The Bison Reborn

The Bison Reborn is the sequel to  The Bison, and chronicles the efforts of humanity to kill the Bison, as well as his own efforts to achieve immortality.

The oracle of how to kill the Bison
Grinodos finally finds the city of the first story two years later, and witnesses the destruction that has taken place. He talks with survivors of the still-demolished town, and informs them of an oracle from his home: "Once a model of a two-masted tower of might and prominence is placed in the sand of a great desert land, whilst two cubes achieve a value of 13, the man who does this shall be able to kill the beast which of the blue rock has eaten..."

The rough estimates figure out that this translates: "'When Sears Tower come to Abu Dabhai, and two dice roll thirteen, the Bison shall be no more...'"

The beyondness disclaimer
Grinodos warns anyone before they try though: "One must also discover the path to achieve immunity; to go beyond the Bison." Otherwise: "'Whoever kills the Bison; Becomes the Bison...'"

Death of the Bison
This warning comes too late for a high school student in Japan. He fulfills the requirements to make himself able to kill the Bison, but does not achieve beyondness. On a rainy night with his girlfriend Ayame in a tree house, their forbidden antics are interrupted when the Bison comes to claim Tomi Himada. Tomi, finally wins out in the epic struggle, Ayame stands by horrified to see the Bison, lying dead, right where their tree house used to be!

Being too humble to bask in the glory of his victory, Tomi runs away and hides. Amongst many, he is considered a hero. The remains of the Bison are cremated in public.

Possession
Tomi knows he ought to be treated like a hero for all he has done for the world. Instead, his friends at school desert him. His life starts spiraling out of control. His parents both mysteriously die, and with the exception of the police and Ayame, most of the town seems to be blaming him for it without any evidence.

Academic persecution
At school, the teachers suddenly hate and persecute him. A few of the teachers even secretly follow him around. As his insecurity and frustration with his Bison-slayer status grows, as well as his resentment over the ingratitude of his teachers, he notices himself developing strange new powers.

He initially tries to use these for good...but at times, they seem to be controlling him! The more powerful he grows, the more he feels that there is another force at work within him, one that has the REAL power! This force within is not interested for long in being controlled by Tomi, and soon begins to make him do things even when he doesn't want to.

The more powerful it becomes, the more evil and destructive the tendencies of Tomi's powers grow. He begins to shy away from Ayame, fearing that he might end up killing her. He frequently warns others that the Bison feeds on human arrogance; but most end up ignoring his warnings.

The teachers agree to stop at nothing to have Tomi killed, as they are certain that the Bison is possessing him! They aren't sure what to do, but fear prompts them to plot murder. All they know is that if they fail in their mission...Tomi will turn into a new Bison, and the old Bison's reign of terror will begin anew!

Grinodos intervenes
Grinodos rushes to Japan to alert whomever he can that the slayer of the Bison must discover and fulfill the "beyondness rituals" before it's too late--or else the old oracle will be rendered useless. Unless the second Bison death oracle is discovered, there will be no known way to defeat the Bison's second incarnation, making him for all practical purposes truly immortal!

Murder agenda of the faculty
The teachers hunt down and ambush Tomi and Ayame as he is discussing his condition to her in the forest. He tries to warn her that the Bison was taking over his body, and that it is too late to save him. She promises him that she'd heard rumor of a "beyondness" ritual that would drive the Bison out of him forever, thereby destroying the Bison once and for all.

Before she can help him any further, the battle ensues. Two of the seven teachers die as Tomi pulls desperate stops to save himself and Ayame. The teachers manage to knock him unconscious and kill Ayame (to eliminate a witness.)

Hiding the Bodies
Believing both of them to be dead, the five surviving teachers dispose of all the dead bodies in a sewer, hoping they can go about their lives afterward as normally as possible.

But Tomi, now suddenly growing distinct animal features like fur and horns on his body, awakes to see himself mutating and his girlfriend dead, along with two teachers. As his hatred becomes all-consuming, he loses the last of his ability to control his own mind. In a fit of bright lights and excruciating pain, his soul is forced out of his body forever to wander in Hell.

Rising from the Grave
The Bison, having gained a foothold in the now-available body, heals all the wounds and escapes the sewers to find a field to graze in. A small child is wandering lost and scared in the field. Bison-Tomi immediately slurps the child, ending her screaming so the Bison can graze in relative peace.

The New Reign of Terror
A week later, two of the teachers argue with each other over whether or not their actions were just. Just as they're arguing, a dark cloud ascends over the city. A flying object rushes through the sky, flying as fast as a jet as it heads for them!

The largest building in the city is suddenly hit by the flying object, and quickly catches fire! They initially believe it to be a terrorist attack--but it is revealed to be the Bison!!!

The building nevertheless collapses 9/11-style, and the Bison immediately proceeds to bring all Hell loose on the city. Noticing that the teachers who killed Tomi's girlfriend are in town, he creates a tornado from the dark cloud overhead, destroying most of downtown before finally personally finishing off the teachers.

Conclusion
After much, much more murder and mayhem has ensued, the dust settles. The Bison is back to stay...reborn!

Cultural references
The Bison Reborn, much more so than The Bison, bears references to various forms of both US and Japanese culture.


 * The Bison's use of Tomi's body to create the monster noise is a Godzilla roar.
 * The Bison's possession of Tomi Himada causes him to behave in ways similar to Sadako Yamamura in Ringu 0, especially in regards to the nature of how both lose control of their powers.
 * The Bison's wearing down of Tomi's mind causes him to behave in a matter of insanity and rage, and the way he talks to his girlfriend Ayame is reminiscent of Darth Vader.