"When the Crack Opened"
> "I didn't die once.
I died twice...
First as a son.
Then as a man."
"I thought I'd have time.
A few more matches.
One last moment with my father.
But the sky didn't ask.
It just broke."
Scene 1 — Ordinary Morning, Last One Ever
Shojiro's day started like every other.
Morning drills at the Momo Dojo.
Eggs for breakfast.
School. Silence. Weightlifting after class.
It was a normal day.
The last one.
Scene 2 — The Crack Appears
3:17 PM.
It started with a sound — glass tearing across the sky.
From above Tokyo, a 裂け目 (crack) opened in the clouds, a gash in space itself. Violet lightning surged through the heavens, warping gravity. Birds screamed. Power lines snapped.
And then
they fell.
Demons. Hundreds of them.
Screeching, writhing, in every shape — humanoid, serpentine, winged — raining onto Earth like hellfire.
Scene 3 — The Race Home
Shojiro bolted. He didn't stop to think.
Didn't call anyone.
Didn't speak.
He just ran. To the dojo.
The closer he got, the more blood he saw on the streets. Cars overturned. People crushed. Smoke in the air.
And then—
BOOM.
An explosion shattered the sky behind the dojo.
Scene 4 — His Father's Final Stand
He arrived to flames. The Momo Dojo was half-destroyed. Bodies lay in the street.
And there — in the burning courtyard — stood his father, Tetsuro Momo, shirtless and covered in blood, brawling a demon three meters tall.
A Berserker-class.
It snarled, swinging obsidian claws.
But Tetsuro was wrestling it like a madman — grabbing horns, slamming knees, roaring with the spirit of a man who never learned fear.
Shojiro could barely breathe watching him.Tetsuro had no powers.
But he had will.
Tetsuro (gritting his teeth):
> "You think I fear death? I was born to lose everything." "Momo blood doesn't run
He tackled the demon into the wall
but this time, it struck first.
Its claw pierced through Tetsuro's chest, all the way out his back.
Shojiro screamed.
The world slowed.
His father's eyes never left his.
Tetsuro (smiling faintly):
> "...Stand up, Shojiro."
Then he collapsed.
Scene 5 — The First Kill
Shojiro lost it.
Something inside him snapped — like muscle cords tearing, like restraints breaking.
He charged, roaring, tears mixing with sweat.
He slammed into the demon with superhuman force, lifting it clean off the ground and slamming it spine-first into concrete.
It roared.
Shojiro didn't care.
He kept punching.
And punching.
Bones in his hands broke from impact.
His shoulder dislocated mid-slam.
But he didn't stop.
He slammed an elbow into its temple so hard the skull cracked.
The demon fell.
Shojiro stood above it, body ruined.
It was over.
Or so he thought.
Scene 6 — Second Death
The demon's body twitched.
Shojiro turned.
Too slow.
Its eye flared red.
It lunged with one last surge of unholy life.
SHINK.
Its claw tore straight through Shojiro's chest from back to front lifting him into the air like a pierced doll.
His mouth filled with blood.
His heart stopped.
And as he hung there, dying again, he thought:
Internal Monologue — Final Thoughts
So this is it…?
After all the years of training… all the drills in the dojo…
I couldn't save him.
I was never strong enough.
And yet—why am I not afraid?
Maybe strength isn't surviving.
Maybe it's choosing how you fall.
Shojiro looked down at the claw inside his chest.
Then… he laughed. Just once. Blood trailing from his mouth.
Shojiro (smirking through blood):
"I don't care what pit you crawled out of…
If I die…
I'm dragging you back down with me."
With a primal scream, Shojiro flexed through the pain.
His shredded arm surged with adrenaline.
He gripped the demon's wrist—
RIPPED ITS ARM OFF MID-IMPALEMENT
and, in one final act of fury, plunged it through the demon's own skull.
The demon gurgled. Twitched.
Died for real.
And Shojiro collapsed beside it… his pulse fading.
Scene 7 — The Cradle Opens
The sky above shattered again — but this time, divine light poured in.
Ten godlike figures emerged, cloaked in celestial aura.
The Primordials.
They stood over Shojiro's corpse. One voice spoke above the others.
Kaiser:
"Even in death… he fought like one of us."
He reached down.
His hand glowed.
Kaiser:
"Let him rise.
As the bridge.
As the muscle-born.
As the first Reborn."
And with that, Shojiro's soul was pulled into the Cradle — into the divine realm between life and legend.