1 Interdimensional

The demon crashed through the steel doorframe with unstoppable momentum as he slid around the corner, leaning to avoid falling, the hiss of claws against polished floor sounded like nails on a chalkboard as the giant beast slammed into the opposite wall from the carried momentum of its charge.

Its giant maw was only inches away from tearing him in half. The hot breath felt against the back of his neck causing him to hold his breath for a moment as his body tensed up.

Cracks webbed from the impact of the creature, the brutal shattering of stone making the hallway lights flicker as the ground shook.

They called him crazy, that he was seeing things!

The things that he saw and 'weren't real' had just torn them all apart. He wasn't crazy! He had told them! He had tried to warn them! He didn't belong in this fucking asylum!

The slap of his bare feet against polished stone was all he could focus on, the hammering of his heart ringing in his ears, a thundering drum of desperation.

He ran, that was all he could do.

Each movement of his arms carried momentum as he sent himself barreling towards the flickering lights of the elevator if only he could get there. Then he could escape.

The sweat dripped from his skin and soaked the thin hospital scrubs that he wore.

Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck prickle he threw himself to the side, tumbling against the floor as he felt the harsh impact travel up his arms and strain his elbows. Ignoring the pain he scrambled to his feet. Desperately getting them beneath him as he pushed onwards, heaving breaths rattling his lungs.

The place he was just standing was suddenly ripped out of the ground by the giant jaws of the Demon that was chasing him. "I'M Not CraZy." Its twisted backwards voice echoed down the hall as it stared at him with, one of its beady off-centred eyes narrowing mockingly.

Clambering back to his feet he continued to run. He wasn't crazy!

As the Demon slid into the wall once more he ran past it, desperate, only a bit further. The thud of his feet against the floor picked up the pace as with a desperate leap he crashed into the base of the elevator with a victorious and desperate laugh escaping him.

He had made it!

Looking at the buttons he quickly started to press the top floor bottom over and over again, mashing it with his fingers but nothing was happening. Was the elevator broken? Feeling his stomach bottom out with dread he looked up at the Demon.

It was smiling sickly, its horrible face mockingly grinning at him.

Looking back at the buttons he saw that there was a card scanner… the patients couldn't use it. He was trapped.

Hearing the clatter of nails against the floor he looked up and saw that it had taken a step, no longer running but stalking towards him.

"I PromIse I'lL BehaVe." It whispered, its tone beyond gleeful. It was mad.

'Is this all really worth it?'

He couldn't escape. He was stuck. Dropping to the floor, his face of relief and joy morphing into one of unending sorrow and loss he pulled his knees up to his chest.

He remembered being put here...

"Mr Hoshi, please just cooperate. We can help you easier here." The voice of the police officer said the doctor had already agreed. All the paperwork had been done before they had even come to pick him up.

Why was he remembering that now… he never should have reported these creatures. Laughing in defeat he watched as the spirit approached, its jaw opening wide.

He didn't know who he was pleading to but he looked at the roof of the elevator and prayed that anything would listen. 'I will give my body and soul to anyone that can save me. I vow that I will give it, please. Just save me.'

Feeling something in his chest flare he watched in shock. Like he was on a trolley that was suddenly yanked back his vision went black around the edges but he could still see clearly. His eyes no longer responded to his commands though, his body wouldn't move. He was suddenly… looking through his eyes? It was like he had been put in the back seat. He wasn't in control anymore.

"The fuck!?" Was that his own voice?

---

The rain pattered softly against the glass pane. The sound of hundreds of small water droplets falling washing the room in a dull white noise. The light of the moon was a soft silver, gently rolling over the floor to the foot of his bed which he had moved, just for tonight, so that he could look out the window at that glorious silver moon.

The dull silver contrasted the stark red crimson that soaked the sheets, running from a wound bound on his thigh. Moving the bed had opened it again, but it was worth it.

He shouldn't sleep, not in his last moments. His mind was racing too fast anyway, the thoughts of his life washing past him in a sickening slideshow of doubt and regret.

Yet he didn't mind remembering them, he wasn't proud of his life… but it had made him who he was.

He remembered the thudding of wrapped knuckles against wooden beams and stone walls a sickening crunch of blow after blow that rattled inside his head. Memories once forgotten rose up unwittingly.

'All I want to do is live.'

A mundane thought, something that was now so hopelessly lost now. Watching the rain chase droplets down the glass he let the thoughts flow out of him as they flowed over the smooth surface.

One man could not stand against an army.

He was weak, and that was a sin that was unforgivable in the life he lived.

Not a life he wished for, but a life he had been given. He should be grateful. To be given life, it was a privilege that so few seemed to really appreciate.

If he got a second chance, he would try to make it something that he was grateful for having. Something that he really wanted, he would live how HE wanted. He would be proud of it because that was all that mattered to him.

Everything was moving slowly, the dull reverb of stretched sounds and the laboured breaths of his worn body experienced in his last moments. His brain was unable to keep up. It looked as if he was at peace… and maybe that was what he wanted to believe as well.

Hearing the dull throb of chopper blades in the distance he let his head bow, a small smirk on his face. The handle of his pistol was held firmly in his hand. The cold steel pressed into his fingers, white knuckles pale in the moonlight.

The sound of the harsh rain vanished with a crack of thunder. The house shaking, the room lighting up the lone man sitting on his bed, back against the wall, head hung in his last moments.

The harsh white light of the lightning and the flashlights of the soldiers closing in ruined the melancholy mood. That soft light was now all gone.

Hearing the dull sound of footsteps echoing through his mind he forced himself to look up, his head rolling back on his neck as he felt the impact of the drywall behind him. Unable to properly hold his head up. Another dull thud like a nail through his skull, did they have to be so noisy? Their yelled commands were getting on his nerves… Smirking at himself he couldn't help but let out a dry wheeze at his own thoughts.

Blood ran from his busted lips and broken nose, turning his smirk into a horrid visage of defiance.

He couldn't raise his gun… he was too weak.

"If you're looking for sugar... it's in the pantry..." He said with a raspy broken voice. The sound was barely a whisper between the hard-fought breaths.

Without a word, the lead soldier raised his pistol. Putting it against the forehead of the man, the dull steel was cold against his forehead. Chilling, a single moment of clarity brought forth by the strange sensation.

"It was a pleasure working with you Atlas." The soldier said with a cold tone.

"Bullshit it was…" Atlas responded as he closed his eyes. He couldn't fight back...

Atlas let out his last breath through dying vocal cords, a sigh of acceptance. Some words were muttered that were too faint to be heard.

And a single gunshot sounded throughout the room with the boom of thunder.

---

"The fuck!?" Atlas yelled as he leapt to the side on instinct, giant canines passing right by his face as he did so.

He had just moved, was he not dead? He had heard the gunshot for the briefest moments, barely the start of it before…

Feeling a splitting headache he let out a jagged scream before stumbling to the side. Saving his life from the arm of the giant creature standing in front of him, the swing busted right through the steel of the elevator wall and into the shaft on the outside.

Cursing he ignored the fiery lobotomy that he was suffering through and glared daggers at the beast before him.

"you know what's going on fugly? Want a cup of sugar too?" He asked, a slur to his words as he rubbed the side of his head, watching the creature growl before opening its gigantic mouth.

"I'm NoT CRazY," The words tore from its vocal cords that were not meant to be able to form human speech. The words were horribly distorted.

"Sure buddy," Atlas responded idly as he dropped down letting the arm slam into where his head was making the hole bigger. Looking down at himself with a passing glance he saw that his skin was white… that was wrong. The hospital scrubs he was wearing confused him even more. What the fuck was happening.

Jumping backwards as he felt the air rush past him he leapt through the hole in the elevator wall as he grabbed onto the metal framework of the external shaft. Pulling himself up in one smooth motion and onto the roof of the elevator.

God damn it this was dangerous.

His body felt so unsteady. As if it wasn't keeping up with the movements his mind was ordering. Also, that took a lot of strength to do that, he was sure that he was stronger than that.

Pushing the countless questions aside as he pulled himself up using one of the cables just narrowly avoiding his ankles being torn off by the hand of the creature as he pushed it through the metal to try and grab him.

Trying to pull it back out he saw the beast suddenly impale its wrist on the edge of the jagged hole that it had made.

Although the damage was barely anything it wasn't able to properly hurt it. It just pulled its wrist off the metal and didn't even have a visible wound.

Okay so now he was fighting an invincible beast that was certainly crazy.

And it didn't seem to want any sugar so that was a no-go.

Pulling himself up the cable he started to climb. Hoping that the creature couldn't climb after him. Its limbs were stubby and its movements were sloppy from what he had seen despite its immense strength, so he was fairly confident.

Pulling himself up he felt his arms starting to strain already, the stiff cable made it hard to actually get a hold with his feet.

Pausing he took in a deep breath, his arms shaking slightly as he looked down to see what he was dealing with. The crashing below him was a good sign if anything. Correct, the beast was struggling to climb up and instead making a mess.

Now an elevator shaft was dangerous enough to be in so he would prefer it if he could get out of this fucking thing soon. Seeing a door just a bit above him he kept on dragging himself up. Slow movement by slow agonizing movement. God, he was so weak.

Pulling himself with one last tug he got his feet onto one of the I beams that lined the concrete walls. His feet standing on it as he tucked himself behind the vertical supports and finally took a deep breath. God, he was ragged from that, damn it.

Looking at the door he saw that it was firmly closed. Glancing over it his eyes settled on the top of the shaft door, it was rail mounted and the power box was clearly between the both of them. With a small red switch, that must be an emergency switch of some kind.

Looking back down the shaft he quickly pulled his head back behind the pillar as he heard crashing, the whipping of something past his head almost taking his arm off, and it would have if not for the beam he was behind. With the crash of metal stopping he looked back down.

The beast had split the cable and sent it snaking around as it fell. Looking up he saw that it had fallen from the pulley at the top of the shaft. Leaving no cable for him to climb. Looking back at the bottom of the shaft he saw that the counter weight had also fallen. Crashing into the floor leaving webbed cracks.

Fantastic.

Maybe he was dead, this was one fucked up afterlife.

Moving along the I beam he reached up and flicked the switch on the power box, opening the external shaft doors with a hiss. Laughing from joy at his small victory he stepped into the hallway before turning and looking back down at the thrashing tangled beast.

Spitting down on it for whatever reason he turned and started to hobble down the hall. Looking at the doors as he went. This was fucking nuts.

Okay, what did he have on him? Nothing. Fucking nothing, rummaging around all he was wearing was the hospital scrubs, he didn't even have shoes on.

Pushing open a door he saw that it was a hospital-like room. No window, the light in the ceiling flickering with a crash that came from down below.

Cursing he picked up the pace as he started to make his way down the hall. Rounding a corner he held his breath before pulling back and pressing himself against the wall.

A long centipede-like beast was coiled around a corpse whispering to it, the babble that it mumbled undecipherable from this distance. Crouching down low he thought about finding a weapon but from what he had seen from the other beast that was useless against whatever these things were.

Taking in a deep breath he closed his eyes… where was he, what was happening? He had to understand his situation. Opening and closing his hands as he pressed his back into the wall he focused on his breathing.

There were some… memories at the back of his mind. Hoshi… that was the last name of the body he was currently in, he was in a different body. He had possessed someone… no. He had been given this body, a strange feeling in the chest of this person had done something. Killing them? The memories stopped there, only brief snippets of the life before showing, but these beasts he had been able to see his entire life but others hadn't. He was in an underground asylum.

Well, that was just plain freaky, a place like this underground?

He had only been here for a short time, at least from what Atlas could tell. So he was in another body in another world maybe? He had never heard of these beasts even with his high-rank clearance. This wasn't the earth he knew. Hell, it was 2004 here. And the president of the USA was a man called Richard? Wasn't it George or something in 2004? He was fairly sure…

Okay, another world was seemingly likely… this strange energy maybe being the cause.

Hearing the clattering of hard keratin legs against the cold stone floor he opened his eyes and move to his side around a set of medical analysis devices on a trolley. Moving behind it with slow cautious steps. Peaking through some of the cords he saw it, slowly, ever so slowly, and surprisingly gracefully, move around the corner.

It was low to the ground, the clattering of its legs hitting the floor a strange almost hypnotic rhythm… soothing.

Snapping his mind out of it he narrowed his eyes, ignoring the sound, focusing on making mundane words in his head. Whatever it was was distracting. And he didn't like it, it felt strange.

Holding his breath to not make a sound he cursed Hoshi's lack of lung capacity, hoping that it would turn the other way.

Seeing it slowly turn away from him and start going further down the corridor he waited for a bit before slowly pushing open a door beside him and slipping inside the room.

He needed to figure out this energy quick.

It was like he was in a fucking horror movie, this shit was gonna be traumatic.

Closing his eyes he leaned against the wall again as he focused on his chest where that energy was. Feeling the volatile nature of something in his chest his breath caught. Opening his eyes suddenly he realized something, he was calm and that was making it calm… he remembered something like this.

He was in a fucking manga.

"Jujutsu Kaisen…" He muttered to himself, the words barely leaving his lips.