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A Little too Late by sakurashushu
Short Stories
What Happened to Ray Brady-A Halloween Short StoryKevin Salt wandered into Whisper Falls at 6:45 in the morning on a Tuesday in October. He hadn’t intended on coming here. When he visited the bus depot two towns over the previous night, he simply looked for the most crowded vehicle with a sleep-deprived-looking driver that might not notice him sneaking on amidst the students and graveyard shifters. The trick didn’t work every time, but it worked enough to still be an efficient way of getting around when you were a broke drifter. This place had its own unique smell. Most cities did, Kevin found, at least for those who took the time to stop and smell the urbanity. Though there weren’t any visible, he reasoned that the name ‘Whisper Falls’ must be at least partially literal, with one or several waterfalls being littered throughout, giving the place a wet and muggy scent that was distinct from places near a lake or ocean. This was blanketed by the wafting aromas of autumn; dead leaves, pumpkins both fresh and rotting, petrichor from a brief midnight rainfall. To Kevin Salt, it smelled like opportunity. It may not have been his destination, but that didn’t matter; Whisper Falls would work just as well as any other place. There was something calling out to him, and whatever it was had led him here. He didn’t know who, and he didn’t know how, and he didn’t know when, but there was one thing Kevin Salt was sure of: He was going to kill somebody. But this story isn’t about Kevin Salt. It’s about Ray Brady, aged eleven. At the time that Salt was plotting his dark deeds, Ray Brady was still asleep in his bed, blissfully unaware of serial killers and the other ugliness of the world. In a lot of ways, Ray was just like any other kid. He liked playing softball in the summer, video games in the winter. In the spring he rode his bike, and in the fall he wore black and orange, the benevolent omen of Halloween casting happy shadows over his bright life. And like a lot of kids, Ray liked to think he was a lot more mature than he actually was. Ever since his age had hit double digits, he may as well have been an adult, according to no one but himself. For the past several months (Ray could not have narrowed down the exact time period if you asked him) the Brady boy had been having dreams about someone he came to understand, somewhat childishly, was his imaginary friend, an enigmatic and playful character that called itself Mr. Fox. Ray never saw Mr. Fox, at least not completely. When they met, it was in an empty room filled with white mist, and crackling black static that was always just outside the boundaries of what Ray could touch. When Mr. Fox felt close, the outlines of his big, yellow eyes and wide, toothy smile were just barely visible in the fog. "It's a bit boring in here," Ray had said after he'd gotten used to their meetings. "Boring?!" replied Mr. Fox in his powerful and raspy voice. "We're in an Imagination Room, one of the greatest places there is! It looks sparse now, but that's only to leave space for the things you can invent with your mind. How about it, Ray? What should we create?” “A pirate ship could be fun?” Before Ray had even finished speaking, the dreamscape wove an entire seafaring scene around them. They were on a proper galleon, with four sails, a crows nest, over a dozen cannons, and a loyal crew. Ray was the captain, and he could see Mr. Fox now, or First Mate Fox, as he was called here, dressed like the finest pirate with a vulpine head Ray had ever seen. They had a bloody and exciting battle with a rival ship, and the dream ended as they were about to sail into a whirlpool towards their next adventure. Ray had many adventures like this with Mr. Fox, not always pirates but always equally thrilling. It was easy for Ray to pull from the cartoons he watched or the books he read, but that strength quickly revealed a weakness in their little journeys into fantasy. It didn’t matter how many giant robots Ray fought, or trips to the moon he and Mr. Fox took; there were limits to his imagination that started to make these episodes feel hollow and unsatisfying. “That is a pickle,” said Mr. Fox after Ray expressed his concerns. “Tell me about it,” bemoaned Ray. “I don’t want to stop, though.”“I don’t either. Although…” Mr. Fox began. “No, that would never work.” “Tell me!” Ray cheered.“Well, it might be a stupid idea, but…what if I chose the stories instead?”“You?” It surprised Ray that this had never occurred to him before. “I’m a very good storyteller, and I’ve been meaning to practice, but I’m too shy for a real audience. We’re friends, though, so I trust you. What do you say, Ray?”“I say let’s do it!”Mr. Fox’s stories worked a little differently. Ray could feel a pair of hands, no, they must have been paws, hover mere inches away from the sides of his head. The hairs on the back of Ray’s neck stood up from the sensation. The scene around them changed like it usually did, but there was a change in quality that hit Ray immediately. When he was controlling the story, there were no details in the worlds they entered that Ray did not purposefully put there. Here, though, there were sights and smells and feelings that made the whole thing feel real, more like a memory than make-believe. They were on the open sea once again, but this was a battleship, not a fragile wooden pirate vessel. Ray could smell the ocean breeze, and he felt the sun beating down on his brow. But he wasn’t Ray right now, he was Gordon, a petty officer third class, and he was occupied with helping his crew locate a German U-boat that was supposed to be in the area. It wasn’t as dramatic as the pirate adventure had been, but Ray was utterly captivated by the authenticity. Gordon’s stress and anticipation were his, and when the crew cheered after one of their torpedoes finally sank the enemy ship, Ray cheered with them. He was truly in the moment in a way he just hadn’t been all those other times. When Ray awoke that morning, he was covered in a hot, satisfied sweat. “That was great!” he told Mr. Fox the next night. “I’m so glad you enjoyed it!” beamed the imaginary friend. “Can we do another one, like right now?”“Oh…” For the first time, Mr. Fox sounded reluctant. “What’s the matter?”“Well, you see, I’d love to tell you another one of my stories; I really would. But while you’re experiencing the story, for me, I just have to sit here doing nothing. That’s hardly fair, is it?” “I guess not.”“Well, what if…yeah! What if you tell me a story while I tell you one?”“Would that even work?” Ray questioned. “Yeah!” said Mr. Fox. “You wouldn’t even have to do anything, I could just look at some of your boring old memories. Would you let me?”“Why would you want to look at my memories?” “It’s just something to keep me occupied, that’s all. What do you say?” “I suppose that’s okay,” Ray relented. “What do we have to do?”“Repeat after me,” Mr. Fox explained, placing his invisible paws on either side of Ray’s head as he had done before. “I am you, and you are me. We are together, individually.”Ray did as he was told, repeating the words without stuttering or making unnecessary pauses. The scene changed immediately. This time, Gordon was drinking in a bar. Ray had never been inside a bar before, but he had seen Homer Simpson visit one on TV loads of times, which had often made him curious what a real bar was like. Gordon was drinking beer. Ray could taste it, and he thought it should have been yucky, but to Gordon it was nice and refreshing. It made Ray feel like a grownup, a sensation more intoxicating than the beer itself. He took another sip. When he put the bottle down, a pretty lady was staring at him from across the bar, and that made Ray feel very grown up. He didn't know why, but it was strange, and his face got hot. Why did Ray want to go over and talk to her? He didn't know that either, but he was thankful that Gordon started to get up. They didn’t make it far before a man neither Ray nor Gordon knew staggered up to them and pushed Gordon aggressively. He spoke with a slurred speech, and his center of gravity seemed to be off. The man blabbered something about Gordon making lovey eyes at his girl, half his words impossible to make out from the drunken stupor he was in. Without warning, he punched Gordon directly in his nose, and it hurt bad enough to make Ray want to cry. “It’s only a memory,” whispered the voice of Mr. Fox in Ray’s ear. “The pain only feels as bad as you let it.” While Ray tried to not feel the hurt so completely, the scene continued. A second punch from the drunk man failed to connect. Gordon took this opportunity to catch his fist, and delivered his own blow by pulling the man in closer. Already having trouble staying upright before the fight, the man went down right away. From the floor, he made an awkward lunge for Gordon’s legs, but Gordon retaliated by kicking him in the head. When he fell back onto his side, Gordon kicked him again, and again, and then a fourth time. The violence was scary for Ray, but just like the pain he’d experienced before, he tried to keep himself from feeling that fear, and it worked. Instead, Ray felt triumphant, like he was a big, strong man who couldn’t be pushed around. It was something he’d have liked to feel more often in his waking life, so here in his Imagination Room, he cherished this experience, even if hurting another person made him a little uneasy. Ray never saw that pretty lady again, but Mr. Fox had more stories with other pretty ladies in them. Sometimes they just talked with Gordon, something Ray had little experience in with the girls at his school, but other times there was kissing, which Ray had decidedly no experience in. Before now, Ray hadn’t even known that was something he wanted, something that he now sorely felt the lack of. And sometimes, there were stories with far more than kissing in them, things Ray had no concept of, but made him feel funny all over; excited and ashamed, proud and tired, happy and queasy, all in equal measure. Ray liked it, and he was all too happy to trade Mr. Fox memories of his boring life, memories of bike riding or sitting in class or having family dinners, for more. Mr. Fox didn’t always give Ray stories like that, but they were usually just as exciting. Gordon wasn’t a soldier forever, but he still used a gun sometimes. He ran with a gang that reminded Ray of him and his own friends a little. They would make fun of each other sometimes, but it was all in good fun, and ultimately they had each other’s backs. Sometimes they’d need to shake down people who owed them money. Ray was amazed when Gordon shoved a gun in someone’s face, a boy not even ten years older than Ray himself. “Do you believe in God? Are you afraid to die?” Gordon asked without ever raising his voice. The boy responded by wetting his pants.“Nothing like the movies,” Ray sighed in astonishment after he woke up back in his room. The time Ray spent with Mr. Fox began to have an odd effect on him. There would be mornings he woke up and felt like he had not slept at all, hardly less tired than he had been the evening before. This lack of energy made it hard to focus in school, but even in rare instances where he wasn’t exhausted, he could not get Gordon’s adventures out of his head. Memories of ordinary dreams tended to fade a few hours after waking up, but these stayed with Ray like he had actually lived them. As a way of coping, he had begun recording them for creative writing assignments, which made him popular with the student body but a menace in the eyes of his teachers. “You didn’t get in trouble, did you?” “A little,” Ray admitted one night. “They said I had an inventive voice, and should keep writing, but the subject matter wasn’t appropriate for school. I had to write an apology to my teacher, but that was it.”“Aww, what do they know?” laughed Mr. Fox. “Besides, that’s not what you really want to tell me about, is it?”“No,” Ray said happily. “All the kids in my class, at least all the boys but some of the girls too, thought your stories were so cool! Everyone wants me to hang out with them at recess. And I’m going trick-or-treating in a few days with the coolest kids in class!”“Is Halloween so soon?!” Mr. Fox babbled. “I had no idea. But that’s wonderful, Ray; I knew people would appreciate you as much as I do, once they got to know ya.”“I really appreciate all the stories you’ve been telling me,” Ray admitted. “And I appreciate getting to live in your memories!” When Mr. Fox got excited like this, it felt to Ray as if one ear heard him like he was shouting from far away, and the other heard him like he was whispering right up next to it. “It’s an amazing thing being an eleven-year-old boy.”“What?” laughed Ray. “It’s okay, I guess.”“You’ve got it all wrong,” sang Mr. Fox. “You’re healthy, and you’ve got your whole life ahead of you. You got out of trouble at school because you’re a child, so people gave you the benefit of the doubt; imagine what else you could get away with. Not to mention you’re from an economically stable family, which ensures a good future! You have limitless potential, Ray Brady.” “I think I wanna talk about something else…”“Of course, of course. I’m sorry, Ray; I got carried away. How would you like to experience what it’s like to be in a real live car chase?”“Wow, that would be amazing!” “You know what to do,” said Mr. Fox.“I am you, and you are me. We are together, individually.”This time Gordon was in the driver seat of a car. Ray couldn’t wait to be old enough to start driving, so being behind the wheel with Gordon’s confidence was like a dream come true. One of Gordon’s friends sat in the passenger seat, hanging out the window while firing a gun at another car that was tailing them. “You can’t aim for shit!” Gordon yelled at him. The back of Ray’s neck felt hot from the illicit thrill of cursing. “You think you can do better, hotshot?” shouted his friend. “As a matter of fact, I do! Take the wheel, chowderhead!” The chowderhead leaned over into the driver seat, while Gordon grabbed his own gun from off the floor and opened fire on their pursuers. Ray was too anxious to line up the gun properly, but Gordon knew exactly what to do. It only took him three shots before the other car did a hard swerve into a stop sign, a column of white smoke erupting from under the crumpled hood. “You crazy bastard!” said Gordon’s friend. “Alright, credit where credit is due, you saved our bacon.” “Hey!” Gordon scolded. “Look alive, we’re not out of the woods y-” A police car appeared out of nowhere and rammed them from the side, sending the car into a spin that would put some roller coasters to shame. Gordon didn’t see them coming, so Ray didn’t either. Mr. Fox had taught him how to shut out the bad feelings, but the collision was so sudden that Ray felt like he might be sick. His eyes blinked open, but he wasn’t in his bed. “What are you doing awake, Ray?”“Mr. Fox…?”Ray was sitting on the floor in his family’s living room just a few inches away from their TV, which was on but only playing static. His whole body was numb, like the pins and needles feeling that comes when your leg falls asleep, but all over. His eyes were stuck on the screen, where Ray could just barely see his own reflection staring back at him. His face was warped slightly, elongated, and his eyes looked bigger and yellower than he remembered. Were his teeth larger as well? He tried to lean in for a closer look, but the pins and needles kept him paralyzed.“Did you not like the story, Ray?” “Why am I out of bed, Mr. Fox?” “Oh.” Mr. Fox rarely hesitated when he spoke, so it set Ray on edge to witness it now. Was Ray’s mouth moving with his words? “You just had so many good memories watching television, I wanted to give it a try.”“But nothing’s on.”“I’m an imaginary friend, Ray; I’ve never watched television before. I thought I should practice first.” “Can I go back to bed now? It’s late and I’m tired.” More hesitation from Fox, more unease from Ray. After a few seconds, the TV switched off without anyone touching the knob or a remote, and feeling returned to Ray’s extremities. “Sure thing,” said Mr. Fox in his usual happy voice. “Sweet dreams, friend.” The next morning did not go Ray’s way at all. This was just the latest in a series of mornings where he had woken up feeling cranky and irritable, actual rest apparently being hard to come by, with or without strange conversations with his imaginary friend in the middle of the night. To make matters worse, this was the morning his mother delivered some of the worst news Ray had ever gotten.“What do you mean I can’t go trick-or-treating?!” he whined. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Mrs. Brady said sympathetically. “Your dad’s business trip got extended by a couple days, and I got called in for a shift at the hospital, so there’s no one to take you.” “I can go by myself!” “Yeah, no way,” said Ray’s mom, trying to sound cool.“But mom, all my friends are going!”“Well maybe they can share their candy with you at school next week.”“Mom, no one shares their candy.” “Really?” gasped Mrs. Brady. “That’s so cruel. But fine, then I guess, if you’re good, we can go out and buy some cheap candy on November 1st.”“It’s not the same, mom. All my friends are expecting me to go; this is so unfair!” “I said no, Raymond. You’re only eleven years old, and the streets are dangerous at night. You can stay home and watch Halloween specials. Charlie Brown will probably be on, and I saw a commercial yesterday for the Halloween Tree; you loved that one!”“Screw you, mom!” Ray shouted, putting more hate and vitriol into those three words to his mother than he had ever used in their entire relationship. He’d never come so close to cursing at her before, but he’d learned that and a lot more from Gordon, who he was certain wouldn’t stand for this if their roles were reversed. Mrs. Brady’s face went through a whole spectrum of emotions. First was wide-eyed shock, then hurt, then incensed rage. But all those gave way to a disturbing sort of calm which made Ray instinctively pull back from his mother. She didn’t strike him; that was something she would never do. Instead, she pulled a box off the top of the fridge and made sure Ray saw the label: an assortment of little chocolate bars which were all her son’s favorites. “Your father and I got these for you to give out to trick-or-treaters,” Ray’s mother said emotionlessly. “And we would have conveniently looked the other way if you just so happened to take half the box for yourself.” Without another word, she strode across the kitchen, tossed the box in the garbage bin under the sink, and tied the bag for disposal. “I’m going to put this in the garbage can outside. When I get back, you better be in your room, and I don’t want to see you until dinner.” Ray did as he was threatened, slamming the door to his room loud enough that his mother could hear it outside. "Mothers can be so cruel, can't they?""It's not fair!" Ray sobbed into his pillow. "I could totally go by myself! This is so stupid, it's-" His tantrum was suddenly undermined by the realization that something was not as it should be. "Mr. Fox?" "Yes?""It's daytime.""Yes.""And I'm awake.""What's your point, Raymond?"“I only ever see you at night when I’m asleep.” “It’s nearly Halloween,” chuckled Mr. Fox. “The veil between worlds is thinning. Life and death, time and space, imagination and reality; all sorts of things are possible this week!” “Wow,” Ray exclaimed earnestly, his woes briefly forgotten. “That’s so cool! Halloween is…oh.” “Oh, don’t cry, Raymond.” Ray thought he could actually feel a hand land on his shoulder, although the grip was a little too tight to be comforting.“It’s not fair,” he repeated. “Kids don’t get to do anything. If I was bigger, they’d let me go.”“Would being Gordon make you feel better?” “Y-yes,” Ray sniffed. “Alright,” said Mr. Fox. “Lie back; I can talk to you while you’re awake, but you need to be sleeping for this part.”“Okay.”“You know what to say, Raymond.” “I am you, and you are me. We are together, individually.”Ray was out immediately. Every other time Ray had dreamt about being Gordon, it had felt incredibly real, not like a dream at all. This time was different, though. Scenes came to him in flashes. First it was immediately after the car crash from the last adventure. Gordon’s forehead had been split open when it hit the steering wheel, and his associate, that Ray only knew as ‘chowderhead,’ had smashed his head on the passenger-side window. He wasn’t moving. A police officer was approaching the car and shouting something, but Ray couldn’t make it out. Next they were in a courtroom. The judge was also shouting at Gordon, but Gordon wasn’t listening. He was angry and spiteful, screaming inside. The courtroom shifted to a jail cell, four concrete walls and a bed that was just a small slab that jutted out from the wall. Ray didn’t like this place, so he tried to force the scene to change again. But he couldn’t, it was just this room, again and again, those same four concrete walls day after day and night after night. The only way Ray knew time had passed was because Gordon had taken to scratching tally marks in the wall. His right index finger was perpetually bloody, since he had nothing else to make the marks with, and you could follow them by how the wall was stained more and more red. Ray’s consciousness flailed like he was drowning, desperately treading water to keep from going under. He wanted to get out, and he was still kicking and screaming before he realized he was back in the Imagination Room. White mist and black static surrounded him. A few feet away, if one could even measure distance that way in a place like this, he saw his own body, but something was horribly wrong. It looked as if his body had been deflated like a cheap balloon, and a long gash had been drawn up the side. No blood or guts spilled out, though, just empty space. A creature was hunched over the body. It was the color of rust, its own form stretched horribly, with long limbs and a curved, boney torso. Ray couldn’t tell if it was covered in flesh or fur, but it looked incredibly moist. More horrifying than its appearance, though, was the fact that it seemed to be trying to crawl inside Ray’s body.“Stop it!” was all Ray could shout in protest, fear running over him like a cluster of spiders. The creature spun around to snarl at Ray, its inhuman lips pulling back to reveal sharp, needle-like teeth. Its entire face was an uneven mixture of human and animal characteristics, but Ray couldn’t help but focus on its familiar yellow eyes, which were big and emanating rage in his direction. When the creature lunged forward and hissed, Ray yelped and fell backwards. Suddenly the Imagination Room was gone, and Ray was lying back in bed. But it wasn’t his bed, and it wasn’t in his room. A musty smell choked the air, a fragrance lying somewhere between an antique store and a public washroom in the middle of summer. It was incredibly dark, despite it having been day time when Ray had gone down. He tried to get up, but his entire body ached and lacked the energy to obey him. After an exhausting effort of craning his neck to look around, Ray saw slits of light escaping the sides of blackout curtains, confirming that little time had passed. Everything hurt when he lifted his hand, but he fought to make his feeble eyes adjust to what little light there was. The hand Ray saw was not his own, but a frail, wrinkled appendage that looked and felt like it might break in two if someone grabbed it with only a minimal amount of force. Then he saw the index finger, which was whittled down and scarred at the tip, and Ray screamed for a long time. Nobody heard him. *****The thing inhabiting the body of Ray Brady had a busy forty-eight hours leading up to Halloween. He made a point of apologizing to Ray’s parents for the boy’s earlier outburst. Mrs. Brady said she accepted the apology, but it did not change the fact that Ray was still not permitted to go trick-or-treating, and even if it did, she had already returned his costume to the store. Ray’s body said that was okay, neglecting to mention he was already wearing a better disguise. Ray’s friends didn’t notice any change in his demeanor, but that was to be expected. Though some had not yet fully grasped how to be kind human beings, they were all innocents, ignorant to the dangers that the world could offer up. None of them were on the alert for predators, let alone ones within their own social circle. To them, Ray was the same as he ever was, and his recent exploits in writing were still fresh in their minds. When ‘Ray’ talked, they listened. “It’s a real haunted house,” said the body of Ray Brady. “We can visit it while we’re out getting candy.” “I dunno…” said one of Ray’s friends uneasily. “Haunted houses are creepy.”“What’s the matter, chicken?” There are few who are more susceptible to poultry-based insults than an eleven-year-old boy among his peers. It was such a simple bit of name-calling, one which didn’t actually mean anything, but the results spoke for themselves. The boy who had raised the objection, one who the thing inside Ray’s body hadn’t bothered to learn the name of, had ousted himself as a potential weak link in their group, and none of the others wanted such heat to fall on them. Therefore, rather than agree with a fairly reasonable protest, they kept their mouths shut and went along with group consensus to see a haunted house. Home alone with no supervision, the body of Ray Brady made its egress from the house and began a long walk across Whisper Falls. It may have been too tiring of a trip for the real Ray Brady, but the interloper in his skin was driven by dark purpose, and had enough wisdom to pace himself so as not to expend all his energy. The parents of a few early trick-or-treaters shot him concerned glances as he passed them by, but chose to mind their own business and said nothing. There were an excessive amount of teenagers out, but they were too busy being embroiled in an escalating prank war to be of any concern to the solitary traveler. When the group of boys finally assembled, they engaged in some rudimentary trick-or-treating on the way to their destination. The creature masquerading as Ray Brady relished every minute of it. It had been decades since he had properly enjoyed candy, but he had aims to develop a taste for it once again. Ray Brady’s body had young, healthy blood, and a strong pancreas which could contend with the richest sugars. The house that ‘Ray’ had told them about was located on Moundshroud Crescent, a poor neighborhood even for the poor part of town they now found themselves in. The buildings there were mostly low-income apartments and other houses over fifty years old that were not regularly maintained by their owners or the city. As they encountered fewer homes with porch lights lit and decorations on the front lawn, urban code for “no free candy here, buzz off,” the mood of the group changed. Not a single boy there could honestly say he wasn’t scared by the prospect of a real haunted house, and the thing inside Ray Brady had really sold the authenticity, but some were better at hiding it than others. They instead voiced concerns that trespassing on private property might result in being punished, so the group swore itself to secrecy about what they were up to tonight. No matter who asked them and regardless of what went down, they would not speak of it. ‘Ray’ of course joined in; after all, he had no reason to share what he was about to do with anyone after the deed was done. Perhaps a lover someday, since he planned on having a copious amount of them, and the usual pillow talk was bound to get dull eventually. The thing pretending to be Ray Brady laid out the rules for their little game. One by one they would go inside, steal some object of significance, and come back out, not revealing what they stole until the very end. When all was said and done, they would compare their treasures, and whoever had the best thing would be the winner. Ground floor was inbounds, the upstairs was strictly off-limits. “Why?” asked one of the boys, who was dressed as a pirate. “Why?” laughed the entity that was not Ray Brady. “That’s where all the murders happened, so the haunting is most concentrated on the second floor. None of us would survive up there. They’d find a bunch of mangled bodies with their faces forced into bloody smiles if we tried.”A collective gulp could be heard from the rest of the group. The most insecure boys volunteered to go first, and ‘Ray’ let them. It didn’t matter, really. The murder backstory was entirely fictional, and the rules of the game were completely made up, just a convenient ruse to facilitate bringing a bunch of patsies along should things go sideways. The first few to return purported a definite haunted feeling when they were inside, and strange noises coming from upstairs. When it was time for the presumed Brady boy to enter the house, he did so with confidence and gusto. Mildew-infused air filled his nostrils. It was a scent he was painfully familiar with, and one he’d be happy to never smell again after tonight. There were no lights on, but he was able to navigate with no issue. The same apparently could not be said for Ray’s companions, as there were end tables and dead, potted plants that had been clumsily knocked over. None of that impeded the body of Ray Brady from making its way to the stairs.There wasn't much to the second floor, just a short hallway with a couple of rooms on either side, a dingy bathroom right at the top of the stairs. The bedroom at the end of the hall was his destination. He didn't bother avoiding the spots in the floor that he knew would creak; what lived in this house wouldn't be able to stop him whether it heard him coming or not. He entered the room with no fanfare. It was especially dark, blackout curtains keeping out what little illumination the streetlights outside projected. There was some light within the room, though. Tall machines stood on either side of a small bed, blinking dozens of little lights and making the occasional beep. And in the bed lay a shriveled, corpse-like man who was staring at this new visitor. "Muh…muh…" moaned the corpse. It spoke as if it hadn't had a glass of water in months. "Can hardly speak under your own power. Pathetic.""Muh…Mr. Fox…" said the man in bed with great difficulty. "Is that…you? Why do you look like me? I…I don't want to play this game anymore.""You seem to be operating under two delusions, friend. For starters, I’m not Mr. Fox, I’m Ray Brady,” said the thing that was not Ray Brady. “You are Gordon Fox, veteran, who only ever enlisted because your own father said you were a worthless worm who couldn’t make something of yourself otherwise. Gordon Fox, who was so angry at the world after the war ended, you jumped at the first chance to turn that anger outward when the mob was looking for recruits.“Gordon Fox,” he said, pushing his face incredibly close to the man’s, feeling the old body’s stale breath even as he went on with his diatribe. “Who wouldn’t sell out his fellow mobsters to the police, but whose fellow mobsters didn’t show him the same courtesy. You’re Gordon Fox, the man who wasted a majority of his life in prison, and who only got older and sicker and more pathetic after you got out. “The second delusion you’re suffering from is that we’re playing a game, because the game is over already. You lost; no point in being a sore loser about it now.” “I want to go home,” whined the true Ray Brady, but the thief who had stolen his body wasn’t finished speaking.“You’re not special, you know.” The body of Ray Brady pulled back, grabbing a pack of cigarettes and a zippo lighter off an end table. He lit a cigarette, regarded it for a minute, and then stomped it out, deciding it was best not to spoil his new vessel already. “I’d been bedridden for so long, spent so much time calling out with my warped and twisted mind. You were just the first rube to pick up the phone. Well congratulations, you got everything you wanted. You’re a grownup now.” “Mr. Fox…everything hurts…”“I told you my name is Ray Brady!” To send his point home, he actually struck the old man square in the face. Ray Brady’s body may have lacked strength, but the body of Gordon Fox lacked constitution, and so got a bloody nose even from the feeble punch. Ray Brady whimpered in pain. He would have started crying too, if Gordon Fox’s tear ducts weren’t so ancient and impotent. “If I can say one comforting thing to you, though,” continued the usurper, “it would be that you won’t be in pain for much longer.” He placed a hand on the plug which fed into the two life-support machines that flanked the bed. “Goodbye, Gordon Fox.” And then he pulled the plug. The devices made one angry, drawn-out beep before turning off completely. Their lights would never inadequately illuminate this room ever again. Things were silent after that, but the sound of Ray’s worsening breath gradually began to intensify. “Why…are you doing this?” he asked Mr. Fox, someone he had at one point considered a close friend and confidante. “I was wondering that myself.” The body of Ray Brady spun around sharply, now on alert with the presence of a third voice in the room. The body of Gordon Fox couldn’t move nearly as fast, but was equally alarmed. “Who are you?” demanded the soul of Gordon Fox. “You aren’t one of the brats I came here with.” “You know me,” said the little boy. His face was pale, with faded cyan eyes held aloft by dark bags. He wore a charcoal gray fall jacket and matching newsboy hat. In his hand was a blue balloon on a string. “Ah, you’re right, I do recognize you. I’ve caught glimpses of you before, several just this past year. Look alive, worm,” he called back to the man in the bed. “Ha! You’re in the presence of Thanatos, also known as Joe Black. The Grim Reaper, Death himself, and I think he’s here for you.” “Why are you doing this, Gordon?” asked Death. “Why?!” he repeated. “Why else? I’m not ready to die! My life was a colossal waste, but I’m wiser now. I was dealt a bad hand, so I deserve a second chance. I earned it, me! I claim this body as my prize, its previous occupant was undeserving, and in it I will achieve wonders.” “Is that all?”“Yes, that’s all. And before you ask, yes, I’m proud of myself too.” “Give the body back, Gordon.” “Excuse me?”“I said give the body back.”“You must be joking.” “Everything has its time, and everything dies. Even I’ll die, someday, when the Universe no longer needs me. If you’re as wise as you claim to be, you’d recognize that. So I’m asking you to give the body back; don’t rob this boy of his go around because you’re unhappy with the choices you made during yours.” “Feh!” shouted Gordon Fox. “You can stand there and judge me all you like, but I don’t have to listen to you anymore! Do you know why? Because when this body eventually wizens and falls to ruin, I’ll do the same trick again. I’ve outgrown you, Reaper. The insight of age and the endless advantages of youth, savored across hundreds of lifetimes. I’m practically a god now, and I will do as I like.” Death narrowed his eyes. “I’d be mindful of what night it is when calling yourself a god, Gordon Fox. I have never been quick to anger, but there are other deities out tonight who are more easily offended than I.” “Chatter away all you like,” scoffed the body of Ray Brady. “I have places to be; it’s Halloween, and I’m a small boy. There’s candy to eat, houses to cover in toilet paper, merriment and mayhem to be had! This is a house of the dead, and I’m bound for the living.” Gordon Fox ran out of the room without looking back once. He made his way down the stairs and escaped through the backdoor. His unwitting companions out front may have heard him, had their attention not been drawn elsewhere by the sound of explosions and mortified screams off in the distance. Death watched him go, disappointed but not surprised, before turning back to Ray Brady. “You’re…not really a kid like me, are you?” Ray asked.“I’m not.” “That makes sense. You’re…you feel like a grownup.” “You’re very astute, Raymond Brady.” “Everything hurts, mister,” wheezed Ray. “Let me help you with that.” The little boy began to approach, and suddenly Ray began to feel great fear. “Stop!” he shouted. “Don’t come any closer. I…I want my mom and dad.” “They’re not here, Raymond. I’m sorry, but I’ll do what I can for you.” When Ray made no further protests, Death placed a hand on his shoulder. True to his word, it did help, and the body Ray was trapped in no longer hurt. The pain was replaced with a kind of empty feeling, one which made Ray sad, but was still preferable to the sensation of his organs shutting down one by one.” “That’s…a little better.” “What happens next is going to be a little scary,” said Death. “But I promise you that it isn’t all bad. Look at my balloon, Raymond.” Death lowered the balloon so it floated just a few inches away from Ray’s head, and he did as he was told. Despite the absence of any significant light sources in the room, the orb still possessed a reflective sheen, and in it Ray saw three dead grandparents, his family dog Molly, who had tragically passed away two years ago, and half a dozen goldfish, none of whom had lived past six months but Ray had all loved equally dearly. “You won’t be alone when you go,” Death promised. “And it won’t ever hurt, never again. Now, I want you to take a deep breath and hold onto this balloon for me.”Ray reached for the string, but hesitated at the last second.“What’s wrong, Raymond?”“It’s just…I can’t stop thinking about Mr. Fox. It…isn’t fair. He cheated! And now he’s probably going to hurt a lot of other people.” “I wouldn’t worry about that,” Death said warmly. “I’m not the only god of Halloween working tonight. It’s true, Gordon Fox was a cheater, and the sad reality of life is that sometimes cheaters win. But they also never prosper.” Ray nodded, understanding in his heart if not in his mind, and took the balloon. Three blocks away, another god was stirring. The Violent Dark, lord of fear and patron saint of fiends, killers, and madmen, was whispering in the ear of Kevin Salt, and all it took was two words. The calling inside Kevin Salt did not originate from the Violent Dark. That corruption was a demon all his own, so it was not the deity’s place to instruct, only inspire. The two words were ‘Moundshroud Crescent,’ and they sent the killer on his path. He was accustomed to moving in shadows, taking indirect routes and ducking into back alleys and side streets on the way to his destination, though he never made it that far. In a small path that cut between two neighborhoods, Kevin Salt spotted a solitary young boy, the only one he had seen tonight without a Halloween costume. The boy walked without a care in the world, and so didn’t notice he was being followed. By the time he could sense the danger he was in, it was too late. Gordon Fox fought back, but despite the endless advantages of youth, there was no contending with the strength of a grown man with evil intent in his heart. *****The body of Gordon Fox was discovered on the morning of November 2nd, when a court-appointed nurse named Morgan Alex made her weekly visit to the residence. She reported that despite the condition of the body, it appeared to be smiling. The body of Ray Brady was never found. They never found out what happened to Ray Brady....
Realm of Gaiyax: On the History of Orcs There used to be two kinds of Orcs. The modern Orc is descended from a warrior class bred over three thousand years ago by a class of intelligent elites, known retroactively as ‘High Orcs,’ that used both technology and magic to establish dominion over the continent of Ardennor. The purpose of the warriors was to defend the elites, their property, and their various countries, both from outside forces and threats from within. They were specifically valued and rewarded for their strength and lack of autonomy, not meant to question authority. This did not stop free-thinking and attempts at rebellion, though. At the peak of the ancient Orc empire, High Orcs were outnumbered ten-to-one, although the warrior class was kept oppressed by better strategy and control of resources. Change began to stir deep within the jungles and forests. Exiled slaves who had ventured into the wild to escape persecution united together to find a way to help their people. They threw themselves on the mercy of the gods, and they were answered by Serenko, god of the wild. The divine huntsman was heralded by his beastly children, creatures who would one day come to be known by future generations of Orcs as the Black Gods of Kez Konon, a name only ever spoken in hushed tones. They bid the Orcs to undergo trials that proved their devotion, tests of blood and sacrifice. Once Serenko believed their conviction, he gifted his devotees with the power of lycanthropy. Now able to take the form of powerful animals with the phases of the moon, they reintegrated themselves into Orc society, infecting others who aligned with their faith. Once their numbers were sufficient, they struck. The High Orcs were obliterated in a matter of weeks, their presence in both history and the Orc gene pool suddenly no more. As the borders of Ardennor’s many countries faded from memory, a period of prosperity ensued, where Orcs were allowed to live freely and share the resources they had wrested from the cold hands of their former masters. However, the lack of central government meant there was no one to mitigate conflicts, which soon gave way to greater fighting. Eventually, the tribe bearing the Wereboar strain of lycanthropy attained dominance over the others, and they resorted to culling the wolves, bears, rats, and tigers. During this time period, the image of Orcs as imposing, bipedal pigs was burned into the collective memories of many civilized races throughout Gaiyax as they experienced Orc invasions. Over time, though, the burgeoning Orc royal family came to the conclusion that only the Orc King should possess such power. It is the place of the Orc King to sit atop the Great Ziggurat, the last of several structures from the days of the High Orcs, and uphold one of Orc kind’s most sacred beliefs: anyone of Orc blood who ascends the Ziggurat, survives its trials, and defeats the Orc King in single combat at the top, has the divinely-given right to be the next Orc King. Upon their death, the Orc King turns their successor into a Wereboar. Therefore, though the bloodline has changed several times, the modern Orc King's lycanthropy is allegedly an unbroken chain leading back to those first emancipators.~Martin Silver, Gaiyax circa 210 AFG
Poetry
The Street Artist's SailboatThere once was a well-known street artistWho was as clever as could be.He could make his art very lifelikeWhich was quite a sight to see.He liked tricking people with his artFor it was all too easy. One day, while walking down the streetWith his art supplies in hand,He couldn't help but notice that The roads just looked too bland.If only it had a bit more pizzazzWouldn’t that be grand?After staring at the street for a while,An idea came to his head.If there wasn’t anyone who could brighten the road,He would do it himself instead.Looking at his chalks, he thought "Why not?"He might as well go ahead.He stepped right onto the empty roadMaking sure no cars were coming by,It was time to set his plan into action,He might as well give it a try.He knew this project would be the best,Though he wouldn’t tell others why. With his chalk, he began to drawFor an hour, or maybe twoHe added some black, a bit of white,And just a few touches of blue.How clever he was, for thinking of somethingThat was completely unique and new. At last, he stepped back to observe what he drew,It was a small, modest sailboatSurrounded by a large puddle of waterWith ripples keeping it afloat.The artist thought this as his best workAlthough he didn’t want to gloat. Then he walked off and stood in a cornerWaiting for the action to unfoldHis masterpiece was sure to amuse others Both the young and the old.There was no way anyone could buy that sailboat,It would just be too good to be sold.After some time passed, a random passerbyWas taking a casual walk,When all of a sudden, the walker noticed somethingThat made him stop and gawk. What he saw was so peculiar,It gave him quite a shock. There was a sailboat in the middle of the roadFloating on a great big puddle.How on earth did it even get here?The sight made the man a bit muddled.Soon a whole crowd gathered aroundAnd near the sailboat the huddled. What were a small lake and a sailboatDoing right in the middle of the road?The boat looked incredibly lifelikeAnd all the details really showed. No doubt, if drivers saw this little boatTheir cars would definitely be slowed. But then a puzzled man took a closer look,And was he ever surprised?A few other people could see it, too,They just couldn't believe their eyes.Right next to this real-looking boatWere the artist's left-behind supplies. "Oh my!" They said. "This is not a real boatAnd that is not a real lake."The chalks left behind made it easy to tellIt was all completely fake.In disbelief, everyone cried out,"We've been tricked, for heaven's sake!" Suddenly, they heard someone chucklingComing from the back of a wall.They turned their heads and saw the artistsAnd suddenly they knew it all.They couldn't believe they fell for artSo simple and small. The street artist thought it was so funnyTo see the look on their faces. They wouldn't expect to see a sailboatOn the street out of all placesIt was so easy to fool everyoneAlthough he left a few traces. So, if anyone tried to conceive youThat something wacky was true,Be skeptical, and try to stop themBy finding a clue or two. Nobody ever wants to be fooledOr tricked easily - do you?...
The Violet Door (+ poem) by Ghostpaint1
Life ChoicesHow do you fight?How do you stand?How do you keep goingwhen no one cares?How do you stridewith nothing left?When your legs are wobbly.When your arms are dull and numb.When all you can feel is pain.When you just want your own death.When you just want the blank.When you just want the end.This game has never been easy.The path has never been still.The rocky roadhas melted and you've gone to hell.Most people choose the darknessto cool offspreading the heat else wherepeople call it ventingor offloadingthey do this tillthat rocky roadhas cooled and is stable againand they stand back up.But what if there never was a road?Or at least not a straight nor level one.Life isn't just a straight linenor is it just average,life is everywherefrom highs to lowsfrom a wide variety of choicesto none at all.We stand to see more,we stride forward to get to the next bitit's a book or a movieyou are potentially in the worstor most tragic part of itbut you do have the choiceto keep going,to put it downor even to write your own storyfrom it.The thing is if you end itdo you get to see that final pagethat finalethe endingthat highest of highsor even better be in that highest of highs?That is the thingyou need to think aboutwhen you feel like nothing is left.You need to think abouthow many pages are lefthow much of this book,this movie,this seriescould be completely different from todayfrom here,from this sentence,this momentthe only way to find all that outthe only way to see that is to live,to live through it.
Fanfiction
The Case of Saika Chapter 9 - Durarara!!,Story cover/Artwork drawn by Mizutheduckarts Check out her websites, instagram.com/theduckarts/ and twitter.com/Mizutheduckarts, The twenty-seventh floor of Nebula's main office is a private museum filled with all the company's failed devices, vaccines, and experiments over the years. A place where both current and future Nebula employees can learn from their past mistakes and how they can better themselves moving forward. But to a certain former employee, it only serves to fuel his hatred towards the company that destroyed everything he holds dear.At the front of the museum and nearest to the elevators is a horizontal row of eight large glass cases containing various machines that Nebula have built over the years but are considered failures upon release or over time. The fifth case, however, is emptied and left open.At the center of the floor are three horizontal rows of display tables, filled with failed serums and vaccines stored inside glass tubes and round bottles and placed gently under glass cases.One of them was known as the 'Ginrei VI', a failed vaccine that nearly cost the lives of five people after being distributed to every hospital in Kanto and its neighboring regions, resulting Nebula to conduct an emergency nationwide recall that costs them over a billion yen, as well as some loss of faith and goodwill from the public. Today, a sample of it lies inside the frontmost center-right display table for all to see. And for one individual, to build up his anger.Takashi felt nothing but abhorrence towards Nebula as he stood beside the display table and glared at the failed vaccine that cost him his job and livelihood. After all the hard work, dedication, and sacrifice that he had given to this company, they would fire him on the spot without a second thought over a single mistake. Everyone he ever respected and befriended including Tsukiyama, Toda, Nomura and many others who worked at the Itabashi branch showed their true colors that day. The two men whom he once seen as his mentors did nothing to defend him and choose to stab him in the back by siding with the rest of the board including the CEO and his son. And as he packed his stuff and walked his way out of the building, every one of his former co-workers including Nomura who used to greet him cordially every morning and evening, gave him the cold shoulder throughout his journey from his former workstation to the main entrance. It was humiliating, and Takashi hated it. He hated them all.And as if his life could not get any worse from there, Takashi cannot find another job in Tokyo for weeks. After all, what company in Tokyo, even the smallest and least well-known of them all, would ever want to hire someone who nearly destroyed the reputation of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Japan? No way. No chance in hell at all. That was when Takashi realized it was all over. His lifelong dream in living and working in Japan's largest and most famous city is gone, and he would have to move back to his smaller hometown and live the rest of his life knowing that he can never return to the place he fell in love with again. It was devastating, and Takashi wished he could either hit the reset button to start his life all over or make everyone in this city forget what he did. And the next step of his plan will surely help him turn that wish into reality.Takashi look back to his front and sees two possessed men at the other end of the floor. One has stubbles and short black hair, and the other has dark blue unkempt hair and wears a white headband. They are almost done using their welding guns to cut and form a large circle through the glass window in front of them. When they did, they turned off their tools and carefully removed the circular piece of glass they had welded from the window. As they gently put it aside, Takashi turns around to see the other five possessed people behind him. Two of them are facing him and standing beside a metallic gray device that is about the size of a large fire extinguisher and reaches the top of their thighs. It has the name 'Seishu' printed vertically on it, as well as a cone-shaped rocket insert on top of it. The remaining three possessed people are standing behind them and facing the elevators while armed with metal baseball bats."You two. Bring it over to the window." Takashi ordered the two men guarding the device. The men nodded to him and carefully pick the device up from the floor.But as soon as they did, everyone present on the floor could hear a ring coming from one of the elevators. Takashi looked surprised to see Celty, Kasumi, Masaomi, Mikado, Anri, Shirley and Shinra quickly emerge from the elevator and run towards him and his men."STOP THEM!" Takashi shouted at the five possessed men in front of him. The two men quickly place the device down and draw out their pipes before joining the other three possessed people and charge into a fight with the intruders. As his men kept his enemies busy, Takashi picks up the device in his arms before turning around and walking over to the other end of the floor.One man swings his bat horizontally at the right side of Celty's torso as they run over to each other. But despite being unarmed, Celty grabs the bat to stop his attack and throws her helmet down on his forehead. The man yelps in pain as he falls to his knees, and after snatching the bat from his hands, Celty swings it down onto the top of his head to knock him out.Another man with a bat runs over to Kasumi and swings his weapon diagonally at her. Kasumi easily dodges it by moving to her right. As the man runs past her, the redhead quickly swings her staff horizontally at the back of his head, causing him to groan as he bends forward. When he does, Masaomi goes over to him and swings his hammer down onto the back of his head, causing him to fall to the floor face-first and pass out.The third and last man armed with a bat runs over to Shirley and delivers an overhead strike at her. Shirley turns herself to the left and backs away to dodge the attack. She quickly grabs the man's right arm and throws him over the back of her body as she makes another left turn and slams her enemy onto the floor. Shinra quickly goes over and brings his shield down onto his forehead to knock him unconscious.Mikado and Anri run over to the two men armed with pipes. The man on the right swings his pipe horizontally at the left side of Anri's head. But the woman deflects his attack by swinging her katana and knocking it out of his hand. Before the man could react, Anri swiftly thrusts the bottom of the hilt of her katana onto his forehead, sending the man falling to the floor on his back like a pile of bricks.Mikado throws a punch across the left cheek of his opponent, causing him to whirl around. But the man quickly recovers and yells as he turns around and swings his pipe diagonally at right side of Mikado's head. The Nebula employee stops his attack by grabbing his pipe and pulling it out of his hands. He quickly thrusts the pipe into the man's midsection, causing him to stumble back, and swings the weapon vertically onto the top of his head. He watches the man wobbles about before he too collapses onto the floor on his back.Suddenly, Mikado yelps and drops the pipe as a shot was fired, and the bullet barely misses his head by a few inches, hitting and shattering the glass case beside him instead.He and his friends look up in shock to see Takashi now holding up Kyouta's pistol while carrying the metallic device in his other arm and standing between two large and wide walls showing many old photos and explaining a part of the history of Nebula Incorporated built at the other end of the floor and near the glass window.As Takashi continues firing at Mikado and his friends, Anri quickly places herself in front of her boyfriend and deflects all his shots with her katana until the brown-haired man ran out of bullets. He lowers his gun and growls at his enemies as Mikado and Anri quickly turn around and reunite with the others. Kasumi, Masaomi, Mikado and Anri quickly go over to the third glass case at the left side of the floor and hide behind it for cover. Celty, Shirley and Shinra on the other hand turn to their right and hide behind the sixth glass case on the right side of the floor. As all of them sat down on the floor with their backs press against the glass, Takashi places the device down and inserts a magazine into his pistol."How nice of you all to still have the guts to come here after your near-death experience at Itabashi! And you even brought along the bastard son of Shingen Kishitani too! Thank you! Just the guy I want to personally witness the final stages of my plan to destroy this company. I admire your resolve and determination, but none of you will ever stop me. Not only have I collected some of the world's deadliest diseases, but I now have the Seishu device as well! My plan is almost complete, and all of you are only delaying the inevitable!" Takashi taunted his enemies."We still got a few tricks up our sleeves!" Kasumi shouted in response as she looked over her left shoulder while sitting beside Masaomi, Mikado and Anri."That's nothing but hopeless optimism." Takashi replied. "You all saw how powerful I am, and Saika and I have only improved since. Now anyone under their control still has me even if they get knocked out. You may have beaten them, but not me.""Takashi, I know you hated us for firing you. But killing tens of millions of innocent people?! Are you insane?!" Shinra yelled."Maybe I am. And I don't care. In fact, NOBODY in this city cares!" Takashi snapped. "I should thank you and the entire board of directors though. You made me realize this city's true colors. The people whom you think are your friends will only backstab you the moment you do something wrong, just to protect their pride and boost their ego. In fact, even the person next to you right now may not be who you think they are. That is why this city needs to change! To be remade from the ground!""What are you planning to do with that thing?" Kasumi asked."The Seishu device?" Takashi glanced at the device beside him before looking back at the glass case that the redhead and her friends are hiding behind. "What else? I'm using it to unleash some of the world's deadliest diseases throughout this city." Celty flinched while Kasumi, Masaomi, Mikado, Anri, Shirley and Shinra gasped in horror. "The Seishu was originally intended to cure people through the air. You load it with an antigen, and it will disperse a large cloud over an entire settlement. But the prototype ultimately never went into the manufacturing stage, because the former and current CEOs of Nebula soon realized its major flaws. What if the participant changed their mind and wanted to opt out, or if terrorists use it to fire a toxin instead? You can't escape from a cloud. That is why this thing is now left here to be used as a worthless display piece for all eternity. But tonight, it will finally have a purpose. I will use it to cleanse this city of its selfishness and start a new chapter in my own making.""You don't just want to poison every person in Nebula. You want to poison every person in Tokyo!" Masaomi yelled with his eyes narrowed."You're a monster!" Anri added."Even if the Seishu was ultimately deemed a failure by my father and his predecessor, the intentions in creating that device in the first place were good! It was still made to cure people in mind! Look at yourself, Takashi! You are just like the Seishu right now! Didn't you once say you wanted to work for Nebula because you want to help others?! You may have lost everything, but you could have moved on with your life and continued your dream of helping others elsewhere! Why must you sink yourself lower by becoming a murderer?! The opposite of why you worked for us in the first place?!" Shinra chided."Because I love this city too much. My dream wasn't just about helping others. It was also to find a place in Tokyo where I truly belong, unlike the crappy hometown I was born and raised in! But nobody in this city is ever going to forget what I did. They never will. No one here is merciful. But with this device, and Saika's help, I will make Tokyo my home again. A home where I can be free of shame and humiliation." Takashi explained."Why did you even think of teaming up with a homicidal maniac like Saika?!" Kasumi inquired."They gave me a new reason to continue living. They saved me. Ever since I was fired, I was depressed for weeks because I could not find another job. I began drowning in sorrow at the local bar, and I even contemplated suicide. But one night, while I was on my way home, I was attacked by three men who brought me to an alleyway, and they demand me to hand them every dollar and valuable item I have in my possession. I was beaten up, tortured…until they suddenly showed up in my life. They killed the three attackers right in front of me, and I got to witness them using their powers in the most brutal ways possible. Of course, I was afraid of them at first, and when I asked them why they did it, they said they simply came here from another world to find new people to kill and fulfil their everlasting desire for mindless but enjoyable bloodshed. They explained everything to me. Their world, their powers, their background…and that was when I came to a realization. I can help them, by removing every person living in this…cruel city. Tens of millions of people for them to enjoy murdering. They get to kill, and I get to fulfil my dream in restarting this city." Takashi said, ending with a quick smirk."Everything you said out of your mouth is ABSOLUTE GARBAGE!" Kasumi shouted furiously. "I've been living in this city throughout my whole life, and I still see it as my home no matter what! Of course it isn't perfect. What city is? But if you wake up and look hard enough, there is still life and joy to be found in this place! Reasons for me to realize how fortunate I am to be in this place! While I have made my own blunders like you and everyone else, I'm thankful that I have friends who help remind me to stay strong and keep moving forward. And even if you don't have any, I'm sure you can always find and make new ones out there! It's not hard at all!"Anri, Shirley, Mikado and Shinra nod solemnly to the redhead."And screw your logic that they would backstab me!" Kasumi continued. "I cherish and trust them enough to know they won't! They are not insane and malicious like you! The only reason why you think you can no longer trust anyone in this city is because you refused to acknowledge what you did! Instead of fully accepting what happened, you cling onto the past, blame your downfall on others and let your anger blind your morality! That is why you ended up making alliances with a psychopath who is going to kill every innocent person in this city! And for what? For revenge? Do you really think that is going to erase all your suffering and humiliation? Face it! You're pathetic!""I'm not doing this for revenge! I'm doing this to create a better Tokyo!" Takashi protested. "A new Tokyo where no one can ever fear being backstabbed and humiliated ever again! But you…nuisances…wish to stop me. You want to keep this city filled with cruelty and toxicity. And for that, all of you must die."Without warning, Takashi holds up his gun and fires a shot at the glass case which Kasumi, Masaomi, Mikado and Anri are hiding behind. The four of them yelp as the glass shatters behind them, and they quickly get up, turn to their right and run away.Before Takashi could fire another shot, Celty quickly gets up, turns to her right, places herself between the fifth and sixth glass cases, and thrusts her right arm at the man to fire a long stream of black smoke from underneath her sleeve. The man yelps as the smoke latches onto his right hand where his pistol is. Celty gave a hard yank, causing Takashi to stumble forward as she pulled back her long stream of smoke and the pistol out of his hand.When Takashi looks back up, he turned to his right to see Kasumi, Masaomi, Mikado and Anri now running past the display tables at the left side of the floor and coming towards him. He quickly thrusts his hands at them, and all four of them gasp as they feel their throats being wrapped by an invisible force and find themselves being lifted in the air. Takashi swings his arms horizontally to his right, sending them flying above the display tables and through the air. Kasumi, Masaomi and Mikado slam against the wall beside them while Anri collided with her boyfriend before they fell to the floor in pain."Don't just stand there! Get them!" Takashi ordered the two remaining possessed men behind him. The men obliged, ran past him and over to Kasumi, Masaomi, Mikado and Anri. Takashi on the other hand turned to his left and walked towards Celty, Shinra and Shirley who all ran over to him through the right side of the floor.The man with short black hair approaches and crouches in front of Mikado and Anri as they try to get themselves up from the floor. Before Anri could grab her katana, the man seizes them by their collars and lift them up in the air as he stands back up. Both Mikado and Anri groan as they grab onto the man's hands and struggle to break free from his grip. But their enemy proves too strong for them as he casually turns around and walks his way over to the glass window.Meanwhile, after Kasumi and Masaomi got up on their feet, they are rudely greeted by the dark blue-haired man who slides across the display table in front of them and thrusts his right fist at the dark blonde-haired man as soon as he lands. Both Kasumi and Masaomi quickly got out of the way by moving to their right, and the man's fist slammed against the wall instead. Kasumi places herself in front of Masaomi as she holds her staff in front of her."Go! Save them!" Kasumi cried as she looked back at her friend over her shoulder. Masaomi quickly turns his attention to Mikado and Anri who are being carried away by the other man. He wastes no time in turning to his right, going around the display table and chasing after the man and his hostages.As the dark blue-haired man turned to Kasumi, he throws two horizontal punches which the redhead easily blocks with her staff. He randomly throws an uppercut to her midsection with his left fist, but Kasumi quickly swings her staff at his left arm to deflect the attack. She thrusts her weapon onto his chest, making the man groan as he backs away. She tries to follow it up with a horizontal strike to the left side of his head, but the man stops the attack by grabbing her weapon with his left hand. He wraps his other hand around her staff soon after and he turns to his left and swings Kasumi over to the display table beside them as she holds onto her weapon. When her back is facing the table, the man pulls the staff out of her hands, holds it up horizontally in front of him and runs over to the redhead. She yelps as the man collides her staff against her clavicle and pins the back of her body down on the display table. Kasumi grabs her staff and groans as she now struggles to push both her weapon and enemy off her.As Celty and Takashi are now between the center and backmost rows of display tables, the headless rider runs over to him and swings her right fist horizontally at the former Nebula employee. Takashi ducks down and delivers an uppercut to her midsection as he gets up. He grabs her left arm, tosses her into the air as he turns around and sends her colliding against Shirley who was trying to sneak up on him from behind.Shinra runs over to his former co-worker from behind while holding up his shield in front of him. Takashi whirls about and thrusts his left hand at him. The doctor quickly blocks it, but the huge amount of force still sends his feet dragging through the floor. Before he could look up, Takashi quickly charged at him, jumped in the air, and delivered a massive kick to this shield with both legs. The impact sends Shinra falling on his back and briefly sprawling through the floor. Takashi quickly gets back up at the same time as Celty and Shirley. He quickly thrusts his hands at them, causing them to freeze in place. He pulls back his arms to send them flying over to him, and he quickly clenches his hands into fists and delivers uppercuts to both their midsections. Both women groan in pain as Takashi backs away and let them fall back to the ground face-first.Mikado and Anri continue to struggle as the black-haired man approach the large circular hole that he and his colleague had welded earlier. He extends his arms out while fully prepared to throw the two out of the building. However, Masaomi quickly runs up to the man from behind and swings his hammer down onto the back of his head, causing him to yelp and drop Mikado and Anri. They both land on the floor on their backs just two feet away from the glass window.The man whirls about and yells angrily as he swings his right fist horizontally at Masaomi. The dark blonde-haired man blocks his attack with the head of his hammer, but the impact still sends him stumbling back. The black-haired man quickly goes over and throws another punch with his left fist, this time landing it at the right side of Masaomi's torso. Masaomi groans in pain, but he retaliates by swinging his hammer across the right side of the man's head. The man swiftly looked back at him and delivers an uppercut to the bottom of Masaomi's chin with his left fist. The dark blonde-haired man could only stumble back briefly before his black-haired enemy quickly goes over and grabs his throat with his right hand. Masaomi gags as the man lifts him up in the air and pulls his left fist back, preparing to throw another punch to his face.However, he was soon stopped by Mikado who runs over to him from behind and throws a punch to the right side of his torso with his right fist. The black-haired man groans as he drops Masaomi and turns around to throw a horizontal punch back at Mikado with his left fist. But Mikado swiftly deflects his left lower arm with the back of his right fist. Soon after doing so, he swings his right fist horizontally and throws a punch across the left cheek of the black-haired man, followed by grabbing the sides of his head, throwing it down and bringing his left kneepad up to kick him in the forehead. The man groans as he stumbles back from Mikado, and a fully recovered Masaomi finishes him off by running over to him from his left, swinging his hammer horizontally, and hitting him directly on his forehead. After the black-haired man falls onto the floor on his back, he rolls his eyes back and passes out. Masaomi sighs and lowers his hammer before turning to Mikado. They both smile and nod their heads to each other.Takashi turns back to Shinra who slowly gets back up on his feet. He thrusts his right hand at his throat, causing the doctor to gasp as he slowly lifts him up in the air. Takashi smiled evilly as he slowly walked over to him while holding Shinra up like a sick trophy."Shinra Kishitani…the overprivileged son of the CEO of Nebula…" Takashi said mockingly to his former superior. "I was thinking of keeping you alive to watch my plan come to fruition…" He paused as a wide grin now takes form across his face. "But I guess I can kill you first. And after I've poisoned this city, I'll pay your father a visit and enjoy watching his slow and painful death."As he finished, Takashi began curling his fingers, causing Shinra to throw his head back with his eyes wide and gag in pain while floating helplessly in the air."No!" Kasumi cried in horror as she watched her former teacher being tortured from a distance. She closed her eyes and grimaced as she had not seen Shinra in so much pain since the day she hurt his feelings back in senior high. And now here she is being pinned down while her former teacher is going to die a slow and painful death, especially after saying to him that she is no longer the same person that she was before. Is this it? Is she going to prove him wrong after all? Is she going to let him down once again? Will this be their fate?'No…I can't let this happen to him…not again…I will not succumb to this!'When she snaps her eyes open, her look of sorrow is immediately replaced with one of rage and newfound strength. She turned back to her dark blue-haired opponent and yells furiously as she slowly pushes him and her staff off her. The dark blue-haired man could only stare blankly in confusion as Kasumi manages to lift herself off the display table enough for her to throw her head against her enemy's forehead with a great amount of force. The man yelps as he releases her staff and backs away. While holding onto her weapon, Kasumi gets off the display table, goes over to him and delivers two horizontal strikes across both sides of his head before finishing him off by thrusting one end of her staff onto his forehead.After the dark blue-haired man collapses onto the floor in an unconscious heap, Kasumi turns to her right and runs over to Takashi from behind. As she gets closer to him, she presses a button to power up her staff with electricity and pulls it back over her right shoulder while preparing to thrust it at her enemy.However, with his right hand still holding Shinra up in the air, Takashi swiftly turns around and thrusts his other hand at Kasumi, freezing her in place before lifting her up just like her former teacher.Takashi laughed evilly as he stares at the red-haired woman in amusement. "Such a foolish, gullible woman. With this power, you can never stop me. No one can!" He cried triumphantly.Kasumi however manages to crack a smile and choke out, "A-are you sure?"Suddenly, a patch of black smoke flies over to Takashi's face from below and plants in front of his eyes. This causes the former Nebula employee to yelp as he lowers his arms and drops Kasumi and Shinra down on the floor. As Takashi now struggles to pull the smoke off him, Celty drops her right arm while lying on the floor with Shirley. The two women look back at Kasumi, who gets back up on her feet, and nod their heads to her. Kasumi nodded back before yelling and running over to Takashi.Soon after the former Nebula employee manages to pull the smoke out and regains his vision, Kasumi stops right behind Celty and Shirley and thrusts her electrified staff at him. Takashi turns to her and screams in agony as the staff hits his left clavicle and the electricity surges through his body for the next five seconds. Kasumi removes her thumb from the button and lowers her staff afterwards while Takashi falls on his knees, lowers his head and lets his arms hang limply at his sides.Celty and Shirley get up from the floor as Masaomi, Mikado, Anri and Shinra go over to Takashi. They all gather round the former Nebula employee as Kasumi stared boldly at him and said flatly, "It's over, Takashi."There was a moment of silence for a few seconds before Takashi suddenly looked back up at Kasumi with his eyes glowing red and his lips curved up to an evil smile."You wish." The brown-haired man replied.Suddenly, to the shock of Kasumi and her friends, they find themselves being lifted into the air and floated helplessly for a few seconds before they were flung through the air and slammed against the wall beside them. As they all fall to the floor, a certain deranged killer taking the form of a black-haired woman slowly walks up to Takashi, who casually gets up and strokes his hair."Let's not waste any more time, Saika." Takashi said to his accomplice while adjusting his collar."Of course." Saika replied with a wide smile.Kasumi and her friends lift their heads up as Saika turns around. The deranged killer thrusts their right hand at their enemies, causing all of them to groan as they felt a huge amount of force pinning them down. Both Saika and Takashi make their way over to the space between the walls and the dark brown-haired man casually picks up the Seishu device. Saika lowers their right arm to release Kasumi and her friends, and they and Takashi run over to the large circular hole through the glass window."After them!" Shinra shouted.Kasumi and her friends quickly get up and make a sharp right turn to see Saika and Takashi both standing in front of the large hole."Take a good look around you." Takashi mocked his enemies as he gently patted the Seishu device in his left arm. "Because this city…is about to change."Celty reaches her right hand out to Saika and Takashi before they both step back and fall through the hole. Kasumi and her friends run over to the window and look down to watch Saika having their left arm wrapped around Takashi as they both plummet through the air and look down at the streets below.When they are about a hundred feet above ground, Saika thrusts their right hand at the pavement below to fire a huge amount of force to decelerate their fall. Fifteen seconds later, they are now only two feet above the pavement and Saika swings their right arm down to adjust them and Takashi until their feet are facing the ground. The deranged killer hangs their right arm limply at their side to allow them and Takashi to land safely on their feet.After Saika removed their left arm from Takashi, they look up and give mock salutes to their enemies before turning to their right and running away.
The Case of Saika Chapter 8 - Durarara!!,Story cover/Artwork drawn by Mizutheduckarts Check out her websites, instagram.com/theduckarts/ and twitter.com/Mizutheduckarts, After driving through the streets of Toshima and Shinjuku, Kasumi, Celty and their friends arrive at Minato. With the help of Kasumi's phone and Shinra's directions, they eventually spotted a tall and slim rectangular-shaped building with black tinted windows from a distance. It is built about seven miles away from the iconic Tokyo Tower and has the name 'Nebula' proudly labelled horizontally at the top of the building for everyone in the surrounding areas to marvel at.Before reaching the corner of a crossroad junction, they instead turn left into a smaller curved road that cuts through the sidewalk and built between the entrance of the building and a large rectangular-shaped marble block laid horizontally with the company's name carved on it, serving as its signage. Both Kasumi and Celty pull up their vehicles next to the curb, not caring if there will be anyone to stop them.After dismounting from the back of Shooter, the headless rider steps towards the entrance and extends her right arm to the side to summon her scythe. She places her weapon down and turns her helmet to her left to see Kasumi, Masaomi, Mikado, Anri, Shirley and Shinra walking over to her side with their respective weapons and equipment. While Kasumi, Masaomi and Anri all solemnly nod to Celty with their weapons in their hands, Shirley, Mikado and Shinra all groan as they rub the side of their hips."My hip hurts like heck throughout the journey." Shirley muttered."I think it's time for you to get a bigger car, Kasumi." Mikado suggested to the redhead. "It's not easy having a fourth passenger sitting next to you in the back of a five-seater.""You're sure it's not because of your kneepads and greaves?" Shinra asked Shirley and Mikado. "Why do you two have to wear them during the ride?""Probably because someone decide to have a weapon that takes up nearly the entirety of the trunk!" Shirley cried at him in annoyance."Hey, my kite shield deserves respect." Shinra chided Shirley while holding up and showing off his new kite shield which has since revealed its true appearance. With a blissful smile on his face, he gently strokes his other hand across the white decal of the head of a horse painted over the teal and steel layer of his shield. "Especially one that is given to me by a majestic bounty huntress with no head."As Celty hangs her helmet and plants her left hand on its visor, Kasumi chuckles at her and said, "My friends never ceased to amaze you, huh?"The headless rider types a quick message on her phone and shows them to her human allies."Can we please cut the chatter? We must get inside and stop Saika and Takashi."Shinra, Shirley and Mikado nodded to Celty in response. The headless rider puts away her phone, takes out her cylinder-shaped device and gestures everyone to gather round her. When they did, they took turns to have their eyes flashed by Celty's device before stepping away from the demihuman.Celty puts away her device into her pocket and gestures everyone to get inside the building. But when she turned to the entrance and tried to take a step forward, she was quickly stopped by Kasumi who walks over and holds out her right arm in front of her torso."Before we get inside, I want you to promise us one thing." Kasumi said to Celty with a solemn frown. "Promise us that you will not kill anyone, including Haruna. Got it?"Celty nods her helmet in response."Not convinced." Kasumi replied as she held up her right hand. "Say it out loud with your hand up high."The demihuman dematerializes her scythe, types a new message on her phone and plays it while holding up her other hand."I vow not to kill anyone, including Haruna.""Good." Kasumi nodded before both women lower their arms. "Let's go."However, it is now the redhead's turn to be startled as just before she and Celty can walk towards the entrance of the office, Masaomi suddenly cried out to them, "Wait!""What is it now?" Kasumi asked her friend as she and Celty halted and turned to him. Masaomi quickly walks over to the demihuman and snatches the phone from her hand, much to their surprise. The blonde-haired man puts away his weapon, types a new message, and hands the device back to Celty."Hold up your hand again." Masaomi said firmly as he held up his left hand. Despite her confusion, Celty did as she was told. "Now say…'I swear I won't kill anyone'. Play your phone."Celty plays Masaomi's message, letting everyone hear. "I swear I will not kill anyone.""Yes!" Masaomi cried excitedly as he pumped his left fist. "Just like that scene in Terminator 2!""Figures." Kasumi muttered and rolled her eyes while the others stared blankly at another one of Masaomi's antics.Masaomi draws out his hammer and said to his demihuman friend, "Let's go, T-eight hund-um-Celty!"Celty puts away her phone, summons her scythe again and nods to Masaomi. They both look back at Kasumi who said to all her friends, "It's time to deal with Saika and Takashi."Everyone nods at Kasumi in response. They turn to the entrance and walk cautiously towards the glass doors as they begin their mission., The first thing everyone noticed upon entering the building is the large and wide circular shaped reception desk at the center of the foyer where the receptionists and some security guards would be working behind. Shinra suggests looking at the security footage so they may find where Saika and Takashi headed off to. They all go behind the desk and Shinra takes a seat in front of four computer screens.As the others stood behind the doctor and watched him turn them on and type the passwords, Celty writes a message on her phone and shows it to Kasumi who stood beside her on her right."Before we face Saika and Takashi, I have a question to ask you. Have you found a way to separate Saika from Haruna's body without killing their host?" The demihuman played her message."Admittingly, no. Not yet." Kasumi said grimly. "But I will find a way. Putting Haruna to rest should always be a last resort."Celty quickly types another message to Kasumi. "What if you can't find it?"The redhead averted her eyes for a moment before looking back at the demihuman with a wan smile when she remembered Hitoha's teachings."I refused to believe anything is impossible. As Miyamizu-sama would tell me, when there's a will, there's a way." Kasumi replied."Simple, but true." Shirley nodded in agreement."Alright, done." Shinra said as everyone behind him looked back at the computer screens. As the doctor temporarily moves aside on the chair, Celty summons a cable underneath her phone, splits it into four, and connects all of them into the computer slots. She swirls her thumbs around the screen of her phone and brings up all the footage from every security camera in the first five floors of the building including the foyer on the computers."There's the foyer." Shinra said, pointing his finger at the top left corner of the first computer on the left. He and the others can clearly see themselves standing behind the reception desk right now."Rewind the footage." Kasumi said to Celty. The demihuman obliged and swirls her thumbs around her phone again to rewind the security footage. Everyone watched the monitors attentively until they saw the foyer filled with many Nebula employees making their way out of the building."Stop!" Kasumi cried and held her hand up, causing Celty to immediately remove her thumbs from her phone to stop the footage. "Forward the footage until the last employee leaves the building."Celty slowly swirls her thumbs again in the opposite direction and stops as soon as they see the last person leaving the foyer. Shinra clicks on the footage to enlarge it, and they all look at the time and date recorded at the top left corner."This happened about eleven minutes after I made the call." Shinra said."And I remembered the time we first arrived here, which is about six minutes later." Anri said."Now let's see when the two bastards entered the building." Masaomi said with his eyes narrowed. Celty swirls her thumbs again to forward the footage at twice its original speed. It did not take long for everyone to notice sixteen figures entering the foyer."Stop." Kasumi said flatly to Celty. The headless rider releases her thumbs again and they all look at the top left corner of the screen once more."They came here about three minutes after the evacuation." Shirley said as Shinra uses the mouse to zoom in on the faces of the visitors."There's Saika alright." Kasumi frowned at the long-haired girl on the screen."And the man next to it is definitely Takashi." Shinra added, recognizing the man beside the girl to be his former employee."But who are the other fourteen people walking alongside them?" Masaomi asked as he and the others noticed that the other figures were dressed in casual clothes. Some of them have bandanas wrapped around their mouths and armed with various weapons such as pipes, crowbars, baseball bats, and a metal chain."Probably people they've picked up along the way." Shirley answered."And judging by their appearances, they are not your normal civilians at all." Mikado added."Looks like Saika and Takashi were busy too while we're training." Anri commented."Now let's see where they head off to." Kasumi said before turning to Celty. "Play the footage at normal speed."Celty taps on her phone, and everyone watches Saika, Takashi and their newly acquired henchmen walking past the reception desk on the monitor. Shinra exits the screen to bring back up the other cameras operating on the same floor. They see their enemies climbing over the security gates and walking towards the elevators at the other end of the first floor. The sixteen intruders split into two groups, with Takashi, Saika and seven others turning to their left and going inside the center elevator, and the remaining seven taking one of them on their right. When the doors close, Shinra quickly enlarges the camera footage showing the side of the elevators that Saika and Takashi took, and Celty taps on her phone to zoom in on the panel above the center elevator. Everyone watches the number slowly increase until it freezes at 27."They went up to the twenty-seventh floor." Kasumi said."Twenty-seven…" Shinra murmured with a frown. He closes his eyes and lowers his head for a moment. "No…I hope not…""Shinra?" Kasumi asked concernedly. However, the doctor jolts from his chair, whirls about and walks away."What's going on?" Shirley asked."We have to go after them now!" Shinra yelled in response. As the doctor now ran towards the elevators after leaving the reception area, Kasumi, Celty and the others glance at each other before they hastily follow Shinra from behind., Once everyone got inside one of the elevators, Shinra pressed the button to the twenty-seventh floor. After the doors closed and everyone could feel the elevator bringing them up, Kasumi asked the doctor, "So Shinra, would you mind telling us what got you spooked out?""Yes." Anri said concernedly to her former teacher. "What exactly is on the twenty-seventh floor?"Shinra takes a deep breath. "Sorry about that. The twenty-seventh floor is where we-"Before the doctor could give his full explanation, everyone yelps in shock and momentarily lost their balance when the elevator suddenly came to a halt, and the lights and power went out."What just happened?" Shirley asked incredulously. Mikado hastily taps the buttons beside him, but none of them seem to work."The power's out. Everything is busted." Mikado said."Oh great. What now?" Masaomi asked frowning.A few seconds later, the lights suddenly turned back on, and the power in the elevator was restored, much to the surprise of everyone. They could feel the elevator moving upwards again, and they watched the numbers on the panel beside the doors increase. However, when they arrived at their destination, the elevator did not stop, and the numbers continued going up."We passed the twenty-seventh floor, and we're not stopping." Shirley said."Someone is controlling this elevator." Mikado said apprehensively."Could it be..." Masaomi said as he and Kasumi turn to each other."Yeah…" Kasumi nodded to him. "They know we're here. And they're playing with us." The redhead turned to Celty and she sees the demihuman nodding to her in agreement.Eventually, the elevator began to slow down, and everyone looked at the panel to see that it had come to a stop at the fortieth floor. The doors slid open, and everyone quickly stepped out and got into their battle stances."Be alert, everyone." Kasumi said to her friends.They turn to their right and slowly walk towards the large pair of wooden doors in front of them. Although the lights in the small hallway they are currently in are off, they can still see their surroundings thanks to the city lights emitting from outside and through the large glass windows at both sides of the building. Shinra turns his head left and right to see that on both sides, there are large red walls blocking the doors beside the elevators that would lead to the office's staircases."Blast." Shinra commented as he turned back to the others. "The stairs on both sides of the office are blocked.""This is definitely Saika's work." Anri replied."We need to take out Saika to free this facility, just like what I did back at Itabashi." Kasumi said."Guess we have no choice but to play along with her, um, it?" Mikado briefly arches an eyebrow before shaking his head. "No. Them?" He nodded. "Yeah, them for now.""Dammit! Why do we have to waste our time on this?!" Masaomi said in frustration."Relax, Masaomi." Kasumi said calmly to her friend as they arrived at the doors. "The sooner we get this over with, the better."Kasumi turned her head to her left to face Celty, and they both nodded to each other. As everyone looked to the front, Celty and Masaomi placed their hands on the doors and pushed them wide open. They cautiously step through the doorway and into the large working area. They look around their surroundings and see the entire place is almost dark, with the only form of light emitting from the city lights and Tokyo Tower outside and shining through the large glass windows at both sides and the other end of the floor. They can tell that the floor they are currently on is a normal workspace with six horizontal rows of four work desks with computers and document trays in front of them, and on both sides are managerial workrooms and meeting rooms separated from the rest of the working area by glass windows. Each work desk also has a tall and wide wall that is three times its length and installed beside it on the right."Wow! Thank you so much for joining me, folks!"Everyone gasped upon hearing the mischievous and sinister voice. When they heard a slam, they looked over their shoulders to see that their only way out had closed themselves shut.Saika emerged from underneath the center-left desk in front of Kasumi and her friends by pushing it down as they got up, sending the computer, trays and documents splaying across the floor. As Kasumi and her friends look back at them and prepare to fight, Saika lifts their left leg up and places their foot on the drawer of the fallen work desk. With their left arm placed above their left knee, and their katana placed behind their head and over their shoulders, Saika gives their enemies a lopsided smirk."Takashi and I were right to find it suspicious that the entire building was deserted when we first arrived here." Saika said to them. "So, just to be safe, when we arrived at the twenty-seventh floor, he told me to take another elevator up to a higher floor and set up a trap for any…'potential nuisances'…who would come after us. I'm impressed you all survive the explosion back at Itabashi." Their teeth now break out into a wide, taunting grin. "But I'll make sure this time, none of you will get out of here alive.""What exactly is Takashi doing on the twenty-seventh floor? Answer us!" Kasumi demanded Saika. The long-haired killer snorted as they straighten their body up and lowers their katana."Why can't you just find out for yourself?!" Saika suddenly thrusts their left hand at Kasumi, who quickly holds up her staff in time to block the huge amount of force that was unleashed at her, but it still sends her flying through the air and slamming against the doors behind her."Why you!" Masaomi yelled as Celty lowers her scythe and thrusts her left hand at Saika, unleashing a long stream of black smoke at them from underneath her sleeve. Saika easily dodges it by doing a backflip and landing at the center of the working area. After getting up, Saika lifts their right hand up and snaps their fingers.Upon hearing the snap, seven people suddenly emerged from the bottom of seven work desks behind Saika and at the other end of the floor. They jump and land right on top of the tables, knocking down the computers, document trays and other kinds of stuff in the process. They all grinned maniacally at their guests with their eyes glowing red, and they also held their weapons up, with one of them swinging his metal chain around the air. They soon jump off the desks and make their way towards Kasumi and her friends.Celty and the others split up as they prepare to fight Saika's possessed followers. Shinra and Shirley went over to the far-right side of the working area while Masaomi ran through the center-right. Anri and Mikado go over to the far-left side, while the headless rider goes through the very center, making her way towards where Saika landed.However, she sees a man with dark brown beard and shoulder-length hair coming over to her on her left. After climbing over and jumping off the desk beside Saika, the man yells as he delivers an overhead strike onto the headless rider with his pipe. Celty holds up her scythe in time to block the attack and she pushes him away with her strength. The headless rider manages to see Saika backing away and waving their hand mockingly at her before casually turning to their right and walking away. The man runs over to Celty again and they both continue fighting.At the far-left side of the working area, Anri clashes her katana with a green-haired man armed with a crowbar and wears a red bandana around his mouth. Mikado, who is behind her, tries to help his girlfriend. But he turns to his right and sees a man with his long black hair tied to a ponytail jumping off a work desk and swings his right brass knuckle diagonally at him. Mikado jumps back to dodge the attack while the man lands on the floor between him and Anri. He looks up at Mikado, who gets into his fighting stance, and he lets out a yell as he runs over to the Nebula employee.The man pushes Anri away from him and swings his crowbar down at her head. Anri holds up her katana to block the attack and quickly kicks him in the abdomen. The man stumbles back, but soon recovers. He runs up to Anri again and thrusts his crowbar at her lower torso. The woman quickly dodges it by turning to her right and leaning herself against the glass window of a managerial workroom behind her. After running past her, the man whirls about and swings his crowbar horizontally at her. Anri ducks down and runs to her left to dodge it, causing the man to leave a large crack on the window instead. As the woman runs away from him, the man yells as he turns and throws his crowbar at her. Anri whirls about and holds her katana up in time to block it, but the impact causes her to yelp and sends her falling to the floor on her back. When his crowbar lands near him, the man sniggered as he picks it up and slowly approaches the woman.When the man with red flat top hair swings his chain vertically at him, Masaomi dodges his attack by turning to his left and backing away, leaning against the wall of the work desk behind him. He quickly thrusts the bottom of his war hammer onto the man's abdomen, causing him to stumble back. Masaomi now turns to his right and swings his weapon across the right side of the chain-wielding man's head, sending him twirling around and collapsing onto the floor on his back.However, another man with black buzz cut hair and wears a white headband successfully swings his bat down onto the back of his right shoulder from behind. Masaomi groans in pain before he whirls about and swings his hammer horizontally at him. The black-haired man quickly turns around and rolls over the floor to dodge his attack. Masaomi runs up to him from behind and swings his hammer down at him, but the man now rolls over to his right, causing the dark blonde-haired man to land his weapon onto the floor instead. As the man gets up, he turns around and swings his bat horizontally, hitting Masaomi on the face. The dark blonde-haired man groans as he stumbles back in pain with his hammer still in his hand. The buzz cut hair man grins as he goes over to him, but Masaomi quickly recovers and runs up to his opponent. He delivers another vertical swing of his hammer at the man who holds up his bat horizontally to block it. The two men push their weapons against each other, trying to overwhelm the other.At the far-right side of the working area, Shirley is fighting with a woman, armed with a pipe, and dressed in a black leather jacket and long purple hair. Behind the orange-haired woman, Shinra is engaged with a tall bald man armed with a metal baseball bat.The woman delivers two vertical and horizontal swings at Shirley, who deflects them with her gloves. She quickly turns around and grabs an office chair as the purple-haired woman prepares to deliver an overhead strike on her from behind. The orange-haired woman pulls it out from underneath the work desk, places it in front of her as she turns around, ducks down and hides behind it before her enemy swings her pipe down onto the top of the chair. Shirley quickly turns the office chair around and pushes it as she gets up. She collides it against the purple-haired woman, pushes her over to the glass window of a managerial workroom, and pins her against it. The purple-haired woman growls angrily as she swings the pipe still in her hand vertically at Shirley, who quickly stops her attack by grabbing it with her left hand, and the two women glare into each other's eyes.After deflecting an overhead strike from the man's bat by swinging his shield diagonally through the air, Shinra runs over and collides his weapon against his opponent's upper torso, causing him to groan, drop his bat and stumble back. Shinra goes over to him again and swings his shield across the right side of his head, sending him slamming against the glass window of the same managerial workroom beside them. However, not wanting Shinra to get the better of him, the man growls as he quickly recovers and goes over to Shinra, who quickly holds up his shield in front of him. The bald man slams himself against the shield, which did cause Shinra to stumble back, but the doctor quickly regains his balance and pushes back his opponent. Both men stayed in a stalemate as they try to overwhelm the other with all their strength.While her friends are busy fighting with their own opponents, Kasumi yells as she runs up to Saika and swings her staff horizontally at them at the center-left side of the working area. Saika easily dodges it by leaning themselves back, with Kasumi's staff barely missing them by the tip of their nose. As soon as they get up, Saika whirls around and delivers two diagonal strikes at the redhead with their katana. Kasumi blocks both attacks with her staff as she backs away before Saika whirls around again and delivers a surprise vertical strike at her head. The redhead dodges it by moving to her left and turning her body to her right. She retaliates by thrusting her staff at Saika's face as she turned back to them. The deranged killer dodges the attack by sliding to their left, and they swing their katana diagonally at their enemy. Kasumi holds her staff up diagonally in front of her to block the attack, and they both gaze at each other while staying in a stalemate."This time, I'll separate your head from your body…" Saika said mockingly with their eyes wide. "Just like what I did to poor Suzu!"As the black-haired girl laughed maniacally at her face, Kasumi grits her teeth and yelled, "Haruna! I know you are in there! If you can hear me, you've got to fight back! You've got to stand up to Saika and regain control of yourself!"Saika growls as her face distorts into a scowl. "Shut the hell up! She can't hear you! She's MINE!"As they finished, the black-haired killer thrusts their left hand at Kasumi, causing her to yelp as she is sent flying and sprawling through the floor. When she came to a halt, the redhead finds herself lying where she and her friends originally stood. Saika did a running jump over to Kasumi and prepares to stab their katana directly onto her face. The redhead quickly rolls over to her right before Saika landed, stabbing their sword through the floor instead. As Kasumi quickly gets back up, Saika turns their head to their left right before the redhead thrusts one end of her staff at their left shoulder. The deranged killer screams in agony as they felt the electricity surging through their body. However, they still managed to fight back the pain enough for them to thrust their right hand at Kasumi, using a huge amount of force to push her away. Kasumi yelps as she finds herself flying through the air once more and has her back slammed against the right door. The redhead groans as she lands down on her feet and briefly places her left hand on the floor before standing back up and holding her staff in front of her with her eyes narrowed.After getting back up as well, Saika removes their katana from the floor and smiles at Kasumi."You surprised me with that." Saika's cheeks blushed as their grin widened. "I really love you."Saika twirls their katana around in their right hand before charging at Kasumi with maniacal laughter.After Celty blocked several horizontal and diagonal strikes from his pipe with her scythe, the dark brown-haired man quickly swings his weapon down on the top of her head. Celty swiftly holds her weapon up and blocks it with its snath. The man pushes her scythe down with all his strength, causing Celty to tilt her weapon to her left. This made both their weapons touch the floor, and as soon as he sees an opening, the man yells and swings his right leg at Celty's helmet, knocking it off and sending it rolling over the floor. The two briefly whirl around and look back at each other. The man now widens his eyes and drops his jaw as he came to the shocking realization that his opponent has no head. Celty casually shrugs at him before she suddenly fires a stream of black smoke from underneath her left sleeve. The man yelps as the stream hits his chest and sends him sprawling through the floor.Celty swings her left arm back to pick up her helmet behind her with the stream of smoke. She pulls the stream back and grabs her helmet with her left hand while dematerializing her scythe. The man looks up and gasps as all he could do is watch Celty run over to him, jump up and kick against the wall of a work desk on her right before falling through the air and slamming her helmet onto his forehead to knock him unconscious.Eventually, the purple-haired woman curls her left hand into a fist and throws a punch across the right side of Shirley's head. The orange-haired woman yelps as she releases her opponent's pipe and stumbles back. The purple-haired woman kicks the chair and Shirley off her, causing the orange-haired woman to stumble back further. She laughs as she pushes the chair away and goes over to deliver a diagonal strike at her.Shirley looks up in time and quickly grabs the pipe with both her hands before it makes contact with the left side of her head. She pulls the pipe out of her grip, and the purple-haired woman could only stare back in bewilderment as her orange-haired opponent swings it across the right side of her head, sending her falling to the ground.Meanwhile, the tall, bald man manages to push Shinra off him, causing the doctor to stumble back. The man takes the opportunity to go over and grab him by his tie. Shinra yelps as the man pulls him up as he turns around and slams him against the glass window."Shinra!" Shirley cried as she turned to the doctor and his opponent. Before the bald man could throw a punch at Shinra's face, Shirley aims the pipe at him and throws it into the air like a javelin. The tip of the pipe hits directly onto the left side of the bald man's head, causing him to yelp in pain. While he is distracted, Shinra quickly lifts his right knee up to kick him at the bottom of his chin, sending him stumbling back and releasing his tie. As soon as he lands, Shinra gets up and uses his shield to push him away before turning and running away. The bald man growls angrily as he chases after him. But before he could throw a punch at the back of the doctor's head, Shinra grabs the bat from the floor which the bald man dropped earlier, whirls about and swings it across the left side of his head. The man yelps as he whirls around. When his back is now facing him, Shinra tosses the bat aside and charges at his opponent with his shield in front of him. The man cries in pain as his shield collided against his back, and Shinra yells as he kept running and slams his opponent against the glass window face-first, leaving a huge crack behind. As the man rolls his eyes back and passes out, Shinra backs away to let him slide down to the floor in an unconscious heap.The purple-haired woman gets up and tries to throw a punch at the back of Shirley's head while running over to her from behind. But Shirley slides to her right to dodge her attack. She turns around and delivers an uppercut to the bottom of the purple-haired woman's chin before grabbing her hair. The woman screams as Shirley now pulls her hair, drags her over to the work desk where she took the office chair from earlier, and slams her forehead down on it. As soon as Shirley releases her and backs away, the woman wobbles side to side and groans as she falls to the floor on her back and passes out. Shirley and Shinra turn to each other and smile as they nod their heads.The buzz cut hair man manages to push Masaomi back and prepares to deliver yet another horizontal swing of his bat at the left side of his body. Masaomi dodges the attack by moving to his right and whirling around. As he does, he swings his hammer horizontally onto the back of the man's head. The man yells in pain as he stumbles forward. Masaomi temporarily places his hammer down on the floor before the man turns around and swings his bat vertically at him. Masaomi dodges it by moving to his left and delivers an uppercut to the bottom of the man's chin with his right fist. As the man stumbles back and drops his bat, Masaomi goes over and grabs his left arm. He turns around, throws the man over his back, and slams him onto the floor. Masaomi turns around and picks up his hammer as the man rolls to his right and tries to get up. But the dark blonde-haired man turns back to him, gets down and swings his hammer down onto his back, causing him to yell in pain and fall on the floor again. Masaomi finally knocks the buzz cut hair man out by bringing the bottom of the hilt of his hammer down onto the top of his head. After his opponent passes out, he sighs and stands back up.But suddenly, the dark-blonde haired man yelps in pain as he felt a chain wrapped around his right arm and forcing him to turn to his right. He turns his head to his right and sees the red-haired man he thought he had knocked out earlier is standing back up again and grinning maliciously as he pulls his chain to tighten his grip around his arm. Still clinging tightly to the hilt of his hammer, Masaomi growls in agony as he is currently engaged in a tug-of-war with his enemy, pulling his arm and trying to break free.Mikado backs away as he deflects several punches and uppercuts from his ponytail assailant. The man suddenly thrusts both his brass knuckles at Mikado's head, but he quickly stops his attack by grabbing them with his gloved hands. However, the man lowers his fists, as well as Mikado's hands in the process, and he quickly brings his head down onto his forehead. Mikado yelps as he releases the man's fists and stumbles back in pain. But not wanting him to recover, the man whirls around and swings his left leg diagonally at the right side of Mikado's head, sending him slamming against the glass window beside him. The man quickly goes over and pins Mikado against the window by placing his left arm against his throat, causing the Nebula employee to choke as he struggles to breathe.When the green-haired man is near and above Anri, he swings his crowbar down on her. The bespectacled woman however rolls over to her left to dodge his attack and she quickly kicks the right side of his head with her right leg. As the man stumbles back, Anri quickly gets up and throws an uppercut to the bottom of his chin with her left fist. The man quickly dodges her punch by moving to his right and swings his crowbar horizontally at her. Anri turned and held up her katana downward and diagonally in front of her to block his attack. However, the man throws his own punch at the right side of Anri's midsection with his left fist, causing her to yelp. As they both lower their weapons, the man pulls Anri's hair with his left hand, and the woman finds herself having the left side of her head slammed against the wall of a work desk beside them and dropping her katana onto the floor."A-Anri!" Mikado managed to choke out as he watched his girlfriend being pinned against the wall by her green-haired opponent.As the man with a black ponytail grins at the Nebula employee and pulls his right brass knuckle back, Mikado snarls at him and lifts both his legs up. He delivers a strong kick to the man's chest, causing him to yelp and release him as he stumbles back. Mikado lands back down on the floor and gasps for air before he looks up to see his opponent angrily running up to him and throwing his left brass knuckle down at his head. Mikado quickly rolls over to his left to dodge his attack, and he gets up and swings his left fist at him. He punched him across his right cheek, and Mikado quickly followed up with an uppercut to the bottom of his chin with his right fist. The man stumbles back, but Mikado goes over and grabs his ponytail. He yells as the Nebula employee pulls his hair down, and Mikado runs over to Anri and her opponent while dragging him along.Before the green-haired man could bring down the bottom of his crowbar onto Anri's head, he turned to his right when he heard Mikado yelling, and he looked shocked for a moment before the Nebula employee tosses his black-haired opponent over to him. The two possessed men collided with each other, causing the green-haired man to release Anri as they fall to the floor together.The green-haired man quickly pushes the black-haired man off him and get up. When he sees Mikado walking over to him with a glare, he swings his crowbar horizontally at the left side of his head. Mikado stops his attack by swiftly grabbing it with his left hand, much to his shock. The Nebula employee pulls the crowbar out of his grip before grabbing his collar with his right hand. He turns around and tosses the green-haired man, sending him stumbling forward. The green-haired man turns back to Mikado and drops his jaw as the Nebula employee now yells and runs over to him while pulling back the crowbar that he had taken from him. He swings it horizontally and across the left side of his forehead, causing the green-haired man to whirl around and collapses onto the floor face-first.However, the black-haired man with a ponytail runs over to Mikado from behind and tackles him to the floor. He quickly pulls the crowbar out of Mikado's hand and tosses it aside before turning him around. As the man now kneels above him, Mikado tried to swing his right fist at the left side of his head, but he deflects it with his left arm and pins both his wrists onto the floor. While Mikado struggles to break free, the man pulls his head back and prepares to deliver a headbutt down onto his forehead, only to be stopped by Anri who quickly runs over to him from behind and swings the bottom of the hilt of her katana across the right side of his head. The man yelps as he gets off Mikado and falls to the floor on his back, and he gasps as Anri kneels above him and brings down the bottom of the hilt of her katana onto his forehead to knock him out.The woman gets up, walks over to Mikado, and extends her hand to him."Arigatou." Anri said to her boyfriend with gratitude. Mikado smiled back at her before grabbing her hand and allowing her to pull him back up on his feet.As Kasumi rolls over the floor to dodge another horizontal swing from Saika's katana, the deranged killer runs over from behind and delivers a downward strike at her. Kasumi whirls about as she gets up and swings her staff diagonally to block it. Both fighters stay in a stalemate as they are now standing between the far-left and center-left work desks that are the nearest to the doors.Kasumi manages to push Saika's katana away from her, causing the deranged killer to stumble back. She whirls around and thrusts her staff at their midsection, but Saika dodges her attack by turning to their left and taking a step back. They quickly turned to their left again and performed a backflip over the redhead. While in mid-air, Saika swings their katana vertically at the back of Kasumi's head. But the redhead kneels and bends her body forward enough to dodge the attack, with the tip of the katana's blade barely missing her hair by an inch. As soon as Saika lands, they get up and swing their katana diagonally upwards at her. But when Kasumi whirls about to look back at her opponent, she swiftly swings her staff diagonally upwards as well to deflect their katana with the top end of her weapon and tilting her head to the left to dodge its blade. She swings the bottom end of her staff diagonally to hit Saika across their face, and they yelp in pain as they stumble back. Kasumi delivers a kick to their midsection to send them stumbling back further, and she now did a brief running jump, kicked the wall of the desk on her left to send her up higher, and she lets out a yell while delivering an overhead strike with her staff onto Saika. The deranged killer yelps again as the staff hits the top of their head, causing them to bend forward and look down at the floor while Kasumi lands in front of them. Seeing her opportunity, Kasumi pulls her staff back and prepares to deliver another horizontal swing to their head.However, Saika quickly looks back up at Kasumi and holds up their left hand to use a huge amount of force to stop her attack mid-swing. As Kasumi groans and trembles while being frozen in place, Saika extends their other hand and uses the same amount of force to lift a computer, mouse and wireless keyboard from the work desk behind Kasumi on their right up in the air. Saika pulls back their right arm and clenches their fist to send the computer, mouse and keyboard flying over to the back of Kasumi's head, causing her to groan in pain as she lowers her staff and stumbles forward. Saika themselves also groan as they lower their arms and katana. They slide their fingers across their upper lip and look down to see them covered in blood, realizing that they are almost at their limit, and sooner than usual after lending more of their power to Takashi yesterday.Saika and Kasumi recover and look up at the same time, and the latter quickly thrusts her staff at their chest. Saika whirls around to their right to dodge the attack and they throw down their left fist onto the top of Kasumi's head. As Kasumi yelps and bends forward, Saika quickly gets above her, rolls over her body and lands behind her. They deliver a kick to their back to send her stumbling forward. As soon as Kasumi turns around to face her opponent again, Saika thrusts their left hand at her, firing another huge amount of force at her midsection. Kasumi yells as it sends her flying through the air and sprawling through the floor."Kasumi!" Masaomi shouted in alarm while watching from a distance. He yells angrily as he turns to his left and uses all his strength to finally swing his right arm horizontally, pulling both the chain and its wielder in the process. As the red-haired man stumbles forward and over to him, Masaomi turns back to him and swings his left fist across his right cheek. He follows it up by thrusting his hammer up to the bottom of his chin, causing his opponent to back away. After Masaomi removes the chain from his right arm, the red-haired man could only look up and cry in terror for a few seconds as the dark blonde-haired man runs up to him and swings his hammer across the left side of his head to knock him unconscious.As Celty stands where she is, she fires a long stream of black smoke from underneath her right sleeve at Saika. However, Saika swiftly holds out their left hand and stops the stream of smoke mid-air while it is only a few inches away from their palm."Not this time." Saika said coldly to the demihuman. Celty quickly summons her scythe in her left hand before Saika swings their katana diagonally to slice off the stream of black smoke. As the smoke dissipates, Celty quickly climbs over a work desk between her and Saika, jumps in the air, and swings the back of her scythe's blade down on the deranged killer.Saika dodges it by turning around and rolling over the floor before Celty brings her weapon down onto where they originally stood. Saika gets up, turns around and thrusts both their hands at the demihuman to send her flying and sprawling over to the glass windows at the other end of the floor where Kasumi is. The redhead rolls over to her right to prevent Celty from colliding with her."Celty!" Shinra cried in horror as he and Shirley watched from the right side of the floor."Kasumi!" Shirley added.As Saika makes their way over to the two women at the other end of the floor, Mikado and Anri run over and place themselves in front of the deranged killer. They both get into their fighting stances and charge towards them. However, Saika easily stops them by thrusting their hands at their throats. Mikado and Anri both widen their eyes and gasp as they feel themselves being lifted in the air. Not caring that more blood is trickling down from their nostrils, Saika spreads their arms out and sends Mikado and Anri flying. Mikado finds himself slamming against the glass window of a managerial workroom at the left side of the floor, while Anri sprawls through the floor and passes by the work desk where Masaomi is currently hiding behind.Shirley and Shinra run up to Saika from behind, but the deranged killer whirls about and thrusts their right hand at the orange-haired woman. As Shirley sprawls through the floor, Shinra charges at Saika with his shield in front of him. To his surprise, Saika runs up and over his shield when he is near them, performs a flip through the air, and lands on their feet behind him. Both turn around to face each other, and Saika brings the bottom of the hilt of their katana down onto the top of the doctor's head. He yelps as he bends forward and Saika quickly lifts their right knee to kick him in the face. As Shinra stumbles back, Saika swings their left arm horizontally, using another huge amount of force to send the doctor flying and slamming against the wall of a work desk beside them.After wiping away the blood from their nostrils and lips, Saika chuckled evilly as they continued walking towards Celty and Kasumi, who both got up with their weapons in their hands.The headless rider thrusts her left arm at Saika and fires another long stream of black smoke at them. Saika turns to their left and backs away to dodge the stream, and they swiftly throw their katana over to Celty. Its blade slashes across the left side of her torso, causing the demihuman to yelp and lower her arm while the katana stabs through the glass window behind her and Kasumi."Celty!" Kasumi cried as she turned to her. But while she is distracted, Saika thrusts both their hands at her and Celty, using a huge amount of force to push and slam them against the glass window. Thanks to the pressure Saika is applying onto their enemies, the crack caused by their katana begins to enlarge and spread across the area of the window where Kasumi and Celty are pinned against. The redhead groans as she and Celty throw their head and helmet back, completely helpless in fighting back their opponent."I'll finish the both of you, then the rest of your friends!" Saika shouted at them.Suddenly, Masaomi yells and charges over to Saika from their right as he thrusts and collides his war hammer against the right side of their head, sending them rolling over the floor and slamming against the glass window of a meeting room. Kasumi and Celty both fell and landed back down on the floor safely.Saika groans and looks up in time to see Masaomi running over to them. They quickly get up and run off to their right before Masaomi swings his hammer down onto where they originally were. Saika goes over to Masaomi and lifts their right leg to kick him on his left shoulder. Masaomi stumbles to the side before turning back to Saika. He goes over and swings his hammer horizontally at them. The deranged killer dodges the attack by ducking down. Masaomi quickly swings his hammer down onto Saika to deliver an overhead strike, but the killer gets up and grabs the hilt of his weapon to stop his attack. As they both stay in a stalemate, Saika chuckled in amusement as a huge smile takes form across their face."Wow…such fiery rage!" Saika said amusingly as Masaomi snarls at them. "And you unleashed it soon after I hurt all your friends." They snickered for a moment. "I don't blame you. It would really suck if you can't protect the ones whom you care the most, right?"Immediately after hearing their last sentence, Masaomi's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as if their words had hit his head hard like a brick, causing a wave of memories to come flooding into his mind.First, there was a young girl with a pink headband and shoulder-length black hair smiling back at him with her hands behind her back as they stood in front of each other outside Grandscape Ikebukuro. Masaomi cannot forget that his heart skipped a beat that day when they agreed to take their relationship to the next level.The second memory that flashed before Masaomi was him and the girl clinking their cups of bubble milk tea and drinking them through its straws while holding hands and walking merrily through the streets without a care in the world.The third memory was him and the girl standing together inside a clothing store at the other side of Ikebukuro. He could remember his cheeks blush as he watched the girl wrap the yellow scarf that she had bought for him as a gift around his neck. When she is done, they both look back at each other and smile. It was a blissful moment. A moment that Masaomi wished would never pass.However, the last memory playing in his mind was him carrying the girl in his arms while standing inside an abandoned factory. He vividly remembers how much his body was trembling as he looked down to see the girl being cradled in his arms with her eyes closed and her head slumped to the side. She had bruises on both her cheeks, and there was blood trickling down the left side of her lips. But what makes him sick to his stomach the most was the large bruise on her left lower leg, and how much its bone and her foot are twisted to the side. As the boy stood there, all he could do was throw his head back and let out a long agonizing scream.When Masaomi was snapped back to reality, the man shook violently and grits his teeth as his face distorts into a scowl. The deranged killer jerks their head to the side with an arched eyebrow."Something the matter?" Saika asked.To their surprise, Masaomi pulls his hammer out of their grip as he backs away from them. Saika could only stand there as he furiously thrusts the head of his hammer into their midsection, much to the shock of all his friends. As Saika stumbles back, Masaomi swings his hammer horizontally at the left side of their head, but they quickly recover and hold up their right hand to use a huge amount of force to stop his attack mid-swing. But Masaomi quickly lifts his left leg up and kicks them at their midsection, and the same area where he hit them earlier. Saika groans as they lower their hand and back away while Masaomi swings his hammer diagonally and hits them on the left side of their forehead. Saika bends forward for a moment before they look up and see Masaomi throwing his right fist at them, punching them directly in the face and sending them falling to the floor on their back. Masaomi quickly kneels above them to prevent them from getting back up.Still not caring about the terrified looks on the faces of his friends, Masaomi places his hammer aside on the floor and lets out a bellow of unbridled rage as he delivers twelve brutal punches across both sides of Saika's head. The deranged killer could only lie on the floor as their assailant leaves several bruises all over their face.When Masaomi finished unleashing his fury, he breathes heavily as he looks down at his now badly injured opponent. Saika turns to the side and spits out some blood before looking back at Masaomi with a wide mocking grin."You do realize that by hurting me, you're hurting my host in the process, right?" Saika laughed. "You and I are the same…violent…and depraved…"As if their words hit his nerve, Masaomi narrows his eyes and grits his teeth once more as he grabs his hammer from the floor and aims the head of his weapon down at Saika's forehead. He lets out another yell and prepares to bring it down.However, his strike was quickly stopped mid-swing by a pair of hands wrapped tightly around the hilt of his hammer. Masaomi lifts his head up to see it was Kasumi, now back up on her feet and kneeling in front of him and Saika just in time to stop him from delivering what could have been the final blow. Upon seeing his friend shaking her head with hot tears welling up in her eyes, all his blind rage vanished in an instant as he now realizes what he has done. With his eyes wide and his mouth agape, Masaomi loosens his grip around his hammer, letting Kasumi pull it effortlessly out of his hands. The man gulps before he lowers his head and looks down at his hands."What have I done?" Masaomi uttered.Saika laughed again as they said to Masaomi mockingly, "Once again, another person who don't have the guts to kill someone. That is so cringe!""Maybe you're right. We can never kill." Kasumi said flatly to Saika as she turned the hammer around in her right hand. "But we can still do this."Before Saika could ask, Kasumi suddenly swings the bottom of the hilt of Masaomi's hammer down onto their forehead hard, knocking the deranged killer out cold.The redhead looks back at her friend and holds his hammer out to him. Masaomi lifts his head up and stares at Kasumi for a moment before he takes his weapon back from her with a solemn frown. Kasumi wipes her tears away before both friends get back up on their feet.They step away from the now unconscious Saika as Celty, Mikado, Anri, Shirley and Shinra quickly go over to them. The headless rider hands Kasumi back her staff before she spends a minute using a long stream of her black smoke to tie Saika's body and wrists. She placed her in a sitting position and had her lean against the glass window of a managerial workroom. Celty quickly stands up, types a message on her phone and shows it to her allies."Now that we've knocked Saika out, the elevators should be back to normal, and the walls blocking the staircases must be gone too.""Is it really okay to leave Saika like this?" Anri asked concernedly.Celty types her response on her phone. "My smoke should hold her long enough. But now, it's time we deal with Takashi.""Let's go!" Shinra said anxiously to everyone. Without saying another word, Celty, Kasumi, Masaomi, Anri, Mikado, Shirley and Shinra quickly turn and run their way out of the working area and back to the elevators.When they reach the elevators, Shinra quickly presses the down button, and everyone waits for one of them to arrive. After feeling a tap on his right shoulder, Shinra turned to see Celty holding up her phone and showing him her latest message."Can you tell us what is at the twenty-seventh floor now?"

Mature Content

Mature Content

Chapters
Bound by Our Oath by Toffee-Tama
Six Aquatic Tales: Kimi's Story Part 4,Kimi and Saiji arrived at the facility an hour ago, taking a break from their dive in the mystic cave. Though it's not really a military facility, it's technically a resort that they made it their secondary home where they hang out with their friends. Their friend, Nikku, called it the facility for reasons unknown. Others call it the hangout. The facility had many pools, 100 meter diving area, and a large underwater maze. Some pools have air bubbles for beginner swimmers.Kimi was at the living quarters, sitting on a couch using a portable hair dryer to dry her long jet black hair. She recently had a shower, her clothes and swimsuit were in a wash, so now she was wearing her casual clothing. A black and turquoise short sleeve hoodie with a turquoise undershirt with black stripes, and blue jeans. Her pale green socks where tucked in her grass-green converse. They were on the floor by the couch, leaving her barefoot.Her friend, Saiji was in the garage, probably studying the the clown fish relic. Sure Kimi and Saiji were suppose to plan their next move of finding the third relic, but their dive in the mysic cave back at the Sapphire Eldoris had left them worn out. So they're on a break, well more like Kimi was getting some R&R, while Saiji was figuring out how the seven relics work.Kimi switched off the hair dryer, and picked up the hair brush. Her hair was mostly dry, but it was also a mess. So she started brushing her hair to straightening it out. Her eyes darted towards the TV. What had caught her attention was the news. She reached for the remote and turned the volume up."In today's news, the plane that went missing in the storm last week has been found in a ocean far off the coast of Cascadia." The news lady said. "Upon investigation the salvage team found the plane’s cargo was missing, even the golden artifact shaped like a turtle."'She must be refering to the turtle relic' Kimi thought while brushing her hair. 'Was it ment to be brought to a museum?'"They said that the smugglers must had stolen the artifact before the coast guards could locate the wreckage. Though the salvage team are still investigating the cause of the crash as we speak. We'll keep you posted on any updates relating to the wreckage of the plane. In other news-"Kimi switched the TV off, figuring the news don't have anything else important worth watching."Oh hey, Kimi." A cheery voice called to Kimi. The mentioned young woman looked over and saw Penny who had sat down on a couch after setting down a bowl of popcorn on the table. Penny was a dark skinned young woman, with dark brown hair, wearing a blue and red two peice swimsuit, which closely resumbles of a summer dress if it weren't a two peice, and a pair of sandles. She happened to be a self-taught ninja."Hey, Penny. What's up?" Kimi asked."Just gonna watch a new anime series that has been on air for about a week." Penny replied. "Was you watching the news?Kimi smiled, shaking her head before handing Penny the remote. "Nah, I was done watching what's been going with the news."Penny nodded. "Great. So what you and Saiji been up to?""Oh we've been diving in the cave. It was wild, but it's amazing." Kimi explained. "We saw glowing crystals structures. It was a beautiful sight.""Really? Did you and Saiji take any pictures?"Kimi shook her head. "No, we didn't bring a camera.""Aww, that's a shame." Penny said. "Maybe next time, eh?"Kimi nodded, while putting on her socks and kicks. "Yeah, and maybe I'll bring Hamako along. She loves diving in caves. Anyway I'm gonna go get a drink. Have fun watching the new anime series."Penny smiled. "I will. See ya."Hopping up to her feet, Kimi made her way to the kitchen to grab a drink of mango juice. As she walked, Kimi couldn't help but wonder about the plane wreckage. She was there when a group of Tiger Sharks stole the turtle relic, but they didn't steal anything else. Did some diving smugglers took the rest of the cargo?'I would've hand the turtle relic over to the museum if I still had it.' Kimi thought. 'Still, what Katsumi said earlier about the merfolk transforms when they get a relic, would it work on humans? If so, how come I didn't transform when I grabbed the turtle relic? I felt its power a few days back, and the clown fish relic, Saiji and I found recently. Hmm... maybe it has something to do with that strange necklace Athena has.'Kimi opened the fridge to grab a bottle of mango juice and poured some into a glass before putting it back in the fridge. She took a sip from the glass, tasting the sweet mango juice."Ah, nothing taste better than a mango juice." Kimi sighed. "Hey, Kimi!" a voice called out. The young woman in question turned and saw Saiji running over to her. "Oh hey, Saiji. Did you discover anything about the relic?" she asked."Aside from the fact that those relics attract to each other like magnets, no, not yet." Saiji replied. "But that's not why I'm came looking for you. I just recived a call from a friend of mine, saying the mercs had recently found a star-shaped artifact.""Mercs? You mean the mercenaries Mizuki is with?" Kimi asked.Saiji shook his head. "Not those mercenaries. Four Aces, the dudes from my timeline. They're planning to trade it for profit."Kimi raised a eye brow. "Who are they trading it with?" "My friend didn't mention that, but he's listening in to their comms as we speak." Saiji explained. "We should meet up with him and find out what the mercs are up to.""Now? What about the five remaining relics?" Kimi questioned."The artifact could be one of seven relics." Saiji replied. "It'll be worth checking out what they're doing."Kimi thought for a moment before she spoke. "Well... Okay. Let me pack up a few things and then we can go."Saiji smiled. "Great. I'll meet you at the garage."Kimi rushed upstairs to her room to pack up her stuff she needed for the trip to another timeline. She picked up a few of her clothes and stuff them in her backpack, when suddenly her vision started to blur and her head throbbing in pain."W-what the?" Kimi exclaimed.Her eyes changes from gold to green as she felt an incredible power coursing through her body like a tidal wave. She clenches her head in pain.'W-What's happening to me?!' Kimi thought.And then the pain and strange power faded away after a few moments. Kimi's eyes changed back to gold color. She realised what she had felt, staring fearfully at her hands.'That power... I felt it before when I picked up that turtle relic.' Kimi thought. 'But I don't have it, how could I feel it...? Could it be that my body was absorbing its power? Now that I think about it, I had it with me for a few days before Athena took it from me...'Kimi shook her head before resuming packing her stuff. 'I'll worry about it later. Gotta meet up with Saiji.'Soon as she finished packing, Kimi left her room to meet up with her friend who was waiting for her at the garage. At the said garage, Saiji had put his backpack into the back seat of his 1987 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth. He looked over at Kimi, who had just arrived."You got what you need?" Saiji asked.Kimi nodded. "Yeah, I'm all set and ready to go.""Great. Hop in."Kimi got inside the car, tossing her backpack in the back seat before sitting down on the passanger seat just as her friend sat on the driver's seat.She noticed Saiji's car wasn't an ordinary vehicle, as it had a built-in center console that looked more advanced, about a few decades ahead of time. There were also a few gizmos around it - a gauge and buttons that made it almost look like she's in a Boeing 737 cockpit. The Fort Sierra RS Cosworth was also fitted with state-of-the art time travel technology."Wow! This car looks so advanced." Kimi exclaimed."Yep. A few decades ahead of this time, but I've been given this bad boy some upgrades." Saiji explained, pressing some buttons. "And this car is also a miniature submarine."Kimi was shocked at what her friend just said "What?! This a submarine car?!"Saiji nodded. "Yep. Pretty slick, eh? Now buckle up, the future awaits!"Kimi put on her seat belt while Saiji started the engine. He shifted the gear to reverse before looking behind him to safely drive the Cossie backwards. The garage door behind the vehicle opened, letting Saiji drive out of the garage. After a J-turn, he drove through the beach, heading straight for the ocean ahead."So, this is how you jump through time, by driving across the ocean?" Kimi asked."Yeah. That way no one would notice." Saiji replied. "Once we're in the ocean, I'll start the time machine, you blink, and we’re in my world."Kimi couldn't help but giggle with excitement. "Kinda feels like one of those time traveling movies."Saiji chuckled. "Yeah, but this is better."Just as soon as the Sierra RS hits the water, Saiji pressed the touchscreen, activating the time machine as he floored it. The machine picked up speed that could nearly rival the pace of a speedboat as it left bright blue energy in its wake."Hang on." Saiji warned. "This might get bumpy."Kimi nodded, seeing the energy engulfing the outside of the vehicle. The Cossie rumbled as it went faster and faster, and then, in a blink of an eye, it vanished.Meanwhile, Nikku arrived at the living quarters. Her gold eyes scanned the area, only seeing Penny watching TV. She was currently wearing her black tank top, jean shorts and sports bikini with yellow stripes underneath."Hey, Penny? Have you seen Kimi?" Nikku asked."Last time I've seen her; she went to the garage." Penny replied. Her eyes remained glued to the TV. "I think she's going out somewhere with Saiji."Nikku sighed. Her hands were on her hips as she shook her head. "Did you hear where they are going?"Penny shook her head. "No I didn't, sorry."Nikku cursed under her breath. "It's alright. I should've come here sooner." She flopped on the couch, looking at the TV. "Is this the new anime series?""Yep." Penny replied. "Why was you looking for Kimi anyway?""Oh, Amber told me about some strange crystals shards she found. She wanted me to let Kimi know about them and bring them to her if she finds any." Nikku explained.Penny nodded "Have you find any?" Nikku shook her head, after grabbing a handful of popcorn. "Nope."Somewhere in the quiet ocean there was a light show and then in a bright flash of light, a submarine car came bursting out of nowhere, leaving trails of blue energy in its wake as it glides through the ocean. "Whoa!" Kimi exclaimed. "That's some powerful technology, Saiji!""Yep. State of the art time travel technology that makes time jumps easily." Saiji said as the energy dies down around his car. They would go out onto one of the Dunes in The View district, before driving over to the landmark of his home town – Packard City. This was the place the pioneers of neo-humanity started off."Here we are, Silvine Systems Square, Downtown. Don't ask me who named it that way, the mayor or the company behind the city's IT sectors and finances, ehhh, you know... Anyway, welcome back to 2042."Kimi looked at Saiji with a confused look before her friend realised what he said."Wait, isn’t this your first time here...? Whoops." Saiji said sheepishly.Kimi turned around and looked at the city and was awestruck how the buildings looked in Saiji's timeline."THIS is downtown?!" she exclaimed. "There's so many tall buildings and blinding screens!"She wasn't kidding. There were a lot of tall buildings and several glass screens which acted as billboard advertisements of the future. The issue was that some of the screens would shine bright white during a commercial break. This annoyed the resident lad."Whenever any one of those screens turn white, it feels like someone threw a flashbang." Saiji growled. "Don't know why advertisers like that color.""Sounds like a design flaw." Kimi scoffed. "Anyway, how do we get to the marked location without anyone noticing?""The public transport roads are usually pretty heavily policed by K-Sec, so I’d doubt we’d have any issues." Saiji inputs the coordinates to his GPS.Kimi nodded. "Great. Now, about your friend who contacted you earlier, is he a courier too?"Saiji simply nodded, keeping his eyes on the road up ahead, as he monitors the old comm channel. "Yes. We're in the same league. Simo is a whistleblower, so he’d know whenever Four Aces is involved. If they do have one of the seven relics, the clown fish relic would react to it.""Yeah, the relics attract to each other like magnets." she commented. The Cossie had reached the beach, and Saiji had switched gear to cruise. He was right about the network being policed – at least two police-looking cars stood guard on the slip roads, as the sun had started to set. Kimi looked at the city, seeing that this was her first time arriving Saiji's timeline. She's pretty much a stranger visiting the city and she could end up being lost if it weren't for Saiji. But the young woman had wondered what the city has to offer."Overwhelming, isn't it?" Saiji said, to which Kimi nodded. "Wish I could take the time to show you around, but we're on an important mission."Kimi smiled reassuringly. "It's fine, Saiji. Maybe after we stop Athena, Katsumi and the Tiger Sharks, you can give me a tour of the city."Saiji smiled and nodded, focusing on driving as he turn toward the road, heading over to The Projects."Where would Simo be?" Kimi asked."He's at the hideout in The Projects couple of clicks away from Anchor District." Saiji replied. "At the top of a tower."Kimi raised an eye brow when her friend mentioned 'tower'. "It’s not an underground hideout?"Saiji chuckled. "As if! The only way for us is upwards. But we're technically on a civil meet, so fortunately for you, we're taking the elevator.""Civil meet…?" Kimi said. "You mean you Couriers only take the stairs or something?""Climb, as in actually climb using a rappel or our hands on the side of a building.” He said before looking over to his friend. "You're not agoraphobic, are you, Kimi?"Kimi rubbed the back of her head, feeling nervous. "Uhh... It's not that I'm afraid of heights, it’s just that I'm not comfortable with ‘em.""Don't worry, it's not as scary as you think." Saiji said reassuringly. "Anyway, think I should let Simo know we're here."Kimi watched as Saiji reached for a radio, turning its dial before pressing one of the buttons. Then something came to mind."Hey, are you sure it’s safe to contact him?" Kimi muttered. "Anyone could be listening, just like in those spy movies.""Nah, we Couriers have specific frequencies to tune in to." The courier explained. "Civilians, Law Enforcement, mercs – all they hear is just white noise behind infinite levels of encryption."He then flipped the switch on the radio. "Simo, how copy?""I sure do, Phoenix. How's your arrival?" came the voice from the radio."'Phoenix'?" Kimi commented."It's a callsign." Saiji replied before speaking to the radio. "Buttered the bread. You're at the meeting point?""Yep, still here. Waiting on you and your chick.""Excuse me?! 'Your chick'?!" Kimi exclaimed, gaining a red blush on her face from embarrassment."Yeah, Simo's got a knack for calling girls 'chicks'. Nothing I can do about it." Saiji said to Kimi sheepishly. "Anyway, mate, see ya in a bit.""Rog. Simo out." Simo said.Saiji switched off the radio while stepping on the gas to pick up speed. Kimi was still flustered about what Simo just said.'Your chick'! We're not even dating!' Kimi thought in embarrassment. She could feel her heart beating like a drum.'Saiji is just my friend. Sure, he's a nice guy, a genius when it comes to tech, a Courier, and a talented diver.... Augh! Why's my heart beating so fast?!'"Hey, Kimi? You're alright?" Saiji asked. "Your heart rate is faster than an F1 car.""EH?! How could you hear my heart?!" she exclaimed."Well, I do have attentive hearing. Even now, I can still hear your heart beating in a flustered manner." the Courier explained.Kimi's face turned a dark shade of red. "C-can you just focus on the road?! Baka!"Saiji couldn't help but heartily chortle at his friend's change of attitude. "Hahaha! Never knew Kimi-chan is a tsundere!"In a fit of embarrassment, Kimi moved her long hair aside so she could pull her hood up, covering her face."Y-You're lucky you're driving the car right now, Mister!" she shouted, her response muffled.Saiji continued laughing for the next few minutes.It was a long drive through the Anchor District, but the duo had reached The Projects in the outskirts of town, where the courier's hideout was located. Saiji wasn't kidding how tall the building was. Over a thousand feet tall to be precise. The building was a Comm, or a C Node - a major super server owned and managed by Silvine Systems, the suppliers of commercial and military communication devices. Silvine also, of course, provided the Couriers their equipment on the black market. The tower was rectangular and has 14 fans to provide fresh cooling. On top of the building is a hockey puck-esque construction that goes down two floors. Saiji drove into the building's garage where he could pack his Cossie in."Here we are, The Grid." Saiji announced. "Clever name." Kimi said, grabbing her backpack from the back of the car seat.After Saiji shut off the engine, the duo got out of the vehicle, making their way to the elevator. Noticing the other people passing by, Kimi had wondered if they're couriers too or just ordenary people. The two walked inside the elevator and Saiji pressed one of the buttons. "Going up" he said jokingly. The elevator doors closed its doors and up it went to its destination."Does Simo know about the Seven Relics?" Kimi asked."Not yet." Saiji replied. "Although, he has been listening to Four Aces through their comms for some time now."Kimi pulled her hood down, brushing her long hair with her hand. "If they do have one of those relics, we need to get it before they sell it to whoever wants to buy it."The elevator made a ding sound, announcing that it reached the chosen floor. It open, letting Kimi and Saiji out and into room which seems to be a lounge, filled with couches, a TV, gaming consoles, a couple of PC gaming computers, and a bar."Wow! This room is amazing!" Kimi exclaimed, amazed at the luxurious room."Glad you like the courier's pad." Saiji said."But there's more!" a voice echoed out.The duo looked toward where the voice belonged to, seeing another courier, Simo, standing at the top of the stairs. He had a short silver hair and light purple eyes. And he was wearing a white jacket, black undershirt, white trousers, a pair of elegant white shoes, and he was wearing a mask that was on the right side of his face, partially shadowing it."Glad to see you two made it here." Simo said. He waved his arm, mentioning them to come up. "Come on up."Kimi and Saiji walked up the stairs as the former couldn't help but look around the room with awe. It was more impressive than the living quarters back in the facility in her own timeline. At the top of the stairs, Kimi's eyes were widened with amazement at the room. It was filled with the most advanced computers she ever seen in her life. There was also other tech, and a rather large radio as well, and a large table in the center of the room."Neat tech." Kimi commented."Impressive, isn't it?" Simo said, taking off his mask. "The name's Simo by the way."He extended his hand to offer Kimi a handshake, which the young woman accepted by grabbing his hand in a firm handshake."Nice to meet you, Simo. I'm Kimi Shizuko." Kimi said.Simo smiled "Please to meet ya. Saiji told me about you, and I must say he sure knows how to pick a cute girl."Kimi blushed at that comment "Eh?!" "Save it for now, Simo. She’s not the only cute one ‘round The Grid. Case in point…” Saiji quickly suggested."Aye, aye, Cap’n." Simo replied. "Right this way."Simo lead the duo other to one of the computers, taking a seat in front of it. "Okay, so about an hour and a half ago, Four Aces had found a star shaped artifact. They said they're going to trade it for some kind of profit." Simo explained. "They mentioned they're giving it to a group called the… Tiger Sharks?""Wait, Tiger Sharks?" Kimi exclaimed.Simo nodded while typing on the keyboard. "You know ‘em?""They're terrorists hell bent on flooding Cascadia. And their leader is Katsumi. She's after the relics for a mermaid named Athena." Kimi explained. "A mermaid? I thought merfolk are peaceful." Simo said."In Kinare, yeah, but Athena? Ehh…not exactly." Saiji sighed. "She and, probably, her tribe wanted to flood the entire world, starting with Cascadia. But she needed the seven relics in order to reach her goal. Which potentially explains why she's buddies with Katsumi and the Tiger Sharks, since they wanted Cascadia to be fully submerged.""Makes a bunch of sense." Simo muttered. "Four Aces must've been hired by the Tiger Sharks. I bet they're all for destroying Cascadia…and Kinare as a side hobby.""And I'm guessing the artifact they've found is one of the seven relics." Kimi said. "Where are they now?""They're in a warehouse, outside the Port." Simo replied. "Hey, Simo." A female Courier from another desk scooted over with her laptop. "I'm picking up communications from Four Aces.""Let’s hear ‘em." Simo motioned. The woman nodded, putting the speaker on so everyone else can hear the mercenaries’ conversation. "Is the relic secure?" One of the mercs asked over the comms."Yeah. It's in the box, locked up tight." The other merc replied."Good. Keep it secure ‘till our Tiger Shark friends get here.""Roger. Any info about the girl... Kimi was it?"Kimi gasped quietly."Only that she's friends with Saiji." The merc replied with disgust. "I'm willing to bet she's in this timeline with him to get the relic we have. If she does, remember, she's worth more alive than dead.""Got it, capture her alive." The other merc said."How do they know about the price on my head?" Kimi asked, curiously."Tiger Sharks must've told ‘em about the bounty." Saiji replied. "They did mention the boss was pissed about you stealing the turtle relic."Kimi looked at Saiji with an raised eye brow. "What boss? Katsumi?"Saiji shook his head. "Nah, she looked so calm and collected when we met her. Could be someone else."Kimi thought back when she was on the Tiger Shark's super yacht, sneaking around for the turtle relic, and then she remembered the woman with long fiery orange hair she saw when she stole the relic.'Maybe it's that woman with orange hair." Kimi thought. 'I saw her leading a group back in the ocean.'"Well, at least its confirmed that Four Aces do indeed has one of the relics." Simo said, interrupting Kimi's thoughts. "You said there are seven of them, right?"Saiji nodded. "A-firm. Each of them has different shape and gem, like this one."Saiji brought the clown fish relic out from his pocket and showed it to Simo. "This is the clown fish relic."Simo stood up from his chair, looking at the relic in Saiji's hand. He whistled with amazement. "Ho, ho…! Never have I ever seen anything like it.""It contains power, and you can feel it when you touch it." Kimi warned. "Saiji and I felt it before."Simo touched the glowing orange gem and recoiled in shock. "Ow! Yeah, I see what you mean. So, what kind of power can you wield?""Hell if I know." Saiji replied. "We've found this relic a few hours ago. But we've learnt that when a merfolk absorbs the relic's power, they get stronger, which is why Athena and the Tiger Sharks is after them.""And if she gets all seven, Cascadia and the rest of the world will be in grave danger." Kimi said."Hmm... Athena sounds more troubling than I thought." Simo muttered.Saiji scoffed. "Troubling is the wrong word. She's like a one-mermaid-army. Even without the relics, she beat me and Kimi at the same time."Simo sighed, rubbing his temples, trying to digest all the information Kimi and Saiji had given him. "Okay... so our best chance against Athena is by getting the relics before the Tiger Sharks do, and figure out their power. How many does she have?""Only one." Kimi answered. "A turtle relic. I had it but she took from me after we lost the fight."Simo ponders at this. "You and Saiji has the relic, Athena has the other, and Four Aces has the third. And four remaining are yet to be found.""So, do you have a plan to steal the relic from Four Aces?" Kimi asked. "Of course, I do." Saiji replied with confidence. "I'll go into their warehouse, snatch the relic and get out. No problem.""But you're gonna need an escape plan, in case things go south." Simo said. "I'll handle that.""I'm going with you, Saiji." Kimi said.Simo looked at Kimi. "Hold it, Kimi. You're not a courier, it could be dangerious. Plus Four Aces are after your bounty.""So? I'm not gonna stay here twiddling my thumbs." the young woman argued. "Someone needs to watch Saiji's back."Saiji sighed. "Kimi... Simo is right. This ain’t your turf, lass. It's safer if you stay here."Kimi shook her head. "Saiji, I'm going with you, whether you and Simo like it or not." She grabbed Saiji's hand. "It's not my first time being in danger, I can take care of myself, and you need someone to watch your back. Let me come with you."The courier looked over at Simo who didn't say anything, before looking back at Kimi. He sighed in resignation. "Fine, you can come. But stay close to me once we're in the warehouse, got it?"Kimi nodded, smiling. "Thanks, Saiji."Simo chuckled. "Cute and brave. You really picked the right chick, Saiji."The two blushed."I'm gonna punch him." Kimi whispered in a threatening tone."Don’t push all the triggers…” Saiji nudged him."Ahem. So, it might be best if you two go in the warehouse covertly." Simo explained. "That way, Four Aces won't see you coming. Nightfall will arrive in a few hours, so until then, you two can rest up and prepare.""But what about the Tiger Sharks? They could be on their way to the warehouse as we speak." Kimi said."We're keeping tabs on Four Aces' comms as we speak." The woman replied. "One of those mercs mentioned they'll arrive in a number of hours, don't worry."Kimi nodded. "Good. Is there anything to eat around here? I haven't eaten since breakfast.""Here, I'll get you something to eat." Saiji offered. "Simo, got a few, mate?"While Kimi had gotten settled in The Grid, and having a snack, Saiji and Simo had a discussion about a plan on infiltrating Four Aces' warehouse. She was a little nervous about this upcoming mission, but she knew that the population of Cascadia was at stake. Her friends had a point that she wasn't a courier, and it was a risky move going in the warehouse to snatch the third relic. But as Kimi mentioned before, it wouldn't be the first time being in dangerous situation.Hours had passed and day had turned to night, the perfect time for a covert mission. The plans had been set in motion. Simo had given Kimi a bag before she and Saiji left The Grid with one of the courier tagging along as the driver, using a SUV to drive over to the dropoff point near the Four Aces' warehouse without drawing attention to themselves. Kimi was sitting at the back seat of the car, unzipping the bag, Simo had given her. It contained gloves, a tac-belt that holds smoke grenades, a wireless earpeice, and a face mask with stylish patterns and small airways that make it easier to breathe through. "Neat gear." she commented as she started putting them on."Packed you some inventory for the gig." Saiji explained. "That mask should conceal your identity when we get inside the warehouse. Hopefully, Four Aces won't recognize you.""We're almost at our destination." the driver said, turning the SUV to the left, driving into the back alley."Showtime." Kimi muttered, putting on the mask. She had tucked her long hair underneath her hoodie and then pulled her hood up. The SUV crawled to a gentle stop, five feet away from a doorway leading inside of the building. The driver shut off the engine."I'll wait here in case you two manage to get the relic without raising the alarm." The driver said. "If not, I'll call Simo for plan B.""Naturally.” Saiji said, as he and Kimi stepped out of the car."So how do I look?" Kimi asked after putting on the tac-belt.Saiji took a good look at his friend and chuckled. "Like a rookie of the year."He adjusted his courier bag, making sure it wasn't loose, and then switched on the ear piece as Kimi had done the same."Radio check." The Courier messaged. Kimi nodded, giving Saiji the thumbs up. "Five by five, Saiji.""We now have a secure channel we can use, should we stray too far.""Best of luck you two." The driver said.Both Kimi and Saiji gave the driver the thumbs up before heading inside the building, cautiously walking through the hallway. Saiji took point while Kimi followed close. Halfway down the hallway there was an elevator, that could lead them to the top floor."Ah, the lift. That can get us up pretty high." He pressed the elevator call button.After a short wait, the duo went inside the lift cabin, with Kimi pressing the corresponding floor button. The elevator went up, heading up to the top floor. This, in turn, will lead them to the rooftop for a better vantage point. The lead Courier noticed his partner couldn’t stop twitching."Are you nervous, Kimi?" he asked."Mm. First day on the job and all..." Kimi nodded.Saiji patted his friend's shoulder. "Relax. Follow my lead, and we’ll be A-OK."Soon as they reached the top floor, the team climbed onto the roof of the building. They had good view of the Port ahead of them, including the designated target."There's the warehouse." Saiji said. "Let's get closer for a better view, and see what we're dealing with."Kimi nodded, following Saiji, jumping rooftops to rooftops. Luckily for her, the gaps between each building weren’t something she couldn’t handle. A couple b-hops later, they were close enough to get a better view of the warehouse, but not too close to be discovered. The front yard was crawling with Four Aces mercs patrolling the area Some others were carrying varying cargo inside."A bit more than accounted for." Saiji said, surveying the area. He brought out the clown fish relic from his pocket. "Then there’s this pulse."Kimi looked at the relic, seeing its gem glowing a bit. "It must be reacting to another relic."Saiji nodded before slowly waving the clown fish relic around to find out where another relic is hidden. He orientated this relic like one would use on a compass, and sure enough, the strongest force field push would lead them the right way."That third relic is definitely inside the warehouse." Saiji said before reaching for his earpiece. "Phoenix here. Got a location for the target. Preparing for infil, over.""10-4, mate." Simo replied over the comms. "Be advised, we've got word the Tiger Sharks will arrive at the warehouse in approximately ten minutes. You and Hummingbird better move fast.""Thanks for the tip. Phoenix out.""'Hummingbird', huh? That codename is pretty tight." Kimi commented."Rookies who’re on their first year of the business are called Woodpeckers or Hummingbirds. As you progress, you get a better rank/callsign." Saiji replied, before pointing at a building that was closest to the warehouse. "See that building there? That’s our entry point."Kimi nodded, following her friend by quietly jumping to another rooftop, and then towards the roof of the warehouse. They got inside through the roof, carefully making their way downstairs. The interior of the building had two floors. The ground floor had four rows of large shelves, steel containers, and a few stacked up crates. The upper floor, on the other hand, resembled a rec room with a poker table, a TV, some scattered crates here and there, a dartboard with some darts sticking out, along with coffee and vending machines. Adjacent to the room was a door, which led to an office. Conveniently for them, the place was empty."I guess this must be a rec room, where the mercs take breaks, huh?" Kimi whispered. "Yeah, and it's a good thing they're all on duty." Saiji replied, bringing out the clown fish relic. "The pulse from this relic is getting stronger. It must be close."Kimi nodded, as she and Saiji quietly moved along the room, making sure to not make any noise as the search continued. It was in a crate – that’s 100% certain, so they needed to find it quick before the Tiger Sharks arrive. Even though the relic seemed to point the right way, there wasn’t much luck, until…"Maybe in the office?" Kimi suggested to Saiji.The lad nodded, pointing the clown fish relic towards the office. It reacted, glowing brighter."Astute observation." Saiji whispered as he quietly opened the door.There was a small box on the small table, and judging by the clown fish relic reacting to the box, the third relic was indeed inside. However, someone was inside the office. A man was sitting on the chair, talking on the phone. He looked at Kimi moving his finger towards his lips, a gesture which she immediately understood. He made his way in."Yeah, yeah. The relic we've found is secure." The man said, speaking to someone on the other end. "We’re now expecting our buy-in. …The House always wins."The moment the man ended the call, Saiji attacked him from behind, locking him into chokehold. Kimi helped her friend by grabbing the man's arms, preventing him from fighting back as the courier choked the man until he was unconscious. After a few moments of struggling, the enemy went limp."He's down." Saiji muttered, pushing him off of his body.Kimi picked up the man's phone, checking the history calls to find out who was the caller the man was talking to. But it was fruitless. "No names, just numbers." Kimi said. "Bet he was talking to one of the Tiger Sharks."Saiji looked out of the window, seeing the mercs doing their task. "No one downstairs saw us. Let's get the third relic and get out."Kimi nodded, dropping the phone, and rushed over to the small box. She noticed there was a padlock on the box. "Shit, locked." she hissed."Hang on, I got the key from the dude's pockets." Saiji said, taking the keys from the unconscious man. He tossed them over to Kimi, and the young woman unlocked the padlock. She opened the box and saw what they were after, the third relic. The golden relic was a shape of a Starfish with a yellow triangle shaped gem in the center. It was glowing, likely due to it reacting to the clown fish relic. Kimi reached to grab the starfish relic, but as she touched it, she felt the incredible power washing through her body like tidal wave."Gah!" Kimi gasped. The power she's feeling was more intense than last two relic she touched. Her eye color changed from gold to bright yellow. She couldn't let go of the relic, even if she wanted to, as if its glued to her hands. Her hands was trembling."Kimi? What’s happening?" Saiji said worriedly."T-The... Power... Can't... hold..." Kimi could only manage to utter a few words as she was trying not to scream. Then her eye color changed back to gold again as the relic's power had subsided. She fell on her hands and knees, dropping the starfish relic as she was gasping, almost as if she's been underwater for too long. Saiji kneeled down next to her, holding her shoulder for comfort. "You good?" Saiji asked."I'm... haaa.... I'm fine..." Kimi breathed. "The power... It felt more... intense than before... when I touched the clownfish relic."Saiji looked at the starfish relic, walking over to it. "Maybe it’s safer if I held it.""Saiji, wait-"Before Kimi could stop him, Saiji picked up the relic, and, just like Kimi, he felt its power. He grunted, shutting his eyes tightly, kneeling down.“Urgh!”Kimi got up and helped Saiji up to his feet. The power coursing through him was gone after a moment. He shook the cobwebs out of his head. She could see his eye color changed from bright yellow eyes back to deep blue color. He sighed with relief."I get it now." Saiji said."Tiger Sharks incoming, guys." Simo called from their comms. "Did you find the relic?"Both Kimi and Saiji reached for their earpeice. "Yeah, we've got it." Saiji replied. "Good, cause Four Aces have visitors. You two might want to be leaving right about... Shit, now!""Gotcha. We're heading out." Saiji turned to Kimi as he slips the starfish relic into his backpack. "We'll worry about the relic's power later, come on."The duo quickly ran out of the office, heading back to the stairs to the roof."OI!" A voice yelled, causing both Kimi and Saiji to look behind them, seeing a Four Aces mercenary walking in the rec room."Oh, shit!" Kimi swore."Run!" Saiji shouted.Kimi and Saiji ran upstairs as gunfire erupted behind them. The courier pushed through the door, letting the young woman through before he slammed the door and locked it. A few seconds later there were loud bangs coming from the otherside."Let’s blow this joint!” Saiji ordered.Just the they ran to another rooftop, the same way they came in, the siren started blaring. Four Aces and The Tiger Sharks were on high alart."The buzz is increasing exponentially!" Simo shouted over the comms. "What the hell did you two do?!""Nothing!" Kimi replied as she and Saiji jumped off the roof of the warehouse to another roof. "One of the bastards just opened fired on us!""Phoenix, I have to leave now. The area is too hot." The courier driver said through the comms."Copy. Simo, go to Plan B!” Saiji radioed."10-4. Lilith is en route with an escape vehicle. Just get yourself and your chick out of there!" Simo replied.Kimi was annoyed by the remark. "Simo, I swear, I'm gonna-""Hummingbird, FOCUS!” Saiji retorted. "Keep rolling!"They continued running through the rooftops, away from the warehouse as far as possible. Bullets suddenly flew passed them after Four Aces mercs had taken positions on the roof several feet behind them."I think we've pissed them off!" Kimi shouted, jumping over a roof. "This ain’t the first time!" Saiji replied, vaulting over a vent. He pointed at the tall building up ahead. "We can lose them through that news building! Toss a smoke grenade ahead of us!""Got it!" Kimi said, reaching for one of the nades from her tac belt. She pulled the pin and threw it far ahead. The smoke grenade landed on the roof of the building, rolling across as smoke began spaying out.The two jumped across another gap with the former nearly tripping. She wasn't good at parkour like her friend was, but she can't afford to fail this task. She and Saiji had just got the starfish relic, now they need to escape from their pursuers gunning for them. They ran through a thick wall of smoke, jumping over a rather large gap, but while Saiji landed safely, Kimi held onto the ledge of the building. The courier looked back and ran to help Kimi up."I got you!" Saiji said, pulling his friend up. Kimi nodded. "Thanks!" The duo resumed their run. Thankfully, the smoke grenade did its job of covering their tracks as Four Aces and Tiger Shark were unable to see them. "Almost there! We can use that zipline to get across!" Saiji said."Okay!" Kimi replied.Saiji was first to grabbed the rope and went across safely. Kimi was hesitent at first, but loud gunfire made her jump in fright, grabbing the rope. She glided across, keeping a mental note to not look down. She let go of the ropes when she reached the building, following Saiji inside the news building. The duo ran through the hallway and into the elevator while Kimi pushed the button for the elevator to go up."Phew! That was close." Kimi breathed."Yeah, but we're not in the clear yet." Saiji said. "Bet those goons are trying to get ahead of us. We need to get to the extraction point, fast.""So which way do we need to go?" Kimi asked."Just keep going foward, and don't slow down." he replied.Kimi nodded just as the elevator stopped at its destination, opening its doors to let the duo out. The hallway looked more stylish than the one they've ran through. It had two flat screen TVs that only shows the news, a row of green chairs, a news poster, and a vending machine."Come on, this way." Saiji said, running over to the back door. Kimi followed her friend outside when they started to hear a sound of a helicopter."That's not a good sound." Saiji said reaching for his earpeice. "Simo, what's going on?""Four Aces had just called in their bird with a sniper." Simo replied through comms. "They're really not happy, and neither are the Tiger Sharks.""A sniper?" Kimi exclaimed. "That's not good.""Relax, just keep moving." Simo reassured. "You two are half-way to the extraction point.""Got it, Simo." Saiji said. "Let's go, Kimi!"He vaulted over the railing, sliding down the glass side of the building, angled like a slope, with Kimi following behind, just as Four Aces' helicopter came into view beside them with its doors open. Inside the helicopter was a sniper, ready to take aim. Kimi cursed under her breath when she saw the man.At the end of the glass side, the two jumped to another building."Keep moving through cover, Kimi!" Saiji ordered. "Smoke your way through if needed!""Got it!" Kimi replied, taking cover in one of the ventilation systems to avoid getting picked off by a sniper in the chopper. She gasped when sharp crack of the sniper rifle echoed as the bullet hit metal, creating small sparks.'Shit! That sniper shot sounds scarier than those video games.' Kimi thought, quickly moving from cover to cover, avoiding the sniper's line of sight. With her being so focused on the sniper in the helicopter, she had lost sight of Saiji.Another round from the sniper rifle was fired. It was a close call as the bullet sailed over Kimi's head. She hid behind a vent to get her bearings, deciding to use another smoke grenade. She rolled the grenade forward as smoke sprayed out of it. Because of the thick wall of smoke, the Four Aces' sniper couldn't land a shot. Kimi moved out of cover and kept moving straight. She headed into the building with a scaffolding, with blue sheets covering it. It should provide some cover from the chopper."Saiji, where are you?! I lost sight of you!" Kimi shouted over the comms."Kinda busy right now! Gimme a sec!" Saiji replied. She could hear gunfire coming from the inside of the building. She assumed that Four Aces were inside of the building in hot pursuit. She could only hope Saiji was alright as she had to focus on avoiding the helicopter. Thus, she kept running through the scaffolding, making a beeline through it. The gal could hear the helicopter moving on her left, but luckily the blue sheets were blocking their view. "Kimi, where are you now?" Saiji asked over the comms."In the scaffolding." Kimi replied. "The helicopter is looking for me.""Listen closely. See the Pirandello Tower, the one with the big letters on the side?" the Courier explained. "Head over to it. I'll meet you there."Kimi climbed up to the upper metal platform and resumed running. "Okay."Hearing the helicopter flying around to the other side, Kimi quickly jumped out of the scaffolding and onto another roof of the building where she saw the big tower further away."Kimi, you gotta reach Pirandello Tower." Simo warned over the comms. "You don't want to know what's behind you.""I'm more worried about the helicopter tailing me." Kimi said.Kimi ran as fast as she could to the big tower, jumping across rooftops along the way, and avoiding gunfire from the sniper in the helicopter by taking cover or using grenades.BANG!Kimi gasped when a bullet grazed her arm, tearing a small fabric of her hooded shirt. She stopped for quick moment to take a look at her right arm. Thankfully it was just a surface wound, but it sure stung a lot. She didn't have the time to dwell on it though.'Damn it! That sniper is becoming a pain the ass!' Kimi thought.She continued moving cover to cover when she noticed the next building had little to no cover. She cursed under her breath, knowing the sniper in the helicopter would easily pick her off. But it started to fly off instead."Huh? What gives?" Kimi muttered when she heard a buzz from her earpeice."Chopper’s mama called." Simo said over the comms. "K-Sec and the cops are on their way, which explains why they're bugging out.""Whew, that was a close one." Kimi responded. "I'm heading inside the tower now."True to her words, Kimi ran and jump through the rooftops, heading her to the big tower. The gap ahead of her was large, but hesitating was out of the question. She sprinted for it and jumped as far as she could to reach the safe platform, and barely grabbed the railing. She climbed up and over, making her way through the door. She suddenly heard Saiji's yelling through the comms."Saiji?!" Kimi shouted out the comms.Kimi could hear only groans from her friend before responding. "Took a bit of a drop there. Thank god for soft spots."Kimi sighed with relief. "Good. I made it inside the tower. Tell me you know how we can escape from Four Aces and the Tiger Sharks.""I know a way, but it's really risky. Meet me at the top floor. Use the elevator if you have to." Saiji responded. "Okay. Hope I see you there." Kimi replied. "Lilith is almost at the pick up point." Simo said through the comms. "Patching her in now.""Lilith here." The fellow courier said. "The Blues are coming, so you guys gotta move fast before it gets way too hot.""10-4, Lilith." Saiji responded. "We're almost there."Kimi ran through the corridor, to find an elevator or stairs leading the upper floors of the building. She heard a lot of footsteps approaching fast, a warning of Four Aces in hot pursuit. Finally, she spotted an elevator and slammed her palm on the button. The young woman looked behind her, seeing a bunch of mercs coming. "Shit, shit!" Kimi swore, pounding the elevator button. "Come on, come on!"The elevator doors were finally opened, and Kimi ducked inside and punched the top floor button. The metal doors closed just as the Four Aces mercs opened fire, leaving dents on the metal doors. Noises faded as the elevator ascended. Kimi slumped down to the floor, catching her breath."That... was... close..." Kimi breathed, reaching for her comm device. "Saiji... I'm in the elevator... on my way up."There was no response from Saiji for a moment, and he spoke. "Uh, Kimi? How close are you right now?"Kimi looked up at the light above the metal doors, seeing that she was close to the top floor. "Nearly at the top floor, why?""I can see a bunch of mercs coming up to the rooftop!" Saiji replied through the comms.Kimi groaned as she stood up, gaining her second wind. "Great.""How much smoke grenades you have left?" Saiji asked.Kimi checked her tac-belt before she replied. "Two left.""We’re gonna need them." Saiji said before speaking to Lilith through comms. "Lilith, keep the engine running. We'll be there soon.""Roger that, Phoenix." Lilith replied. Saiji, I hope you know what you're doing...' Kimi thought. The metal doors opened and Kimi walked out seeing that she was at the roof of the big tower. "Kimi, when I go, run towards me and use what left of your smoke grenades, got it?" Saiji said through comms."Got it." Kimi replied.Just as Kimi grabbed two smoke grenades from her tac-belt, she heared a door slammed shut, then sounds of running. Then she saw Saiji running over to the edge of the building. "Alright... GO!"Kimi ran towards her friend as fast as she could. Tossing smoke grenades to where Saiji was running from. Smoke curtains enveloped the scene, as Kimi saw Saiji was about the jump right off the edge. "You've gotta be kidding me!" Kimi exclaimed as she heard the door being kicked opened behind her."Keep up, Kimi!" Saiji shouted before he made a leap of faith. “Whoooooo!”Kimi looked back, and then took a deep breath and made the jump. "Holy shiiiiit!!!"As the duo were falling, Kimi saw Saiji firing a grappling hook before extending his hand to her. She reached and grabbed the courier's hand, and Saiji pulled her close to him. The young woman held to her friend for dear life."Alley-oop!" Saiji yelled as the grapple hook worked it magic, as the two swing over the smaller buildings. Kimi shut her eyes tightly, not even daring to open them until she knew she's safely on the ground. She was not a huge fan of heights. Saiji on the other hand was laughing in triumph."Wooooohooooo!! Now THAT was a brilliant plan!" Saiji shouted. "I can see the look on those morons’ faces now! Priceless!"At the highest point of the swing, Saiji unhooked the building, retrieved the hook and fire again at the smaller building. It was the perfect getaway from Four Aces and the Tiger Sharks, taking the heat off them.A couple of swings later, Kimi and Saiji reached ground level safely to the alleyway where another courier, Lilith was waiting. Finally on solid ground, Kimi opened her eyes, letting out a sigh of relief as she let go of her friend."That was the craziest experience I ever been through in my entire life. Holy shit." Kimi breathed.Saiji patted her back after he retrieved the grapple hook. "It worked, didn’t it, though? ‘Twas just a regular dance with Lady Death.""Glad you two made it." A voice called out.Kimi and Saiji looked and saw another courier, Lilith, leaning against a cop car, giving the duo a playful salute. She had a cool green hair tied into a pony tail and orange eyes. She was wearing an unzipped dark blue sports jacket with a blue tank top underneath, dog tags hung loosely round her neck, fingerless gloves, black tight jogging pants with green stripes, and dark blue split toe trainers."Perfect timing as always, Lilith." Saiji said. "Oh, this is Kimi.""Nice to meet you, Lilith." Kimi said waving. "You too, Kimi." Lilith replied, before opening the car door. "Come on, let get out of here. Police could be here in any second."Saiji nodded. "Right, let's go."Police sirens could be heard from a distence. They got inside the unmarked cop car before Lilith, turned on the siren and drove off. "Never would've thought I'll be riding on a police car." Kimi said.Saiji chuckled. "Morons would always look at the car, not the driver.""And the police won't notice either." Lilith added, turning round the courner and into the main road. "You can relax now, Kimi. We're in the clear."Kimi sighed. "Good. Cause I could use some patching up." Saiji, who was in the front of the passenger seat, looked behind him as Kimi showed him her wound on her right arm. "Ah, your first marks of battle?""That sniper in the helicopter shot me. The bullet only left a scratch though." Kimi explained.Saiji sighed. "Bastards. Well, they do be like that. Fret not - I'll get you patched up."Kimi smiled. "It's fine, Saiji. At least we've got the starfish relic."Lilith switched on the radio, and flipped the switch. "Simo, our guys have been picked up and are returning home.""Copy that, Lilith. Great work all of you, that was another successful heist." Simo said. "And Saiji, sweet dance with Lady Death there.""More like insane..." Kimi muttered. "Thanks, Simo." Saiji said. "See you soon. Over and out."Lilith switched off the radio, just as a few police cars coming from the oppisite direction, heading towards the district."Glad we got that starfish relic." Kimi said. "That make it us two and Athena and the Tiger Sharks one. There's four left to find."Saiji nodded. "Yep. But after our little marathon, I think we should rest for a while."After a long drive back to The Grid, Lilith turned off the siren as she drove into the garage. She parked the unmarked cop car right beside Saiji's Ford Sierra RS Cosworth. They stepped out of the vehicle, as Simo walked over to them. "Great work out there, guys!" Simo said. "Honestly, I was a little worried when it got hot back there, but you pulled it off in the end.""Heist of the year, baby!" Saiji said proudly. He brought out the starfish relic, showing it to his fellow courier.Simo smiled a toothy grin "Haha! Nice! You would not believe how pissed Four Aces were. That relic wasn't the only thing that was stolen from them.""Wait what?" Kimi exclimed. "Yeah, while you two were running from Four Aces and Tiger Sharks, someone else snuck inside their warehouse and stole some tablet shards, acording to what those merc said." Simo explained."Wonder who stole the shards?" Lilith asked. Simo shrugged. "They didn't mention any name. All they said that a woman with long blue hair stole'em. Last they've seen her was that she swiped the shards and dived into the ocean, and vanished."A blue haired woman?" Kimi muttered. 'That sounds familiar...'"It almost sound like the woman used us to distract those mercs and terrorists so she could get in the warehouse when there's less people inside. Clever." Saiji said.Lilith walked past Simo, making her way to the elevator. "On that note, I'm gonna head up. Can’t miss out on HugePuffer. Catch you guys later.""Sure thing. You earned it." Saiji said. "Thanks again, Lilith." Kimi said. "Cheers!" Lilith replied, stepping inside the elevator.Soon after the metal doors closed, Simo spoke up. "So, I would assume you two don't know where the next relic is, right?""Afraid not." Kimi replied. "The relics we have isn't reacting to other relics on our way here.""Hmm... Alright. I guess we have to wait then. We'll keep listening to Four Aces' radio in case they found another one." Simo said.Saiji nodded. "Good. Oh, and you should let Roush know about the seven relics. With Four Aces buddies with the Tiger Sharks, we’ll need all the help we can get. Kimi and I will head to my house in the forest and call it a day."Simo nodded in understanding. "Sure thing. I'll let you know when something's up. Have a great night you two."Kimi nodded. "You to, Simo. Thanks again- Oh! I guess I should give this stuff back.""Nah, you can keep it. Besides, that mask suits you." Simo replied. "But I'll take the tac belt back."Kimi nodded, giving the tac belt back to the courier. Simo waved farewell as Kimi and Saiji hopped into Ford again. Saiji started the engine and drove out of The Grid, en route to his home. Kimi took off her face mask and pulled down her hood, breathing a sigh of relief that she could breathe a little better. "So, how was your first night as a Courier?" Saiji asked. Kimi sighed. "I'll admit. It was really scary, especially jumping off that tower. That was insane!"Saiji chuckled. "Fear is a natural reaction to that kinda stuff. So I understand why you were scared. All the same, I had a lot of fun. I guess it's because I'm used to swinging, gunfire, near-death falls, the lot. But hey, high risk, high reward.""I guess I can agree with you, since I've been through near-death situation when I free dive." Kimi said.Saiji nodded as he drove into the woods. "Downtown's gonna be under some pretty intense heat, after stealing the starfish relic. Best we lay low and stay out of there. Here in the woods, I have a comfy two-story building we can spend the night in. We'll be well hidden thanks to foreign signal jammers."A short drive through the woods later, the duo made it safely to Saiji's house by the lazy river - the safehouse. Saiji parked his car and shut off the engine. "Is this where you live, Saiji?" Kimi asked."One of my properties. If there is too much heat within the city, this will keep me safe." Saiji replied, unbuckling his seat belt. "Plus, the view’s nice."The two got out of the car, taking their backpacks with them and made their way inside the house. It was a rather luxurious two-story home. It seemed smaller than the mansion in Cascadia, where Kimi lived with her friends, but it looked like a really nice, cozy home."Pretty neat place." she said, before hissing in pain as she clenched her right arm where the wound was."I'll get the mad kit. Go wait in the living room." Saiji said, rushing up stairs.Kimi walked into the living room and took a seat on the couch. Her eyes scanned around the room, seeing lovely view of the forest and the river shining beautifully by the moon light. 'For a safehouse, it has really nice view of the woods.' Kimi thought. She took off her hooded shirt, just as her friend, Saiji walked in with the first aid kit. "Enjoying yourself?" Saiji said, setting down the kit down on the table. Kimi nodded. "Yeah, its really beautiful under the moon light."Saiji smiled, sitting next to Kimi and opened up the med kit before taking a look at the wound on her arm. "Ummm... I need you to take off your under shirt, so I can get a better look at your arm."Kimi blushed. "Uhh... S-sure."She hesitated at first but she did took off her undershirt, hissing in pain when the fabric brushed against her wound. Underneath her shirt was her black sports bra with a turquoise stripe in the center.'Why am I even hesitating? He saw me in less clothing like my swimsuit back at Sapphire Eldoris. I mean he just patching up my-'Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a spray hiss and felt the wound sting."Agh! Shit!" Kimi exclaimed."Told ya it’ll sting. You must have spaced out." Saiji smiled warmly. Kimi bit her lower lip before looking at her friend. "Mm... Carry on."Saiji nodded and continued treating her wound. "Like you've said before, it is a scratch. Good thing that sniper sucked at his job, huh?"Kimi nodded. She could feel her heart racing as she watched Saiji cleaned the blood off with a wet sponge, and then picked up another item from the med kit that she hadn't seen before."What's that?" She asked."This is Flex-Aid, or as we call it in the industry, Health Paint." Saiji answered. "A liquid adhesive bandage in a spray can. Heals quicker than all other stuff on the market."Kimi nodded before smiling. "You know, I'm starting to like this timeline with all the advanced tech and medicine."Saiji covered Kimi's wound with the Health Paint, which had already started its job healing the wound. "There, it should be all better in the morning.""Thanks, Dr. Saiji." Kimi joked.Saiji chuckled as he put the medical items away. "Don't expect any sweets. I'm only on my first term of residence. But, I can offer you a drink. Ah, a non-alcoholic drink of course."Kimi nodded. "Sure, I could use a drink. By the way, mind if I change?""Sure. Bathroom's upstairs to the right." Saiji replied."Thank you." Kimi said, standing up and took her hooded shirt, undershirt and backpack. She made her way to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She let out a sighed of relief, calming down her heart rate.'Gees, what a crazy day. Fighting Athena, diving inside the crystal filled cave, being chased by Four Aces after stealing the starfish relic, and running through rooftops. Hell jumping off the huge tower was the scariest thing I've ever been through!' Kimi thought. She got undressed, taking off her jean, shoes and socks. And then picked up a white and sky blue oversized long-sleeved shirt, and black shorts. Her sleeping attire.'Although it would've been harder and less exciting to find the relics without Saiji. If it weren't for him, Simo and the other couriers, we wouldn't have gotten the starfish relic. I just hope we'll get the rest of the relics, and figure out how to get the turtle relic back from Athena...'After changing, the young woman made her way back to the living room, seeing Saiji at the kitchen, pouring some beverage into a glass. He blushed when he saw Kimi walking over to the kitchen."Sweet clothing." Saiji said, which caused her to blush."Uh, t-thanks." she replied. "So what drinks do you have?"Saiji pours the veverage into another glass. "Well, tonight's special is an Arnold Palmer - an exquisite mix of black iced tea and lemonade." He handed the glass over to Kimi. "I never tried it before, but I'll give it a try." Kimi said, picking the glass. She took a sip of the drink. "Mm! Whoa, that taste good!"Saiji smiled before taking a sip of his own drink. "Glad you like it. This job teaches you something new every day. One time you learn to make some Korean takeout, and the other - some very expensive stuff.""You mean, you mix drinks as a hobby?" Kimi asked. Saiji nodded. "Yeah. There are also other things I do as a hobby. I even cook my own food rather than get take-outs every time.""Yeah, I cook my own meals too. Although I should cut down on the ramen." Kimi said before drinking her beverage. "Maybe you can ask me to cook one for you next time." Saiji suggested. Kimi smiled. "Sure." After finishing her glass, she yawns, covering her mouth. "Mm... Man, I'm beat. All that relic hunting really took a lot out of me.""Yeah, I'm pretty beat too." Saiji said. "Let's get some sleep, and then go for relic number four sometime later."The young woman nodded, looking around. "So, do you have a spare bedroom?"Saiji shook his head. "No, but I do have a bunk bed. Come on this way."The courier led his friend to the bedroom upstairs. The room was rather clean. It had a lamp on the nightstand, drawers, a bunk bed, and blinds that covered the windows. "Nice room." Kimi commented before yawning."Thanks." Saiji said. "I usually keep this room tidy for other couriers that might come here. So which bunk do you want? Top or bottom?""I'll take the top bunk." Kimi said, climbing up the top bunk of the bed."You're just like my sister, Sayaka." Saiji chuckled. "I didn't know you have a sister, Saiji." Kimi said. The young man shrugged. "I never told anyone about her. I'm pretty much a walking enigma."Kimi giggled at that notion before pulling a blanket over her body. Saiji took some clothes out of the drawer and walked over to the door."I'm gonna go changed and sleep in the bottom bunk." Saiji said. "Mm, that's fine." Kimi said. "Hey, Saiji?"Saiji looked behind him "Yeah?""I'm really glad I met someone like you. Otherwise we wouldn't be in this adventure." she admitted.Saiji smiled. "I'm glad I've met you too. Have a good night, Kimi. Sleep well."Kimi rested her head on the pillow. "Good night."As Saiji walked out to change into his sleeping attire in the bathroom while Kimi drifted off to sleep. Meanwhile, Athena was standing on rooftop, glaring at the city. Her long snow white hair blowing in the wind. Grass green color waved through her hair as the green gem on her necklace glowed with power. She sighed when she heard footsteps approaching."Admiring the view?" A voice spoke."Something like that. Seems your friends failed to retrieve my relic from the thieves, Katsumi." Athena said.Katsumi only laughed as she walked over to her partner. "Fufufufu... It's only a minor setback, nothing to be concern about."Athena turned round to face Katsumi. "Kimi and her friend has one of my relics, and I bet the thives that took the other are probably with them, and you're telling me not to be concerned?""Calm yourself, Athena. It's all part of the plan." Katsumi reassured. "You'll have the relics soon enough."Athena sighed, folding her arms. "And what if Kimi and Saiji disrupt your plan?""Oh, I'll doubt the cutie, her boyfriend or any of her allies, would be able to disrupt my plan." Katsumi said. "Especially with my latest project being operational.""What project?" Athena asked.Katsumi turned round towards the ocean as Athena followed her direction, seeing a very large silhouette stationed in the sea in the night sky. "What's that thing?" Athena exclaimed."Something I've been working on for years in this timeline, with a lot of helping hands of course." Katsumi explained.One of the members of the Tiger Sharks walked over to Katsumi and Athena. "Sorry to disturb you ma'am, but we have an uninvited guest.""Uninvited guest?" Katsumi asked before smiling sweetly. "I see. Well, let's go see what they want." She began following the grunt before looking back. "Coming, Athena?""Fine. I'm getting tired of looking at the screens on the buildings anyway." Athena said with disgust. The mermaid followed Katsumi and the grunt downstairs to meet with the uninvited guest.
Six Aquatic Tales: Kimi's Story Part 3,Both Kimi and Saiji were at the café, taking a break after their tussle with Athena. They both ordered smoothies and took a seat outside, where they can enjoy a nice view of the ocean."Okay, briefing time..." Saiji said before he took a sip of his beverage. "We already know that Athena becomes stronger with each relic she has, and if she gets all seven, we're all screwed."Kimi nodded. "Which is why we need to get them first, before Athena or the Tiger Sharks do. But the problem is that Athena is tough to beat, even without the relics.""It's a good thing I've already worked out Athena's fighting tactics." The courier said."How?" Kimi asked. Saiji pulled down his sleeve and pointed to his wrist-mounted microcomputer."That's how. All of my combat experience are logged - usually showing me my mistakes or what I could do better." Saiji explained. "Seems Athena is a heavy hitter, and can handle on her own against two people, maybe more. But with proper gear, and some weapons, we may be able to take her on."Kimi looked at Saiji's device with amazement, but something had occurred to her."Why didn't you mention it before?" she asked."You didn't asked." Saiji replied sheepishly.Kimi raised an eye brow, but couldn't help but smirk at her friend. "Right... Even with your device, its best if we avoid Athena for now. With the turtle relic in her hands, she could easily wipe us out."Saiji nodded. "Yeah, she'll wreck us if we're not careful. And knowing that she and the Tiger Sharks are after the relics, we'll likely run into that mermaid again.""Then we just have to use our brains instead of our brawn to beat Athena." Kimi said with confidence. Saiji chuckled. "Yeah! With our genius minds we can take on anything."After finishing their smoothies, and paid for it, appropriately, Kimi and Saiji left the café, heading to the pier where the courier's jetski was docked. Even though they didn't have the turtle relic anymore, they knew that another relic was inside the cliffside, so they need to get to its gaping maw and dive inside."Hey, Saiji? Did you pack some rebreathers with you?" Kimi asked."Yeah." he replied. "I always had them stocked in the trunk of my jetski. Never thought you would need it since you freedive a lot.""I always carry a rebreather with me in case of an emergency. And we may need it since we're diving in a cave. I'm not like Hamako who freedives in caves for a living.""You're right" Saiji said. "We don't know what's inside the cave, it's best to be safe than sorry."As Saiji walked over to his jetski to pick up two rebreathers, Kimi began to strip down to her one piece swimsuit, taking off her short sleeve jacket, shorts, socks and shoes. She streached her arms above her head when she noticed her friend was staring at her."What is it?" Kimi asked.Saiji blushed before looking away. "Uhh, n-nothing. Anyway, here." He tossed the weight belt to Kimi. "The rebreather and a flash light is attached to the weight belt.""Thanks, Saiji." Kimi said. She put on her weight belt when she noticed Saiji taking off his hooded sweatshirt, seeing that he was shirtless underneath. She blushed when she looked at her friend's tone athletic chest, and then she saw the scar near where his heart would be.'That scar... Only a bullet would do that kind of damage.' Kimi thought. 'Has he been shot before...?'Saiji took off his shoes and socks, leaving him just his red swim trunks with black stripes. He noticed Kimi was staring."What?" he asked, rising an eye brow. Kimi shook her head, looking away. "N-Nothing, nothing." She replied before fake coughing. "I'll put my clothes in the trunk." Kimi put her neatly pile of her clothes in the trunk of Saiji's jetski, making room so that her friend can put his clothes away too. Soon after they were ready to go, they both climbed a board the jetski and Saiji rev up the engine. They made their way to the cave entrance, which looked rather intimidating the closer they were to the gaping maw. Saiji slowed down the jetski to a gentle stop toward the cave when Kimi had noticed how calm the water around the cave looked, only minor ripples."The water looks rather calm here." Kimi said. "As if it isn't affacted by the wind.""Probably the cave's blocking the wind." Saiji replied, shutting off the engine.Kimi looked at Saiji and shrugged. "Maybe. I'll go check what's down here."Before Saiji could say anything, Kimi dived into the water and swam downward into the tunnel. Upon reaching down to the bottom, Kimi saw a long path of seagrass ahead of her and some tiny sparkles around the cave tunnel. The tunnel itself was too dark for Kimi to see up ahead so she swam back up to the surface to inform Saiji.Kimi gasp when she resurfaced. "So what's down there?" Saiji asked. He was already in the water after tying a rope around one of the stalagmites to his jetski so that his vehicle won't float away."Seagrass, some roots, and the tunnel seems to lead straight forward." Kimi replied. "The tunnel's wide enough for the both of us to swim through without bumping each other. Also it's really dark down there.""Well, its a good thing we brought our flash lights. Alright, we go in on a count of three."Kimi nodded as she and Saiji started inhaling and exhaling a number of times to increase their lung capacity."One... Two... Three."They both took a long deep breath and dived into the cave, swimming down the tunnel. Once they reached the bottom, the duo turned on their flashlight to illuminate the dark tunnel ahead of them.The diving duo looked at each other and nodded, beginning their journey through the cave tunnel.'Hamako would be thrilled to dive in a cave like this.' Kimi thought. 'Maybe I'll show her this place later.'The seagrass looked strangely beautiful upon being illuminated by Kimi and Saiji's flashlights. Kimi knew the stories of the urban legand of a mystical whale and how nature grown over its body after reaching its enternal resting spot. She had wondered if the seagrass wasn't the only plant life that grew inside the mystic cave. Kimi and Saiji swam through the tunnel for what felt like several minutes when they reached an open area of the flooded cave. To their amazement, it was lined with sparkling crystals streatching out of the cave's walls.Kimi covered her mouth to stop herself from letting out a burst of bubbles upon seeing the beautiful sight. Saiji pat her shoulder, showing concern, but Kimi gave him the thumbs up and smiled with reassuring. Her diving partner nodded and the two resume their task of finding the second relic that was hidden inside the mystic cave. 'This cave is so beautiful.' she thought. 'Never seen so many crystals like this.'As mesmerizing as the crystals looked, Kimi knew she couldn't lose sight of her goal. The diving duo swam through the open area of the crystal filled cave, when Kimi started to feel the strain in her lungs. She wasn't in any danger of drowning, since she had her rebreather with her, but she hoped she won't have to use it soon. From the other side of the open cave ahead of them was another tunnel. Kimi would had figued the second relic would be deeper in the underwater cave, so she and Saiji swam into the tunnel when they noticed the tunnel was branched off in so many ways, like a root system of a tree. 'Oh crap...' Kimi thought. A round of bubbles escape through her nose as a reminder that she needed air soon.Kimi noticed Saiji had swam ahead, going to the right tunnel and followed him. It lead stright up and thankfully there was a air pocket. They burst out of the surface, catching their breath. It may be a dead end, but at least they had fresh air."Whoa...!" Kimi breathed. "This cave is amazing... I never seen so many crystals before...""Yeah, shame I didn't bring my camera." Saiji replied. "And I would assume that the relic is deeper inside the cave."Kimi nodded. "Yeah, but the tunnel is like a maze. It'll be hard to find which one will lead us to the relic.""Well, there must be some clue that could lead us to the right tunnel. We just have to find it."After a brief moment of catching their breath, Both Kimi and Saiji took a long deep breath and dived back underwater, beginning their search for clues that could help them find which tunnel would lead them to the relic. Kimi had kept a mental note to swim back to the crystal cave whenever she and Saiji got lost, and with the dead end tunnel with an air pocket she would assume some of the roots would have air pockets as well.Several of tunnels were scouted and they all lead to dead end, although some had air pockets. Kimi and Saiji couldn't find a single clue of which tunnels was the right path deeper in the cave. 'Come on, there's gotta be a clue that could leads us to the right tunnel.' Kimi thought, getting frustrated. She and Saiji went back to the first air pocket for air before diving back down to resume their search when suddenly, Kimi felt something strange, like a breeze touching her right arm. "Mmph?" Kimi turned and looked at another tunnel, which had a splitting path. But as she swam down the tunnel, she could feel this 'breeze' coming from the left side of the split path. 'Wait... could this current be a clue?' Kimi thought. She felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look toward Saiji with a concern look on his face. Kimi pointed at the left tunnel of the split path, thinking it's the correct tunnel due to the current. She knew Saiji could feel the current too when he nodded, so she swam ahead toward the left path of the tunnel.As Kimi and Saiji swam, they felt the current getting stronger the closer they moved toward to the left of the split path, and then they were suddenly pulled into the current."Mmmph?!" Kimi moaned as she tried to fight the current, but it was too strong. She and Saiji was dragged deeper as they avoid bumping into any sides of the tunnel."Glub! Mmgbl... glugbl..."With the current pulling her through the tunnel at high speeds, Kimi was having trouble concentrating on holding her breath. A round of bubbles escaping her nose had caused the young woman to cover her nose to prevent more air from leaving her lungs. She looked around for her diving partner, when she noticed Saiji was no where in sight. Kimi hit her back against the wall when the current dragged her around the corner. The impact had forced a ton of bubbles out of her mouth and floating away by the current before she too was dragged along. A hand reached out and grabbed the young woman's hand."Mmph?"Kimi looked up and saw who grabbed her. Her diving partner, Saiji, was pulling her away from the current. She held onto her friend's hand for dear life as more bubbles erupted from her mouth. She could feel her lungs burning badly and she needed to use the rebreather now. Saiji noticed his friend was running out of air, so he pulled her into the small cave, grunting as he let out a round of bubbles. Kimi managed grabbed the edge with her free hand and, with Saiji's help, pulled herself into the small cave.She nodded to Saiji as thanks before reaching for her belt, grabbing her rebreather and put its regulator in her mouth. She inhaled oxygen from the small tank, putting her lungs at ease. Her friend, Saiji did the same, knowing that the small cave had no air pockets for them to use. However it did provide protection from the current, but Kimi and Saiji knew they can't stay here for long.Kimi looked at her wrist tablet, swiping the touch screen with her finger, and tapped the corner of the screen. The tablet displayed how much air her breather has, which was hundred percent. She looked up at Saiji who was looking at his wrist-mounted microcomputer, turning the dial. He held up a hand signal in which Kimi held up her hand signal that she was okay. The young woman looked back at the current, figuring it would take her and Saiji closer to the relic. 'There's no other way, and we can't go back.' Kimi thought. 'We just have to go foward.'Kimi looked over at Saiji and pointed at the current. He nodded in responce, knowing there was no other option but to follow the current. She grabbed Saiji's hand and carefully swam out of the small cave. They were inside the current, only this time they were prepared as they held each other's hand so they won't get sperated again. A flurry of bubbles flew from their rebreathers as they exhale. It felt like a roller coaster ride, only its underwater as the diving duo was guided through the tunnel at high speed. Luckily there were no corners, but Kimi and Saiji tried their best not to bump into each sides of the tunnel. As the diving duo had gone up the tunnel, the current finally started to weaken and more manageable. 'We must've reach the end of the current.' Kimi thought.But just as they swam out of the current, they saw an amazing sight. More crystals streatching out of the cave's walls, but unlike the sparkling structures they've seen earlier, these crystals were glowing beautifully. Not only there were crystals, but there also glowing sea plants and cyan colored jellyfish floating near the cave ceiling. The area was a most beautiful sight to behold.'Oh my god...' Kimi thought with a awestruck look on her face. 'This place is amazing. It's like an enchanted dream.'With crystals, sea plants and jellyfish providing luminously around this section of the cave, the diving duo didn't need their flash lights, so they put them away after switching it off.They knew how dangerous the jellyfish were, so as they swam around the cave, they avoided going near them. Kimi had wondered if they were getting closer to the second relic.'If only I still had the turtle relic, we would've find the second relic sooner.' she thought.Kimi and Saiji swam underneath the large crystal structure, trails of bubbles blew out of their rebreathers. Jellyfish moved slightly upon being disturbed by the bubbles. Kimi watched Saiji reached out to touch the sparking crystal. She too touched it and was surprised how smooth it was. A blue fish with a luminous glow swam past Kimi's line of sight, catching the young woman's attention. 'That's the same little blue fish I saw a few days back.' Kimi thought. She noticed the glowing fish swimming deeper in the luminous cave. Something was telling her to follow it so she tapped Saiji's shoulder and point at the fish, gesturing to follow the glowing fish. He nodded and the diving duo followed the glowing blue fish.Though there were a few jellyfish floating around, some were in the duo's path, but they carefully avoided getting stung by them as they followed the glowing fish. Kimi looked at her wrist tablet to see how much air was left in her rebreather. 'Six five percent.' She thought. 'Nearly half empty.'For a short while they had followed the glowing fish, until they saw a orange sparkle around the smaller structure of sparkling crystals. As they swam closer toward the structure, they saw what's at the center of it.'The second relic!" Kimi thought with excitment. She looked over at Saiji who gave her the thumbs up, seeing how happy he was that they have found another relic. She looked back at the golden relic, noticing it had a shape similar of a clown fish with it's stripe patterns, and at the center was an oval shaped, sparking gem.Just as Kimi grabbed the clown fish relic, she suddenly felt incredible power, just like when she grabbed the turtle relic."Mmmmph!" Kimi groaned as she blew a cloud of bubbles from her rebreather. Her eyes changed from gold to orange for a brief moment before changing back to gold again. She shook the cobwebs out of her head before examined the relic. Saiji pat her shoulder, looking concered, but Kimi held up a hand sign that's she's okay. She handed the clown fish relic over to Saiji, and just like her, he felt power from the golden relic. His deep blue eyes changes to orange for a brief moment before changing back.Saiji looked over at Kimi and nodded. With the clown fish relic now in the hands of the diving duo, they now need to get out of the mystic cave. Kimi looked behind her and realised that she and Saiji couldn't go back the way they came, due to the current that had brought them to the luminous cave. Kimi began to wonder if there was another way out of the mystic cave when Saiji tapped her shoulder."Mmph?" Kimi looked at Saiji who pointed at the glowing blue fish. It was swimming further through the luminous cave. They followed the fish to see where it was going, hoping it would find a way out of the mystic cave. *Beep* *Beep*Upon hearing a beep from her wrist tablet, Kimi knew her rebreather was running low. She looked over to Saiji, signalling him about her rebreather. He nodded as he pointed at his wrist-mounted microcomputer, informing his diving partner that his own rebreather was running low too. They knew they were running out of time, and the little blue glowing fish could know a way out of the mystic cave. They saw the glowing fish swam into a small tunnel. It was narrow, but Kimi and Saiji would be able to squeeze through. Kimi was nervious, but she knew it could be a way out. She looked at her diving partner, suggesting that she will go first. He nodded in responce and Kimi crawled inside the narrow tunnel after switching her flashlight on. Her chest and flat stomach softly pressed against the rocky ground.'Mmm... It's a tight squeeze.' Kimi thought. 'Glad I'm not claustrophobic.'She had hope Saiji was doing fine crawling through the narrow tunnel behind her. But what was strange about the glowing blue fish was that it wasn't even swimming away out of fear when Kimi was near it. She decided not to dwell on it and focus on getting out of the mystic cave.Kimi wanted to look back to see how Saiji was doing, but due to the tight space she couldn't look back. She could only hope he's doing okay. Crawling through the tight underwater tunnel felt like hours to Kimi and with her rebreather running out, she began to wonder if she and Saiji would reach the surface in time. *Beep* *Beep*'Shit. Second warning.' Kimi thought fearfully. 'Third beep will mean it's empty.'Just as Kimi crawled upward, she saw light up ahead.'Yes! The sea!' she thought. 'I knew that fish has way in and out of the cave.'Kimi carefully quicken her pace, crawling up toward the blue light. The sea was indeed in sight, only the shadows of wavy sea grass was blocking the light. Just a few meters, Kimi thought to keep herself motivated. After a long crawl through the narrow tunnel, Kimi had finally made it out. Though she didn't dwell on seeing the beautiful sea as she was worried about Saiji. She looked behind her and was relived that he was following close behind, though keeping his head down for some reason. She reached down to grab her friend's hand, which caused him to look up and happily accepted Kimi's helping hand. Finally out in the open sea, Saiji held up prized golden relic. Kimi gave her friend the thumbs up when something had occurred to her. She looked around to see that the glowing blue fish was gone.'Where did that little blue fish go?' She thought she shrugged. 'Must've swam off somewhere...'*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep*"Mmph?!" Kimi moaned looking at her wrist tablet, seeing that her rebreather was now empty.She took it out of her mouth and shook it before looking at Saiji seeing that his own rebreather had ran out too. She jerks her thumb up, signalling to go up, which her diving partner nodded. They both started swimming upward to the surface. The surface was far, but they had a lung full of air, and there weren't any threatening marine life around so the diving duo weren't in much danger. They were getting closer and closer to the surface as they left a small amount of bubbles in their wake.Kimi was the first to brake the surface, gasping fresh air before Saiji broke the surface, gasping as well."Pwah... Haa... Phew..." Kimi gasped. "That... was... intense...""No kidding..." Saiji breathed. "Glad we've... got the... second relic... for our trouble..."Kimi moved a little closer to Saiji to get a better look at their prized relic, seeing the orange glow within its gem. "Okay, that's one... five left to find..." Kimi said with each breath. "Even though... Athena has the other one... but if we... get the other five relics, before the... Tiger Sharks do... we'll be at the upper hand.""And with this clown fish relic, it'll be much easier to find the other relics." Saiji said. "But for now, let's head back to the facility, so we can plan our next move."Kimi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, good idea. I could use a break from our dive. Let's make our way back to your jet ski.""It'll be a long swim back though. But nothing we can't handle ." Saiji said before he started swimming. Kimi followed her friend. It'll be a long swim, but she was glad the hard part of it was over.Kimi and Saiji had eventually swam back to the cave entrance to retrive the jetski. Saiji untied the rope around the stalagmite before he and Kimi climbed on board the vehicle. Kimi held onto Saiji's waist as he rev up the engine, causing it to roar to live. They were now leaving Sapphire Eldoris, making they're way back to the facility. Unbeknownst to them, however, they were being watched. A woman named Bridget looked at the duo through her binoculars, spotting an orange sparkle in Saiji's pocket. She lowered her binoculars, smirking as she reached for her phone. With a simple brush with her thumb and a tap on the screen, she called someone before moving her phone up to her ear. "...They've found it." Bridget said. "...Yes, the second relic."Bridget listened to whoever was at the other end of the line before speaking."Understood. I'm heading there now."Bridget put her phone in her pocket after ending the call, walking away from the pier.
New Year's with Mr. Winters - Chapter TwoCHAPTER TWOEmbarrassed. She was embarrassed. Sappho wanted to hide under a rock. She wanted to go into the closet and never come out. Lock the closet door, throw away the key and be lost forever, rinse and repeat. Maybe she needed to stop smoking ganja too? Gotta stay away from that Death Star Kush… the merlot with dinner probably didn’t help either, she was hiding underneath the comforter yet kept her eyes shut.Last night…Sappho drifted back to last night, back to the way Matt’s fingertips glided her cheek before diving into her cacao hair, pulling her close. Everything was going so well. She was having proper sex like a proper woman- then she ruined everything when she did that with him.Matt probably thinks his dad was right after all- I really am a no good liberal witch whore! She buried her face into her pillow and groaned. She felt like Matt would never respect her again. He may still love her, sure- the memory of him holding her during Beau’s birth lulled her back into an adoring haze…But who cares about love!? she thought, throwing the comforter off and hopping out of bed. When the floor creaked under her bare feet, her eyes went wide with panic as she looked back at her naked accomplice, the comforter brushing his hairy thigh.Still snoring and drooling- cool, she sighed, turned her bare back to him and tiptoed away to the closet. It was already open- she nimbled into it naturally like a nymph and waved behind her, commanding the closet door to softly close. She bent down next to the wooden birch chest nearby that had her socks and underwear. She completely ignored the beautiful temperate rainforest that surrounded her and her closet space.I need respect, not just love, she stubbornly reaffirmed to herself, picking up different socks to find two that matched. She had to wave her hand again to clear away forest mist that had seeped into the chest and blocked her view.After last night, though? How could Matt ever see her as a respectful man-eating witch again after she did that? She finally found a matching pair but suddenly lost her balance, her bare bottom landing on the cool moss covered ground. She shivered.Nope, all’s lost! He’ll ask for divorce after this, she irrationally concluded, putting on a pair of fuzzy grey shaded wool socks. And then I'll only see the boys on weekends, she wrung her hands through her hair in anxiety. She knew deep down that Matt would gladly eat horse manure before leaving her- but her conscience overwhelmed the subconscious. What did I do?! Having only weekends with the boys would be hard! How would I have time to help Jeremy with his homework when he starts school? He’ll never become President without me, and some rich dumbass will be President instead. Screw that! Sappho felt miserable. She reached forward back into her chest, grabbed some cloth, then rocked back to sitting on her backside clutching the fabric to her chest. Her imagination ran wild like a firecracker. Her thoughts finally jumped to the main source of her sorrow- a handsome hairy beefcake still snoring in bed.Dumbass, she blushingly huffed as she unclutched the boxers from her chest then pulled them over her legs and up her waist. A group of cute birds and furry critters appeared out of nowhere then carrying a shirt, pants, jacket, tie, and shoes. The adorable creatures carefully placed her clothes next to her before their smiling faces settled on hers in joy.“Whaddya guys want, a tip? Get out of here! Don’t you know a dirty ho when you see one?!” Sappho waved her arms frantically and the cute critters scurried away, then she pathetically cried. She howled and sniffed as she dressed, feeling restricted by clothes she usually found comfortable. A tree branch reached out to offer her support as she walked back to the closet door with shoes in hand- she batted it away. It gave a hurt whimper of a sound as it retreated.She wiped her eyes before reaching for the door handle, gripping it, then turning it. Carefully, she opened the door and peered through- hubs was still asleep. All systems go…Feeling safe, Sappho opened the door wider and tiptoed past their bed. As she approached the bedroom door, she waved with her shoeless hand and the door unlocked and opened by itself. She wondered if the soft clicking would wake Matt. Her eyes darted back to him- he was still blissfully knocked out. She gave a sigh of relief as she turned back to walk out of their bedroom- but the floor loudly creaked under her suddenly right as she was exiting. Matt groaned. He reached for her side of the bed. She dashed off to the kitchen.“Everything will be okay! You’ll just make breakfast and… and… and then never show your face in public again,” Sappho quietly sobbed as she waved her free hand- green vines appeared around the dining table and kitchen counters. They started magically cleaning everything from last night’s dinner, grabbing this and that. Dirty dishes, utensils, pots and pans were carried away to the kitchen sink.Not that I ever go out in public much anyway- being agoraphobic and all- but that’s not the point, her tears streamed down her burning cheeks as she walked to the front door of the house. She placed her shoes down, stood back up, and walked back to the kitchen island with her hand held out. A green vine suddenly appeared- it gave her a brilliant emerald green tea canister with a muted green leaf design.“Kukicha? You might as well have given me decaf!” Sappho tossed it back to the vine. The vine quickly returned with a bright red tea canister with a black grizzly bear motif. She grabbed it, unscrewed the top, held it up to her nose and breathed in strong sweet malty goodness.“Oohh Assam CTC, now that’s more like it! Arigatou gozaimasu,” she thanked the vine- it nodded in gratitude before retreating out of sight. She stepped up to the counter next to the sink where her teaware was stored and pulled out a small clay teapot. She preferred making her tea herself, but allowed the house vines to brew it this time and allowed them to put on the kettle. She looked out the window, and sighed.She needed to get out of there, away from everyone, to clear her head. She needed distraction- she needed to be productive in a creative sort of way. Painting, drawing, writing… anything. A vine handed her a clay teacup full of hot black tea, with cream and honey just the way she liked it- she took it and quickly slurped it down. She was awake now.The office. I could go there, think… Sappho thought of her office downtown. She could be completely alone there and be alone with her thoughts, giving her the chance she needed to come down from the highlight of last night. This sort of loneliness she needed was also very good for writing.Maybe I could try writing a story or a poem? That’ll get my mind off-Sappho’s mind drifted creatively as she opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs. A large black greased cast iron skillet scooted over from the counter corner towards her on a mat- she grabbed the heavy thing, placed it on the already preheated stove with difficulty, then started cracking open eggs over it. She always made sure the boys had eggs every day.Eggs are good for brain health. If I make sure they have eggs then they will do better in school. Good school grades will lead to college, then law school for Jeremy before being a U.S. senator, then the Presidency! Sappho thought as the eggs in the pan turned opaque. The Gaian Witch Guild was adamant that it was Jeremy’s fate to become one of the greatest American Presidents in history- that he was The One who would ultimately destroy Fox News and tax the hell out of the rich (while giving witches immunity from being burned for any reason for all time). The Guild had a slightly different prophecy for her little Richard, Jeremy’s twin brother- it was his destiny to open the greatest hot dog shop in the state of Tennessee.“I’m the mommy of a future President and of a hot dog shop owner who’ll give me a lifetime supply of free hot dogs! What more could a mother ask for?” she asked a nearby vine that nodded in agreement. She grabbed toast that had popped up from the toaster and switched it for fresh bread.She tried to push eggs at her husband, but Matt felt his brain was fine- he did not see the need to force unwanted eggs down his throat, plain eggs being one of his least favorite foods. "No, if Matt wants to ram anything down his throat it would be beer, or whiskey," she knew. After losing all his job and his money, he’d gone on an extended drinking binge, rarely leaving the bedroom or the house. The house vines had their work cut out for them, picking up after him as he was so unmotivated and depressed that even making it to a trash can seemed too much, leaving a trail of tissues, wrappers, and beer bottles wherever he moped.For Mr. Winters, their bedroom had become a safe space. He often went there to retreat from the cruelty of what was now his new normal- his excommunication from upperclassdom into the poorhouse. Sappho told him “Money’s not everything,” after finding him in the bedroom closet one day. That day, Matt was sitting on the closet floor with the door shut, fists clenched over his knees, trying his best to keep his eyes shut.“Well, a good breakfast is not the same as having millions of dollars, stocks on Wall Street, or being CEO of a big company, buuut hopefully this will keep him in good health,” she winked at the vines, who nodded in agreement. With their help, Sappho finished preparing scrambled eggs, buttered toast, thick slabs of bacon, and crispy hash browns. They then set them out on plates before moving them to the round dining table.She looked at the spread on the table and placed her hands on her hip.Matt and the boys have everything they need- mission accomplished, she thought and nodded.“Now to tend to my needs…” she said this quietly as she walked around the living room sofa. She reached for the basket on the coffee table in front of the living room couch, grabbed a notepad from it, brought a pen out from her pant pocket, sat down, and started writing.This iris flower… like a rose… ahh! I should write it down before I forget… it could be a good poem… Her thoughts droned on as she tried to write what she thought, then tried to change what she wrote to transform it into poetic form. Suddenly a lop eared chocolate brown rabbit hopped over to her. It hopped up onto the couch next to her and nudged her thigh with its nose.“Just a sec, George… mommy’s trying to write something magical here,” she told him without looking at him, though she did reach out with one hand to nuzzle his forehead. His eyes closed in pleasure when she scratched behind his floppy ears- god, he loved it when she did that.I gotta write it down before I forget, I know there’s something here… her writing hand shook as she wrote. The hand that was nuzzling George lost focus, but he didn’t mind. He knew she tended to zone out into her creative work.She didn’t like her first attempts.Nah, I can make it better…She erased what she wrote and rewrote. Then she erased that and rewrote again, and again. She rewrote the poem until it changed into something honest and beautiful.Good, good, good…. that's it. Five, seven, five, boom, boom, boom. “I did it, George!” Sappho suddenly shot up off the couch, startling poor George who rolled over on the couch. He righted himself, thumped his back foot, and gave his mistress an annoyed glare.Sappho recounted several times to make sure she got the right number of syllables- she did.Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... a haiku, she zoomed as she felt like she finally crossed some kind of imaginary finish line. She read what she wrote, reread it, and thought about what else she could do to make it better.No, it’s good; no more. Leave it alone.She then thought of her office.“I wonder if they would publish this. What do you think, George?” she asked the glaring rabbit, who quickly forgave her to nod in agreement. She made a copy of her haiku, then shoved the notepad with the copy into her pant pocket and placed the original on the dinner table next to the buttered toast and bacon.I wonder if he'll like it, Sappho thought.She was hoping Matt would see it, read it, and tell her what he thought.He doesn’t always understand me or my writing- but he’ll try, and that’s more than most guys, she thought. Sappho felt tremendous love for her husband and for her sons. She felt like a good mother, wife, and woman overall.“A good mother who acted anything but motherly last night…” she finally admitted to the witch bunny, who responded with a half-lidded bored expression. He was used to this aspect of her, when her face became rosy as hell despite all denials.“George, you don’t understand! I acted like a slut. Matt’s never going to look at me the same way, and if his mother found out,” she stuffed both fists into her burning cheeks as she thought of that old wasp with her judgmental eyeglasses staring down at her. George rolled his eyes.“Ohwhaddya know, you’re a rabbit!” she huffed at him. She ran her hands over her head as she walked to the front door, leaving a perfectly combed business haircut where her sexhair had been. She grabbed her briefcase from the doorway entrance closet, threw on her black cashmere winter jacket, then placed one foot after another into her polished shoes. She was ready to runaway to her office far away in downtown Athens.And I’ve made it out without anyone noticing me!She couldn’t escape in time to avoid being seen by her second youngest son, though."Mommy!" Richard hailed as he popped out of nowhere, and Sappho’s eyes went wide as she jumped in panic. The boy smiled adoringly up at his sweltering mother and reached up with his tiny hands expecting a hug."Richard!" she chirped at him. She quickly hugged him, a little too tightly as he struggled to breath."Daddy’s sleeping and… There’s food on the table! I love you! See you later! Bye!” she kissed him on the cheek, pulled the front door wide open, and was halfway out the door when Richard finally understood what was happening and waved joyfully at her.“Bye Moose Bucket!" she called him by her silly nickname for him, the door closing behind her as she left.Richard stood there for a minute in stunned bewilderment, then just shrugged it off and ran down the hallway to see if his brother was awake.Meanwhile, Sappho’s thoughts were in turmoil as she walked to the parked Cadillac in the driveway.Poor kid! He doesn’t know how dirty his mommy is…She was in sorrow over her perceived failure at motherhood.Why do I feel like this? she wondered as she opened the door on the driver’s side and threw her briefcase into the passenger seat. Sappho kept going over her troubled thoughts as she started the car, shifted gear, pulled out the driveway, then headed down the road.There was no traffic on the roads to worry about today.It’s the holidays. Everyone’s sleeping in, she thought, grateful for the empty streets. She could run away with ease.
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What if Ash's journey ended sooner?In a conversation about the rivals in the Pokemon anime, I started to wonder, what if Ash's journey ended earlier? So, I have decided to look at each season, think out which points would make the best conclusion, and what a good conclusion would have looked like.Generation 1:This is an obvious one. Originally, Ash was supposed to battle Gary in the final round of the Indigo League like how their game counterparts square off.In this case, Ash would win, and Gary accepts the loss but warns Ash not to get complacent since just winning the championship doesn’t mean you cannot lose. Professor congratulates both of them on how far they came (unlike in the game where he is a dick to his grandson), saying that many starter trainers don’t get as far as they do in the Pokemon League.But since this defeat did help Ash’s character development, it would be better if Ash lost in a match that was actually fair (preferably against Gary, who still doesn’t win the tournament), had a moment of clarity where he realized how lazy he had been training and how much he coasted by on unearned badges (while still reminding Misty if Pikachu took part in their match he would have flattened her) and resolves to do better, thinking about how he can climb in the future given what he managed in the Indigo League.Generation 2:Again, this could have simply had Ash and Gary’s match occur in the final round of the Pokemon League, the match with Harrison was frankly a letdown in comparison.Generation 3:I guess one could let Ash win the Pokemon League, but without a season long rival to overcome, the victory wouldn’t have had the same impact. Steven, the highest level trainer the player can face in the Gen 3 games, appears but isn’t established as the reigning champion. If Ash were to win the Pokemon League, this trainer should have been set up as his biggest obstacle. To hype up Steven as an opponent, explain that he previously beat Harrison.If Ash were to be retired after winning the Battle Frontier instead, assuming he still doesn’t win the Hoenn League, he should, at the very least, get rematches with the trainers who knocked him out of the Pokemon League.Generation 4:This is another obvious one, especially since, originally, Ash was going to win the Pokemon League and be retired as the protagonist after he defeated Paul, the trainer who was the greatest challenge to his worldview. But the decision was backpedaled on at the last minute despite there already being plans for the Gen 5 written with new characters. So if anybody wonders why Ash and Team Rocket feel so different in that season, it’s because it wasn’t supposed to feature them.That said, this season still had the champion Cynthia as a recurring character. Ash could have battled her after winning the tournament. However, the anime put its best foot forward with his match with Paul. It would still be a waste not to have Ash battle the champion, in which case, the best bet would be to have the match occur in a movie that concluded his journey, so the increased budget would allow for the spectacle fitting the last battle of Ash’s journey.Generation 5Um, no. As I stated above, this season wasn’t originally going to feature Ash as the lead, hence why he feels like a different character. This would only work if the season were restructured so that A) Ash’s character development is undone B) we actually got a real conflict with Team Plasma rather than the plot being dropped without our hero even battling the main villain (Ghetsis, a sociopathic manipulator, would be a great villainous foil to our hero, and Alder defeated by the villains to emphasize how dangerous they are) C) Ash has a worthy season long rival in the season because even the writers seemed to realize Trip and Cameron as they were aren't worthy and a character introduced in the tournament would have made a lousy final opponent for the Pokemon League.Generation 6This season’s finale was about fighting Team Flare rather than the conclusion of the Pokemon League, giving fans what they were hoping for with Team Plasma and real stakes beyond a simple tournament. The outcome of the Pokemon League doesn’t affect the following arc, so it wouldn’t have been a huge change for Ash to win and encourage Alain that defeat is a sign to keep growing. And the season did say there was room for both of them to grow since Lysandre was the strongest opponent either of them faced rather than each other.Given this season’s conclusion had real stakes beyond a simple tournament it feels like it would have been the best pick.PS: If anybody wants to defend Ash’s loss in the Indigo League and that we don’t see him battle Gary, I need to put my foot down.While Ash’s defeat in the Indigo League helped his character development in future seasons, the way it happened was still dumb since he entered a match with his team exhausted, one of them getting hit with the sleep status was counted as KO which never happens again, and his defeat comes because Charizard refuses to fight. Nice idea but terrible execution since the way Ash lost was less a result of him reaching his limit after coasting by without training seriously and more him losing because the plot mandated it.As for not battling Gary because it’s realistic for a rival to get knocked out of a tournament without facing the hero, Gary losing before facing Ash means he was completely irrelevant as an antagonist. You could have cut Gary out of the Kanto episodes and saved his introduction until after the Orange Islands and nothing would have changed.It is storytelling 101, if something appears and the story gives it a decent amount of screen time, then the audience expects it to be important, otherwise, why have it all?
The Vampire Extermination Dilemma Watching Stargate Atlantis, a series that revolves around a war with space vampires called Wraiths, I have come to an interesting dilemma where mid way through the show, our heroes make the morally questionable decision to attempt to turn Wraiths into humans, obviously not getting their consent.Stargate is a franchise where antagonistic aliens are written as inherently evil creatures so our heroes will have no ethical concerns about killing them. Unlike the Goa'uld who were the main antagonists for most of the previous show SG-1, the Wraith are not set up as creatures who are born evil, though the vast majority we come across are still evil.Being space vampires, as you may infer the Wraith feed on humans to live, with the only other thing they can feed on being each other. This is the source of their conflict with humans, which brings me to this topic; if you have a story where there is a vampire or some kind of creature that has to feed on humans to survive, to the point where letting any such creatures live pretty much guarantees more humans will die, how far can your heroes go in fighting them before it starts to become unethical?In the case of the Wraiths, they are an advanced space faring civilization who are the leading cause of death for humans in their galaxy, with only a handful of humans ever dying of natural causes. Likewise if allowed to reach Earth our planet will be a banquet for them. So there is no denying what a menace the Wraith are.Does that justify trying to make them human against their will? Making a human a vampire against their will certainly wouldn't be considered ethical by any means. This is something our heroes do with a Wraith called Lastlight (in the show he's mostly called by his fake human name Michael Kenmore), the first attempt ending in failure. When he returns to the Wraith, he makes a plan to use the humans' retrovirus that turns other Wraiths into humans to allow his Wraith hive an easy food source, but the Wraith queen he served betrayed him and the humans so he cut a deal with the heroes to save his own skin, which resulted him getting turned into a human against his will again.Our heroes are the ones who betrayed Lastlight, something he doesn't take well. At the same time, letting him live means he would likely feed on more humans.So what is the ethical decision? As a counterpoint I like to look at something that takes a different stance, and has its own problems with it; Legacy of Kain. I enjoy the series' twists, turns, dialogue and themes of free will vs fate, but it has a big issue when it comes to the human vampire conflict.It seems a bit unfair to pick on this series for it since it wasn't finished, but even from the start, humans trying to exterminate vampires is played as a great act of villainy. But is it? That sounds like it should be an easy question, except out of the gate it's established that most vampires see humans as cattle. Ironically only the black sheep of the series, Blood Omen 2, seemed to acknowledge that yes, humans do have a justifiable reason to fear and despise creatures who see them as food.The Netflix Castlevania series ultimately went with the route that vampires weren't inherently evil, but it also implied they couldn't feed on blood from sources besides humans. This raises the question if vampires left alive will keep murdering humans in the future.This seems to be a dilemma that comes up in media when you have a vampire, or any kind of monster that has to feed on humans in some way. The video game Disgaea 4 has an example of the latter where demons need humans to fear them and angels require human prayers, otherwise they both grow weak and die. Since demons are the main characters in the series, them terrorizing humans is presented as acceptable to allow their existence and that of angels. The series' developers probably realized how problematic a system where humans are stuck at the bottom of the barrel and aren't allowed to fight back was so future Disgaea games dropped this idea.Blade 2 gave us an interesting case where since our hero is working a group of vampires out to ensure their race is not wiped out by the mutant vampires called Reapers. This gives us Nyssa, a vampire who isn't evil like the typical ones. Having a vampire who isn't evil seems like the type of thing that would lead to questions about the ethics of our vampire hunting hero, especially if it means possibly facing Nyssa.But this idea doesn't go anywhere. It's made clear out of the gate that Nyssa's father Eli can't be trusted and aims to betray Blade. Even before his betrayal the creepy old guy makes it clear stopping the Reapers matters more so he can allow his own machinations to succeed, saying that he will sacrifice anything to achieve his goal. That was no hyperbole since later we learn he created the Reapers by experimenting on his own son.This conveniently allows Blade to avoid having to kill Nyssa since she will no longer take her father's side after seeing what a monster he is, and instead she allows her brother to mortally wound her.Depicting these types of monsters as pure evil leads to the issue of a story with guilt free genocide. On the flipside, when you do address the problems of exterminating such creatures it can easily run into the problem where humans are treated as monsters for fighting back against monsters who terrorize them.I have seen a couple piece of vampire media that avoid this; Rosario + Vampire and the manga Hellsing. In the former, vampires feeding on humans is shown to be painful but not dangerous, nor do they even need to feed on humans. The manga does have an issue with not acknowledging that humans do have good reason to fear monsters given that a number of them are truly evil, but it does create vampires whose need for blood doesn't make them a danger to humans.Most of Hellsing's vampires are evil. From what we have see of Alucard and the Major's flashbacks, particularly evil humans are offered the power to become vampires. The vampires we see Integra send Alucard after are gleefully murdering people, but after Seras is turned a vampire, Integra does take her in giving us the implication that Integra doesn't think all vampires are evil.So the series gets around the issue whether or not hunting vampires is ethical by showing it's most evil people who become vampires in the first place, either through supernatural means or Millennium's super science.What does everyone else think? Despite this whole piece do not get the wrong idea, I am not the dilemma makes a breaks a story. It was just something I wanted to discuss. After some discussion in the comments I feel if one is creating such a story, in general it's probably best to avoid drawing attention to the ethics of hunting monsters who have to feed on humans unless you have a way of addressing it, otherwise you are drawing attention to a flaw in your plot and not doing anything about it.
Final Fantasy D and D ideasIn the spirit of the season and Final Fantasy's 25th anniversary on the horizon I thought of finally getting around to writing this idea for a D&D, or some kind of tabletop campaign, using settings from Final Fantasy. As to which game I am picking, yes.I: This is pretty simple seeing as you are playing as a bunch of silent protagonists with no distinctive personalities so you can just run a campaign where you play as this game's heroes.II: There is a war going on so you could easily fit in another side story where you play as another bunch of heroes fighting the Palamecian Empire, you just don't end up being the ones who kill the Emperor, re kill him, and save the world. You however have the important but less glamorous task where your final mission is defending Kashuan from monsters sent to level it, assuming you progress that far into the game's events you reach its climax.III: This is another game where you are playing as a group of characters without any real distinctive personality traits so you can easily just set up a campaign playing through the game's story.IV: This one is a bit harder to come up with a side story for since most of what the villains are doing is gathering the Crystals. So instead I will set this one in a "What If" timeline.In the game's canon, the heroes stopped the giant war machine known as the Giant of Babel before defeating Zeromus, the great evil behind the game's events. In this timeline, the heroes were killed by Zeromus and he descended to Earth and uses his powers to control an army of monsters to wipe out humanity. Thus far he's winning, and if the player characters in this campaign don't stop him, than it's likely nobody will.V: This game's backstory has a group of heroes defeating Enou, and aside from them finding a set of Legendary Weapons there is next to nothing known about their quest, making it easy to make the journey into whatever a DM and their players wish.VI: Final Fantasy Fallout, basically. Picking up after Kefka brings out the end of the world, the player characters are trying to survive in a ravaged world after the destruction wrought by its new god has let a myriad of evil on the loose. Like Fallout (the good entries at least) this would have a mix of battling evil and working to help other survivors of the apocalypse, possibly culminating in the creation of a new settlement or the improvement of existing one with the various people you gather together.VII: The end of this game said that Shinra was finished. Its headquarters was destroyed and its top executives are dead, or reformed in Rufus' case.However, given Shinra rules the world it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for a campaign to include other bases of operations across the globe the players never saw, in addition to other executives who will no doubt be eager to try to cease the reigns in the new power vacuum.This is where the player characters come in. The game's characters prevented Sephiroth from destroying the world. Your job is to ensure that the void created by the downfall of Shinra's leadership is never filled and the detestable company never rises again.VIII: During this game's climax, Ultimecia begins to compress time, forcing all of history into a single point, past and future. In her castle it means you can encounter any monster you previously fought in the game.In this campaign, it also means that evils from the past and future have been pulled to the present, but also heroes from across the ages as well. While the game's heroes are battling Ultimecia, you will confront the other menaces brought together to ensure that the game's heroes didn't save the world from Ultimecia just for some other evil to render their efforts moot.Ivalice: Yeah rather than listing a specific game I just decided to use the entire setting as a campaign idea. There is plenty of stuff going on in this setting. You have the war between Rozarria and Archadia. The heroes of XII stopped Dalmasca from being turned into a battlefield, but that doesn't mean hostilities would be stopped for good.XIV: This is an MMO where the characters are inserts for the players so one can easily build a campaign around its events.This is all the stuff I could think of at the moment. If anyone has a suggestion in the comments feel free to post it.
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Hello all you wonderful people out there!  I most apologize for in the inactivity as of late.  School has been rather draining, but!  I have settled into the flow now and I am back!

So now that I am back I would like to start a contest.  In honor of Halloween and the great DeviantArt Murder Mystery, I would like you to write a murder mystery of your own.  It doesn't have to be a complete mystery but it has to have murder!  Now go my precious and write!
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Welcome to the group :iconwriters-together:!  We are a group to help support writers in any way.  And one way to help writers is to challenge them in different ways.  Are first challenge is our Weekly Prompt.   This is a prompt that will change every week.  The due date is the next Sunday after the prompt is given.  Judging will be the next week and winners will be posted on Sundays.  We all hope to see writings fill the weekly prompt folder.  Soon we hope to move on to monthly prompts also.

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This week's prompt was announced on: August 11, 2013

This prompt will end on: August 18, 2013

Use all the following words in your story/poem:  Filing Cabinet, Chicken, Food,  Type Writer

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All submissions can be made to the weekly prompt folder.  Please comment below with the title of the work and what type of literature it is so that others can see the amazing pieces of work for this week's prompt!

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:iconventuslightwriter:
VentusLightWriter Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2011  Student Writer
:huggle: thanks once again but why my group if I may ask?
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:iconsamatsu:
Samatsu Featured By Owner Feb 7, 2011  Hobbyist Writer
We like what we see. :D And we're friendly~! ^ ^
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(1 Reply)
:iconsamatsu:
Samatsu Featured By Owner Jan 26, 2011  Hobbyist Writer
I changed the layout of the page a little, hope you don't mind. :)
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:icondarketh90:
Darketh90 Featured By Owner Jan 26, 2011  Student General Artist
np ^^ as long as you don't completely ruin it XD (which it isn't X3 obviously)
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:iconsamatsu:
Samatsu Featured By Owner Jan 26, 2011  Hobbyist Writer
No, no! :D I just wanted to make the page more even. :)
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:icondarketh90:
Darketh90 Featured By Owner Jan 26, 2011  Student General Artist
well, i worked X3 ty :)
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