PRELUDE ONE: Main Character
The newspaper stand vendor slept soundly in his chair, letting the wind of the warm, summer day flutter past the resting papers. A closable chess set lay open on a section of the stand next to a newspaper that read: Monsters Among Us: Are mythical creatures real? Are they out to get us? People walked past his stand and crossed the street. It would be the time for the man to leave his part-time occupation soon, so why not catch a few winks in the process? The honking taxis, loud teens, and yapping pets didn't seem to phase the vendor.
"Excuse me, sir?" At first the vendor didn't hear her. He was so warm and comfortable that he felt like jelly caught in between the wheat toast of hibernation and the peanut butter of REM phase. He didn't dream much – He'd stopped doing that for a long time. For what reason…? At times, even he couldn't recall. It had just stopped after a while. No happy memories, no harsh realities. He was in his late fifties, after all. Still…Older men dreamed, didn't they?
"Sir?" This time, he heard the voice. A pleasant, young, female voice. It reminded him of his sister. He hadn't heard a voice so soft and innocent since that day…He allowed his left eye to open lazily, the light shinning over a dark silhouette he couldn't yet distinguish. The young woman was tall, that was for sure.
"Yes…" He began, clearing his throat like old men do, "What is it?" The vendor slowly opened his other eye, allowing the light to settle and the figure to become clear. The woman in front of him held two school books in front of her, wearing a sweater that rested cuffed around her throat like a cotton garden snake. The girl's long, ebony hair flowed away from her body slowly as the wind interlocked with it like a gentle mother caressing her child before slumber.
The girl closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly to the right. Then she gasped as if intruding on a personal event, "Oh, I'm sorry to wake you." Her voice flowed into his ears like liquid rainbows. He watched the girl for a few seconds, noticing her cheeks hit a tint of pink.
"Uh-" The vendor quickly sat upright, almost falling from his chair in an embarresed frenzy, "Uh, don't mind that, miss. I shouldn't be sleeping on the job, anyway."
The girl laughed at that, a squeak leaving her lips every fourth chuckle. She rested the side of her fist against her mouth bashfully, still cluching the books with her right hand, "I guess you shouldn't be lying down on the job, huh? My boss would kill me if I did that!"
Something about that statement rubbed the newspaper salesman the wrong way, but he couldn't truly understand why. He chuckled soflty with her, still playing with those words. Wasn't she just joking when she said kill? Could a girl like this even know what killing is?
"So mister…" The young woman moved closer to the news stand and looked inside at all of the headlines: Man skips jury duty, Archery scholar goes to Olympics, Bento prices still decresing at Kintacu's Sushi Grill, "I could use some help."
The man closed his eyes and chuckled kindly, "Sure. Anything for a pretty lady like you. What is it?"
"I'm pretty new to this city…" Something about that statement troubled the girl and she gasped quietly, hanging her head for a few seconds, then recovered. The man noticed this before she could continue, "I heard from an acquaintance that there was this nice museum in Junisha Town, that held many great ancient artifacts." She tapped her chin thoughtfully, "I forget what the actual artifact that caught my attention was called. The something seed."
"The what?" The man said shakily. If he was correct, she meant the Forbidden Seed…Why would she want to see that, of all things? Why would this sweet, innocent young woman want to be in the presence of something so sinister?
"Is something wrong?" The girl asked.
The man coughed into his hand, trying to cover his uneasiness, "Uh, nothing. Nothing…" He smiled at her, "I'm just not one for ancient artifacts. They put this old man to sleep, you know?" He laughed, hoping the girl wouldn't see through his lies.
"Well, I know know not many teenagers my age care about that kind of stuff…" She flipped her jet black hair and allowed it to flow outward against the wind, "But I assure you…I am no ordinary girl…" She pressed her face toward the vendor, which made his cheeks turn red and caused him to stammer a bit.
"Oh…well…" The man regained his composure when the teen moved back into the sunlight, "The Junisha Museum of the Old Kingdoms is on Hundisu Street, over by the police station."
The girl paused, and actually shivered a bit, "The police…station…?"
"Hmm?" The vendor crossed his arms, "What's the matter? Not fond of the police."
The teen shook her head, "I've had bad experiences with law enforcement…That's the main reason I moved to Junisha Town."
The vendor thought about this, then smirked, "Hmm. Well, I assure you that the Junisha Police Department are a find band of officers. I'm sure whatever circumstances you encountered back in your former city will not be repeated here. Junisha Town is a calm, peaceful city. You'll be fine, my dear."
The vendor expected the girl to perk up. He believed what came out of his mouth. No one had disrupted peace in Junisha Town – there was almost no crime with the city limits. Part of it was his doing, but the local government doesn't want to admit it. He tried many times in the past to let it be known to the rest of the city – maybe even to nearby Tokyo…But…
"Oh, sir…" The vendor returned his focus to the woman in front of him, confused as to why her head was hung low, "You have no idea how…wrong you are…No idea…"
The man was stunned, "But…but…"
But the girl slunk off, leaving the vendor to his own thoughts. What had she meant by how wrong he was? Wrong about what? The peace? Her past circumstances? It was stange how a girl like that could say something so depressing…
"Hmm…" A newspaper flew into his face and he struggled to get it off. He yelped, almost falling from his seat. When he looked at the newspaper, he felt a strange omen – for only a split second. But it was there.
Monsters Among Us: Are mythical creatures real? Are they out to get us?
At first, he struggled to look away from the text. But he shook it off, and closed his eyes. No…Those days are over…I will not believe this lie… He threw the paper away from the stand and let it float away toward the city streets.
/ / /
Captain Guru Midu rolled the chess piece in his hand. Things had been quiet for a long time. No burglaries in the past week. No homocides for a longer time. Nothing… It was so annoying. How could he do his job if no one broke the law. The rook – glass in material – refracted the light of the office shining down and splattering the walls with gold. He rested his leather boots on his mahogany desk, barely touching the mysterious cube that laye there.
What's that, Captian? His subordinates would ask him. Do you carry anything in that container?
Perhaps… He say in his edged voice. Wouldn't you like to know?
Just asking, sir…
It wasn't to be rude. Of course, avoiding malice was the least of his concerns. He trained his men to be fearce and unnerving. To never give a criminal an inch. That's why he voted for capital punishment becoming a police captain's right last year. None of the other captains in the city would've wanted to resort to such tactics…But Guru was no ordinary captain, and he liked it like that.
Guru stood from his desk and looked over at his RookCube. The cobalt energy looked like nothing but stained glass to mortals. Just a box. Midu knew the truth, though. That cube was given to him by his teacher, months before the Brigades were disbanded. Before the Banshees finally vanished. Guru wanted the battles to continue; the war to rage on…But his teacher Kuro Ashida enjoyed the tranquility. It's not every day a whole race of monsters are eradicated, he'd said. You should feel priveledged to enjoy the peace many Expulis had to die for.
The police captain knew that his master was just trying to be optimistic. Kuro just wanted to believe that evil would never return. Alas, Guru knew better than that. I mean, let's be real.
The same creature that murdered his parents would eventually come back for him.
Midu picked up the container, rotating it slightly in his hand. The Rooks inside were aching to be dealt against demon blood. Yet the world was so certain that the Expulis race was no longer needed. If there's one decision that Guru didn't agree to was when they decided to disband all magic users – That included him, that the council was unaware of. He would've given that information to the higher-ups once the bill was passed, if it weren't for the young girl that had been killed for defending the Expulis.
What was the young girl's name again? Asiago? He could vaugley remember what the girl looked like. Perhaps a young adult; seventeen or eighteen. Long black hair. Thin, but rigid. When they excecuted her on that stage, his own son had seen it during the news at his school. He'd suffered from depression and anxiety ever since.
Damn…If only those damn Banshees didn't exist…Then that young woman wouldn't have needed to be killed for believing in defense of the Rook. He still couldn't understand what possessed those elderly councilmen to take another human life…The monsters were the enemy, not the Expulis.
An alarm went off on his office phone. A light on line 3 – Luiteniant Office – flickered along with his startled heartbeat, bounding as if on a trampoline. The Luiteniant was the only high-ranking officer under him. What was happening that his subordinate couldn't hadle himself? Midu, with the RookCube still in his grasp, walked slowly to the phone and pressed the flickering light.
"Luiteniant Aku Moshima; what is your message," the Captian asked. He noticed his jacket, utility belt, cap, and sunglasses hanging on the wall.
"Captain Midu, we have an emergency!" Moshima answered.
"An emergency?" Midu smirked, "A cat in tree emergency, or a drunken idiot laying in the street emergency?"
"This isn't the time for jokes, sir!"
"I'm not joking. You've actually classified situation such as those as emergencies." The captain tried on his sunglasses, noticing the darkened tint and weak lights within his quarters. He respected Moshima, but the cautious officer had a knacl of taking things way out of proportion sometimes. He didn't know much about Aku's past, but could tell that he joined the Junisha police for a specific reason…A personal reason…The captain swore that he actually was told by an officer during an enforcement conference. Something involving a Banshee…
"Fine sir, duly noted. B-but this is for real an emergency this time! Like Class C, emergency!"
Midu gasped…Class C emergency. That's only two levels below Class A, which would be a near apocalyptic situation…
The officer went over to the phone, as if he could see his Luiteniant through the green light on the Line 3 symbol, "Luiteniant…You just said Class C…"
"I know sir…Class C…" If Midu listened closely, he could he stammering and whispers in the background. Something about monsters, and dying, and the Expulis returning. For a long time, Captain Midu discouraged the mention of the Expulis, as if he wansn't one himself. But he never ordered any of them to never talk about the great warriors that once protected this scity and many others – Even Tokyo. He couldn't be that fake. Just thinking about how the other officers would react to his denouncing of the Expulis and their Brigades made him shutter like a large, wet snake slithered down his back. He just couldn't do that.
There was a long pause, so the Liuteniant called to his Captian, "Sir…?"
Guru looked at his jacket, utility belt, and cap. The RookCube never left his fist. If what he was thinking of doing turned out for the better, it could mean the resurrection of the Expulis Brigades. Class C situations were no joke. The last Class C involved a whole underground mafia trying to take down the police in the name of anarchy, almost twenty years ago. He, being only 28, was barely aware of it all. Ashida, 54 at the time, was barely around during that scandal. Later his deceased master told him that the Expulis came out of hiding temporarily to assist the defeat of this militant armada.
The citizens at the time believed the appearance of the Expulis was uncanny, accusing the heroes of being ghosts and withces. Most of them were able to escape the scene after the militants were vanquished…All except that one Brigade that refused to go back in hiding, demanding that her group be respected and awarded for their assistance.
The old council had other plans in mind…That poor girl…
Midu – after finally returning the RookCube to this desk - placed his cap on his head, adjusted his jacket, and snapped his utility belt. Then he paused, feeling along the leather. The captain pulled off a flat, metal square attached to a thin ring. He clipped on the ring and moved his wrist so the light of his office would shine off of the square. Finally, Guru picked the RookCube and slid the bottom onto the squares surface.
The cube stayed still for a few seconds, balanced onto the square. Suddenly, a small light flashed, surrounding the cube, dimming it's color a tad. The light intensified, creating a wind that lightly shifted his hair and jacket, and a few documents lying on his desk. Energy flowed from the air into the square as the cube slid into the metal, combining the two structures into one.
The RookSourcer…It had been a while since he last used it.
"Sir!" The Luiteniant sounded incredibly desprate, "Forgive me for saying this, but we need your ass down here, now! It's urgent!" Guru looked back at the phone. A part of him did want to punish him for his foul tounge, yes; but he also knew that his assistant was correct. If it is correctly classified as a Class C situation, then whatever is happening would reqire the power of the Expulis.
Whether the world wanted to believe it or not.
/ / /
"The suspect is on the top level," Luiteniant Aku Moshima said. The officers had stopped traffic ahead of time so that they could get a clear passage to the Junisha Museum of the Old Kingdoms. It didn't matter though. Because while the Captain was brooding over the loss of his brothers deep in the station, the culprit had walked right onto Hundisu Street and approached the museum like an everyday citizen would.
"A contact is waiting for us." Moshima continued, "They will fill us in on everything that has happened there."
"I hope so," Guru responded, his sunglasses resting on the bridge of his nose, "If our division is to silence this disturbance, we first need to know what we're up against. Class Ds and up are a rare occasion around here." He whispered to himself, "Unfortunantley…"
The Luiteniant looked at his commanding officer, "Hmm? Did you say something, sir?"
Midu – surprised – replied, "Oh? Uh, no. I didn't say anything of importance."
"Are you sure, Captain. You've been acting odd ever since I told you what Class this situation was…Are you…afraid?"
Midu stopped in his tracks, which interrupted the strides of all of his officers. Dressed in blue and gold, the division of officers stopped immediately, Anu being last to respond. He turned back toward Captian Guru Midu, who's head hung down.
"What did you say, Liuteninant?" The Captain slowly looked up at his subordinate; not angry or annoyed. A bit surprised, actually. Moshima was the last person he expected to question him. Sure, he was just as skilled at marksmanship and awareness as Guru. And they've been best friends since they both joined the academy. Quite frankly, the main reason the tables aren't turned in regards to their rank is because Midu was a city ward and got a good word into the academy from his foster home. He had been living with his teacher Kuro Ashida for a while, but almost immediately following the mafia scandal and the public excecution of that Asiago girl, he had been tranfered to the Junisha Eastern Home for Boys. They basically tried to beat everything that he was taught regarding the Expulis and the Rooks out of him.
So much for that approach.
Guru's face softened a bit, realizing once more how much respect he had for his Luiteniant. His friend. He said, "Don't worry, Aku. You'll be the first to know if I lose my composure. Remember that I am the Captain. It is only fair that I allow all of my men to wet themselves before I do."
Moshima smirked. Others within the platoon laughed. All except for one.
"Oh? So the great Guru has emotions of fear and worry like the rest of us normal people?" Midu turned to see the officers standing behind him, a look of surprise creeping back across his face like a rushing tide. Three of the officers looked back toward where the challenege reared, and moved to the side so one in particular could enter the field of vison of their Captain.
Damn it. Couldn't he take a day off?
Burai Delta – lanky, gingered, sneering like a fox injected with rabies twice…and a Seargent. No, that's not the worst part, "This is toooo good to be true, cuz."
"Don't call me cuz, Seargent." Midu responded, turning away, "You will address me as Captian Guru or Captain Midu, or just Captian. I'm not related to you."
"Cuz, you can dis me all you want to." The captain was walking away, but Delta landed his hand on Guru's shoulder, earning himself a few gasps from the other officers, "Don't matter to me none. Just remember that you promised to be nice to me. You promised our Momma…"
He won't ever let that go, will he? "I do remember that promise. I'm the one who accepted it, right." He flicked the officer's glove from his shoulder like a pile of dust had collected there, and continued walking toward the museum, "I haven't cracked your skull open like you deserve, have I?"
An officer behind the two of them egged Burai on, "Oooh, he told you."
"Shaddup!" Seargent Delta looked back at the officer - who cringed in realization of the man's rank – then reverted his attention back to his commander, "You don't friegthen me, sir…I know about you…Things no one else does…" At first, Midu stared blankly at him. What was he talking about? Things no one else knows?
"Wha…?" Guru's eyes opened a bit wider, as if he had just applied a contact lens. How did he know…about his Expulis powers?
"What?" Luiteniant Moshima wondered. Then he gasped, "Sir…Are you…gay?"
Guru bashed his fist into the top his subordiante's head, "You ass!" Aku doubled over, holding his throbbing skull, "No I'm not gay! You've seen my wife, Moshima! Riruna, remember!?"
"Ow! Darn it, I remember now! Thanks for jogging my memory, you jerk!" The Liuteniant slowly stood, rubbing his cranium and disrupting his oak hair. Then he pondered carefully, "So…Are you on the down low..?"
Guru hit his lower officer a second time, getting the same result, "Damn it, Moshima! I don't like guys! Get it through your thick skull!"
"You're doing a good job of assisting me with that, sir!" Aku strained. A few of the other officers snickered in the background.
Seargent Burai cleared his throat, beckoning the Captian's attention once more, "Shouldn't we get a move on, Captain Midu?"
The Captian eyed his subordinate, straining against the desire to grab his throat and wring it like a wet mop. He better keep his eye on this man – He couldn't risk any of the conservatives of his force to know of his Expulis ties. If they did, they would have something over him. Soemthign over their commanding officer. Something that could cost him his life. He had meant what he said about all of his other officers having to go down before he did anything hasty. If it came down to his exposure, then he was fine with it. But uf he really did need to use his power, then he would do it on his own terms.
That excluded whatever Delta thought he knew about him.
/ / /
Everyone was dead. All of the security guards and evern some pedestrians were dead. When the officers finally did enter the museum, the smell made many of them uneasy.
"Dear God!" said Officer Hiroka Nesin, his arm over his scriffy face, "What the hell died in here?" The doors were broken, so the sunlight oozed easily into the floor of the foyer. Glass shards glistened on the time floor like jagged snow, creating an ominous trail toward the elevators. Blood was splattered over the receptionust's desk. And bodies lay idle on the flat surface, their bodies disfigured.
"Oh shoot!" Another officer said, backing into the Captain, "Oh, sorry sir. Have you seen anything like this?"
Guru wished that he could. He begged any force in Heaven to free the cursed memories from his mind. Unfortunantley, those images wouldn't be easily erased, even though the Expulis had seen the deadly deed at such a young age. Midu held his head in agony, trying to dispel the harships he had witnessed so long ago. He fell to one knee, alerting the other officers.
"Captain Midu!"
"Guru!"