the lion wondered aloud, glancing down at what appeared to be an extremely gaudy belt of some kind. The enormous buckle was stamped with the words “DANTE’S ABYSS GRAND CHAMPION” sweeping across the top, below which was etched the image of a small island bearing a single swaying palm tree. The cameo displayed a scene a good deal more pleasant than the ‘competition’ had actually been. The burgundy beast had evidently been crowned the winner of the hellish event, though he was at a loss to explain what criteria upon which he had been graded.

Caw. Caw.

Oblivious to the call, Red continued to paw through his pile of ‘gifts’. Beneath the belt he spied a smallish plastic case, a quick skim of the back cover telling him it was a recording of the island’s events. He paused briefly to wonder just how many hours could be contained on the disk within before forcing the thought from his mind, vowing to never watch the DVD. It took a special kind of person to enjoy watching people die alone on an island of horrors and he was not quite the type. 

Caaaaw.

Toward the bottom of the case the feline found a large box emblazoned with the Syntech logo, with various scenes of zombie slaying and explosions decorating the sides and back. Nanaki cringed as he rolled the box over, spying a miniature version of himself behind the clear cover. He stared back at his own eyes etched in plastic, one blue and one gold. The doll’s face was contorted into a snarl, a paw raised threateningly. Upon the top lid of the box Nanaki spied a strange yet familiar individual, an anthropomorphic feline covered in golden fur. All at once it dawned on him; the figure had been the form he had taken upon making his wish to Omni. The factory that had produced this toy had dubbed the creature ‘Christaki’ and if the descriptions were to be believed, the Nanaki doll somehow transformed into their fusion. Red could not begin to fathom Karl Jak’s humor.

CAW.

The crimson feline jumped at the sudden noise, neck snapping forward as his gaze locked on a rather indignant-looking crow standing on the rim of the fountain’s pool. Within the annoyed fowl’s claws was a small brown box tied off with simple string. The raven held the parcel out expectantly, his beady eyes staring intently into Nanaki’s. The feline took the box between his jaws hesitantly, gingerly placing it upon the ground. As if on cue, the sable bird hopped from its perch and stood beside the box, skillfully untying and removing the band, tugging it free in one smooth motion. Red’s new friend helpfully removed the cover and retrieved the items within, laying them out before the beast. 

“Thank you,” Red said, nodding toward the raven. The aven ally seemed not to notice, instead busying himself with the piece of string. 

The burgundy beast almost smiled at the bird’s antics before turning to look at what other gifts had been left for him. Inside the Syntech briefcase, Red spied his final gift: a large luminescent brick of what appeared at first to be silvery ‘metal’. It only took the Prime a few seconds to confirm that the ingot was in fact a construct of pure Omnilium, no doubt created by Jak himself as a parting gift. Red reasoned that perhaps he could utilize the ingot to craft something for finding Vincent and Christa if needed. Though he knew the two to both be Primes, a nagging doubt still rattled in his head. He’d have to find them to prove to himself that the laws did in fact work as advertised.

Finally, Nanaki turned his attention toward the two gifts bequeathed to him by the strange bird. He looked upon the first of the items, some kind of technological device, for but a few seconds before he recognized the gizmo: Karl’s communicator. The phone had been among the producer’s possessions in the office atop the library, retrieved by he and Christa shortly before the mad dash to the census building. If the phone had made it to the Nexus, its new owner had also successfully crossed over. He turned quickly to the small piece of paper beside it, a smile spreading across his face as he read the sniper’s words. She had made it.

As he finished Christa’s message, the raven stepped forward once more, the string now tied neatly into a bow around his neck. He looked up at Red and cocked his head, as if asking a question. The beast paused, remembering the blonde’s instructions. “Can you…” 

Red had no sooner uttered the words than the raven began pecking at the device excitedly, stepping back as the phone began to ring. Upon the screen's display was the information of the sole contact in the device's address book, though the profile showed nothing but a name and a phone number. The unfamiliar name flickered across the top of the screen as the phone rang: Jack Fabre.