Lab
In a dimly lit laboratory, dozens of scientists quickly shuffle from room to room, scribbling on notepads and clipboards and jotting down important information for analysis at a later time. In the organized chaos, a scientist gets pulled aside by a man in a black suit.
"We have him." At the vague words, the scientist's expression remains unchanged.
"The specimen. We found him." Finally understanding the point, the scientist expresses a look of excitement and urgency.
"Well, where is he? Bring him in!" In a few moments, the specimen is wheeled into the main chamber of the laboratory on a stretcher. It's a young boy with black hair. His clothes are torn and burned and his shirt is missing, revealing the boy's torso, which is dotted with scrapes that still ooze blood and bruises in a range of colors, from purple and blue to red and a sickly dark green.
The scientists strip the boy and lift him into a containment pod. Metal bars jut out beneath the boy's armpits, holding him up as he droops in an unconscious slumber. The scientists secure a mask to the boy's face, one that has several hoses that lead to various canisters just outside of the pod. They seal the capsule closed and a light green liquid comes gushing out from a collection of small ducts that dot the backside of the pod. In a moment, the liquid, filled with several chemicals for sedation and healing, envelopes the boy's body as it reaches and stops at the top of the pod. Several monitors in the room light up, their screens filled with essential data.
Jack
...He's still alive. His heart is still beating. His hearing is warped and everything sounds muffled and deep. It reminds him of the times when his parents would take him to the beaches on the east coast. He would pretend that he was some noble warrior battling against the currents of a coastal storm. He would swim into the heavy tides and see how long he could last.
One time, he almost drowned because he tried to dive as deep as he could. He was in the middle of a fantasy as a deep sea adventurer who could breathe underwater when reality had reminded him that humans have to breathe oxygen from time to time. He remembers how worried his mother was. She had called the ambulance even after Jack was rescued and had been deemed fine by the lifeguard on duty that day. Jack's mother was always worried about him.
Coming back from memory lane now, Jack attempts to open his eyes. As he does, a light green liquid spills into them and Jack prepares himself for a painful sting to succeed it. Not a single bit of pain follows, though, and Jack opens his eyes completely.
There's not much to see. The liquid is dense, so objects just beyond him are blurry, and anything past that is imperceptible. From what he can see, there is a thick glass between him and some vaguely gray, dark room. Blurry figures stand on the other side, watching him observantly. Jack tries to move his arms and legs, but they remain limp in the green liquid. He recalls the fight between him and his best friend, Yūdai.
He can't remember much from the fight, only that his limbs were fried from his overuse of life energy. Even now, however many hours later, Jack's limbs are still uncontrollable.
With his mind on the fight, Jack momentarily recollects over the black figure in the void. All it did was disappear and now, as Jack sits in this bath of green liquid, he's left with more questions than answers. If he's still alive, then Yūdai must've been stopped… right?
Head Scientist
This is it. Decades of research, burning the candle at both ends every single night, has come to this point. Studying the nature and utilization of ki in living creatures and now he finally has a perfect specimen in front of him.
His primary job was to monitor its vitals until tomorrow, but he finds himself in a familiar predicament that befalls most scientists. His insatiable curiosity gets the better of him, and he quickly drafts some tests for the other scientists to run. Afterwards, he goes on his break to grab something to eat, as he heard that they were serving spaghetti and meatballs in the breakroom today, his favorite dish. As he leaves, he grabs his handheld radio to bring with him, just in case a disaster befalls the laboratory while he's away.
Lab
Back in the lab now, the scientists scramble with many different machines, twisting knobs and pressing buttons in a seemingly random yet calculated sequence. One of the machines beep, letting the scientists know that the boy is now conscious. On queue, they begin with their first test.
Jack
Floating in the weird liquid is quite relaxing despite recent events. Jack can still feel his muscles throbbing, yet there is no pain. Whatever the liquid consists of, it must be sedating him one way or another. Interestingly, he feels exhausted, too, so the liquid must be keeping him awake as well. Knowing his attempts at moving are futile, Jack lightly inhales and exhales, letting the bubbles tickle his face as he waits for something to happen.
After a couple minutes slowly pass, Jack can see the figures in the distance clamoring around. Maybe they noticed that I'm awake. Immediately after, Jack hears a loud, constant beep blaring from the top of whatever he stands in. He tries to look up but even his neck muscles are fatigued.
In that moment, the mask on his face makes a loud snap and his air supply is cut off. Jack tries to breathe in, but he's unable to inhale any air. He tries to exhale, but nothing happens either. The mask is suctioned to his face. He violently exhales, breaking the seal and causing the mask to fall off of his face. Now with no breathing apparatus on his face, Jack clenches his airways closed, desperate for air to breathe. He struggles in the green liquid for only a moment as his mind becomes hazy from the lack of oxygen reaching his brain. He closes his eyes slowly as a cloud of unconsciousness envelopes him, taking him under once again…
Lab
Multiple monitors in the room flash red and beep alarmly fast. The boy's oxygen level is low and, if it continues, he'll begin to experience brain damage. The test was to see if he could breathe underwater with ki, but no one expected him to somehow remove his mask. The scientists prepare for emergency extraction. That is, until something peculiar happens.
Clipboards and pens tossed aside during the emergency begin rattling and shaking against their surfaces. The room lightly quakes and lights in the room flash, bright one moment, then dull the next. The flashing quickens and the shaking intensifies. Cracks form in the concrete floors and walls of the room, all originating from the ground beneath the containment pod; all originating from the boy. Breaks in the glass of the capsule develop and the green liquid comes gushing out, its level in the capsule visually diminishing over time. It doesn't help that the scientists stopped to notice these strange events as the boy continues to go without oxygen.
After a while, the last of the liquid finally spills onto the floor, leaving just the boy in the containment pod in full view. The lights give off one final flash before shorting out altogether. In the dark now, the boy gives off a subtle glow. His skin becomes a pitch black, starting at his hands, then moving to his arms, leading to his torso and face and finishing with his legs. An aura devoid of any color emerges from around the boy, animated and giving off an odd glow of its own. At the back of the laboratory, a scientist rushes over and holds down the button on the intercom.
"Mr. Stravinsky, something's gone wrong…" He says frantically. He releases the button, hoping for an answer. All he receives, though, is static.
"Hello?... Hello?!" At the front of the room, the boy's head eerily raises to face everyone. Shocked and instilled with fear, no one dares to move a muscle. His eyes open, revealing only a dark, blood red within them as blood drips down his face. The boy, despite his apparent injuries, lifts his hand and places it against the glass. In an instant, the glass shatters at the cracks and fragments fly outward in a cone in front of the boy. Although the flight pattern of the glass seems random, the shards calculatingly pierce through the chests of everyone in the room, killing them all on contact. With no more barrier to the outside world, the boy steps out of the pod as a sinister smile grows across his face with blood seeping out of it.
Jack
...What's happening?... ...I can feel my arms and legs moving, but I can't control them. ...I can't see anything or hear anything… ...and everything burns…
Jack senses the presence of something with a spiritual signature of sorts. Jack can't really explain it, but he's able to understand the identity of the spirit. It's the same feeling he had when he met that dark figure and had asked it to save the world.
Is it able to take over my body? Is that how it stopped Yūdai? Able to comprehend that the dark spirit has helped Jack escape the pod, Jack psychically requests control of his body back. The spirit has no desire to relinquish its control, though.
Angry at being dismissed, Jack attempts to take his body from the control of the spirit. The spirit seems immovable, though, like trying to push a skyscraper, but Jack continues pushing.
In the physical world, the spirit looks to Jack's left hand. A crest made of triangles glows intensely on the backside of the hand. It comprehends Jack's commands. Get out of my body!
In an instant, the black cloak tightly bound to Jack's skin ejects upwards and evaporates into the air above him before diffusing into nothingness accompanied with the sound of blood-curdling screams of unknown origin.
In control of his body now, Jack looks around the room. Dead bodies with rivers of blood cover the floor. The blood drips into the various cracks in the floor, creating ravines filled with blood. Machines that had tracked Jack's vitals produce a white smoke, signalling their dysfunction. The lights now flicker on at the disappearance of that spirit. What the hell is that thing? It's like… a demon. Killing all of these people mercilessly… and I let it out. It's my fault. If I hadn't freed it from that cage, then…
"The world would have ended." Jack looks around for a source of the mysterious voice.
"Don't dwell on the past, for your mistakes cannot be erased. Focus on the positive and move forward…" That voice… it sounds familiar… It reminds Jack of the voice he heard in the realm when he first entered it, when he was in that van. The voice ceases and Jack's left alone again. He tries his best to rid his mind of the thoughts… and moves forward.
His muscles are still very weak. He can barely stand. Something catches his eye and Jack looks over to a table on the far side of the room. On it, there is a medical gown, similar to what a patient would wear while awaiting surgery. Slightly nervous about his current naked state, Jack carefully steps around the dead men and women and puts the gown on.
With a heightened sense of awareness in mind, Jack slowly opens the outer door of the laboratory and quietly creeps into the hallway, listening for any noises. I have to be careful. Since I still can't channel energy, I'm still powerless like a regular person. He quickly walks across the hallway in a crouched manner. He can hear someone coming.
Their steps are fast and urgent. Whoever it is talks to themselves in an upset matter, but Jack can't decipher what they're saying. He stops in his tracks and turns around. His eyes dash back and forth, stopping on a door opposite to the door he just came from. He patiently turns the doorknob. The inside of the room is dark, so Jack assumes it must be devoid of anyone. He slowly walks backwards into the room. Just before he closes the door, he can see the front of the person's shoe passing the corner. The door clicks closed. He's safe…
"Hello…" mutters a tired voice in the darkness. Jack nearly jumps out of his skin and turns around. The room is pitch black, so he is unable to see who or what made those words. Jack, still in a crouched position, hobbles slowly to his right, which triggers the motion-sensitive lighting system. With the room illuminated, Jack can now see the owner of the voice. They appear to be of his age, with blonde hair, and bound to a metal chair in the center of the room.
"Oh… hi."
Aikō
During their walk to the supposed place where Akane was created, Aikō couldn't help but notice Akane becoming increasingly nervous and aloof the closer they got. Aikō offered her encouraging words, but they did little to help ease her anxious thoughts.
After trekking through a forest for a while, they come to a clearing. Since the clearing is up on a hill and quite a distance away, their destination is in full view. It is a large, abandoned warehouse. Aikō thought that a place able to create artificial intelligence indiscernible from the human mind would be more… advanced. She decides that she shouldn't judge a book by its cover. She laughs to herself at that saying. Shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
"Well, we can't just sit here and watch it all night. Let's get closer." Aikō hops down from the hill and runs closer, throwing in a couple unnecessary somersaults and tactical rolls for good measure. She presses herself up against the wall of the warehouse, near a set of double doors that she assumes lead into the heart of the warehouse. She looks behind her to Akane, who hasn't moved from the clearing. Aikō motions her hand towards herself, signalling Akane to come forward. She, however, doesn't budge.
Aikō motions her hand again, this time more urgently and mouthing the words come on. Wanting to appease Aikō, Akane closes her eyes, inhales, and sprints toward her. She reaches Aikō without any trouble.
"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Just then, a loud siren blares across the warehouse. Vigilant, Aikō looks across the whole of the wall. She spots a video surveillance camera pointing directly at them. In the distance, she hears footsteps in the mud, vaguely shouting some sort of command, like over here.
Aikō turns to the door near her. She attempts to open it, but it's locked. Perfect.
"I can't get it open."
"What?"
"The door. It's locked!" Akane recollects something. Even in the current situation, she seems calm, like she's unable to comprehend the severity of the situation.
"Here. I've got it." In the midst of the brick next to the door, there's a small, gray metal square sticking out a couple inches from the wall. Akane places her thumb on the square. It beeps, followed by an access granted before the door makes a clicking sound.
"Woah… advanced," Aikō whispers to herself before explosively pushing into and past the door. She's now in the middle of a hallway. She scans around her for her next options.
"This way." They take a right and enter the first door on their left. It looks like a basic supply closet.
"Come on." Aikō lets Akane enter first before following her in. The security guards enter through the door and take a left. Their footsteps recede into the distance. Sure of their safety, Aikō pokes her head out. She doesn't see them.
"Okay. I'm going to check and see if any more are coming. Stay here." At her words, Akane tenses up with a worried look on her face. She doesn't want her friend to leave her here.
"It's going to be okay. I'll be back." Akane's face eases a little bit.
"Can I come with you?"
"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought you back here to begin with. It's clear you never wanted to return here." Aikō's face expresses an uncharacteristic look of sadness.
"I'll finish up here and then we can do something fun together!" Aikō gives her a big grin.
"O-Okay. Yeah, I would like that."
"It'll only be a moment." Aikō prepares to leave.
"Aikō…" She stops and turns back to Akane.
"...Why are you doing this?"
"Because…" She thinks about it for a second.
"Because I'm a hero! It's what I do!" She gives her another smile before leaving.
Isamu
With the rope tied around his hands finally loosened, Isamu takes a good look at the boy that saved him. He wears a weird gown like he just escaped a mental hospital or something. He insists that it's all he has to wear, but it's definitely giving Isamu some strange vibes, that's for sure.
The boy asks Isamu if he knows anything about why he's there. Isamu thinks he might have a few clues.
He recounts his memory in the bus, with the tipping, the gas, and the robots.
"How many people were on that bus?"
"I think about 14? Why does it matter?"
"It's possible they may have been taken, too. They might be in this building somewhere." Isamu stares at the kid blankly.
"So, what are you saying? You want me to look for them?"
"Well, that's what I was going to do. You can join me if you want." Join me? What does that mean?
"You seriously think I want to stay here in this rathole any longer?"
"No, I—"
"I'm going to get the hell out of here!"
"What are you talking—" Before the boy can even finish speaking, Isamu runs to the door leading into the room. Just as he reaches the door, he's grabbed from behind. It's the boy, who turns Isamu around.
"Look, I don't know who you are or what you're here for, but listen to me— this place is crawling with people. Security guards, scientists, you name it. You can't just run around. You'll get caught and you will die." The boy now has a serious vibe about him. A dark presence that's unexplainable. It makes the hairs on Isamu's neck stand up.
"Stick with me. We're going to do this quietly and covertly, got it? Because if there are people here, innocent people, still stuck here, I'm not just going to turn tail and run away while I have the chance. I am going to try my best and help them and you should, too."
"I-If you're so great, then why do you need me?"
"You seem strong. My muscles are currently… out-of-order, so to speak. If we do run into anyone, you'll have to… take care of them."
"So… you want me to help you so you can help them?"
"I would prefer you think of it as... us helping them. As a team."
"Well, if we're going to be a team, we need a name."
"A name?" The boy looks at Isamu with a look of cringe.
"Yeah. I perform better when I'm fighting for a name."
"Ugh, fine. How about…"
"The Warehouse Rescuers!"
"...Really?"
"If you don't like it, then come up with a different name."
"Whatever, it's fine. Just keep your voice down."
"Alright! The Warehouse Rescuers are in the house, baby! And we're going to save everyone!"
Akane
Everything is most certainly not okay. With each passing moment, Akane's thoughts become more and more troubling. Feelings of dread, of intense existential sadness fill her mind. She has to get out of this closet. She can't breathe. The logical, robotic part of her informs her that it's all in her head and that she's fine. All systems are functional, all systems are functional, all systems are functional.
Aikō had said to wait for her to return, but if Akane stays in this confined space for much longer, she feels like she's going to explode. Not to mention the lights keep flickering, people keep yelling outside, and the ground keeps shaking, which isn't helping her at all. Nervous, with thoughts worsening and breathing becoming harder, she opens the door. With just a small crack, she places her head against the door and tilts her head so her left eye can see out into the hallway. No one to be seen. No one to be seen. No one to be seen. Motion sensor negative. Motion sensor negative. Motion sensor negative.
She opens the door wide enough for her to fit. She stands up and slowly shuffles into the hallway. She politely closes the door behind her. She moves down the hallway steadily as she stares at the end of it. She notices something on the floor. Blood detected. Blood detected. Blood detected.
It's blood. Her intrusive thoughts cloud her mind with terrible assumptions. Shaking now, she kneels down and touches the blood. It runs through her scanner. She prepares herself for the worst.
Aikō Hata. 14 years old. Female. The scanner reads off more attributes, but all Akane can hear is a growing static in the back of her mind. It continues to grow and grow, enveloping everything with—Warning.
01010101 01101110 01101011 01101110 01101111 01110111 01101110 00100000 01110011 01100101 01101110 01110011 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00101110 00100000 01010011 01001111 01010011 00101110 00100000 01010011 01001111 01010011 00101110 00100000 01010011 01001111 01010011 00101110
Aikō
As soon as she left the supply closet, as soon as she reached the end of the hallway, she was attacked. Someone came up behind her and struck her across the head. Now, as she slowly regains consciousness, she finds herself bound to a chair. Her hands are tied behind the back of it. Dazed, she struggles against the ropes, but is unable to make any progress. Immediately, she feels the throbbing pain on her head. Below the spot of the impact, blood stains the left shoulder of her shirt. She can feel the blood oozing down her head to her left shoulder.
In the furthest right corner of the room, a man in a black suit opens the door and enters. Just from his presence and the way he carries himself, Aikō can tell that he's ego is especially huge. He sets his briefcase and handheld radio down on a table on the left side of the room. He flicks his briefcase open, revealing a long combat knife.
"Aikō Hata. You're awake now. Good." He lifts the knife and feels it in his hand, testing the weight of the knife and watching it reflect the single, lowly light in the room hanging just overhead. He slowly turns towards Aikō.
"It's a mystery as to why you are here, but I believe that—" Taken aback by what he's seeing, the man lowers his shades and places them on the table.
Instead of grimacing at the immense pain caused by the gash at the back of her head, she has a wide grin on her face. Her eyes are a bit inward and her face is flushed. She breaks the silence with a bombardment of oddly silly giggling.
"What's the matter, mister maaaann? What were you gonna say? Continue, pleeease?" Her head loosely sways from one side to the other. She speaks as if she's intoxicated. He doesn't recall lacing anything or drugging her. Why is she like this?
"Well, I believe that you know something… something very… very valuable." The man can't stop wondering why the hell she's so cheerful. Every time he stops himself, Aikō lets out a small chuckle, almost as if she's making fun of his confusion. The man shakes his mind of any thoughts pertaining to her odd state. He clears his throat.
"We believe that you may know the whereabouts of something that… belongs to us."
"Oh yeah? What might that be, hmm?"
"Damnit, stop playing stupid!" Aikō starts giggling uncontrollably.
"I said stop! That's enough! Quit laughing!" Aikō finally calms down. The man, now flustered, flattens out parts of his suit that became ruffled during his yelling fit.
"Maybe I doooo. What're you gonna do about it?"
"I wouldn't be talking like that if I were you. This isn't like some police interrogation. It doesn't matter whether you end up alive or dead." The man brandishes the knife in his hand. All Aikō does is laugh at his threat. Furious at her insolence, the man grips the knife and grabs her by her hair on the side of the wound.
"How's that feel?!" He says through gritted teeth. She shrieks in pain. Got her.
"Pretty good, hehe~" She winks coyly at him. What the fu—
"You sick, twisted bitch! Tell me where that robot is now or this knife is going into your stomach!"
"That sounds like fun!" She sticks her tongue out playfully.
"That's it!" The man furiously stabs her in the left side. Not enough. He pulls the knife back out and stabs her again. Not enough! He pulls it back out then in again. Not enough! He pulls it out once more and attempts to stab her again, but the point of the knife ends up cutting into the wooden seat. Where the hell did she—
"Finally~. I didn't think you would have done it. Hehe~" It's coming from behind him. How did she get over there? Her voice now has a dark undertone to it. It makes him uncomfortable. The man turns around. There she is, out of the chair and on the other side of the room in an instant. Her stab wounds all gush a large amount of blood. It has completely stained that corner of her shirt and it begins dripping down her skirt, yet it doesn't seem to affect her in any way.
She holds a knife in her hand now. Where did she get that?
"Hehe~! Surprised? It's my own knife and it's been dying to enter someone's back~." That's impossible. Her knife was confiscated. How did she get it back? ...And why is it covered in blood?
"Help! Help someone!" The man calls out loudly. Why aren't they responding?
"Oh, are you calling for help~?" Aikō walks over to the door in the corner.
"Those guards just outside weren't hard to kill, so they wouldn't have done much, hehe~" She opens the door and three bodies fall over and into the room. In complete shock, the man looks at his radio. He tries to move as fast as he can to reach it. In an instant, with absolute precision, Aikō flings the knife with such accuracy and speed that it cuts through the man's hand and the radio, bolting both to the table.
The man yelps out in pain and grips his left hand with his right.
"Doesn't that feel good? Make you feel warm inside?" The man tries to utter something, but the pain is unbearable and he only vocalizes muttered grunts.
"Here, let me take you all the way." Aikō grabs the man's combat knife off of the ground, which had fallen out of his grasp when he got stabbed in the hand. With a touch of elegance, Aikō slowly steps behind the man. She grabs him harshly by the throat.
"Enjoy! Hehehehe~" She intensely stabs the knife deep into the man's chest before violently tearing it back out. He lets out a gasp of pain. She leans over his shoulder with the knife in front of her. He looks to his right to watch her.
"Consider it our mark of friendship~. Now we're best of friends~" She says before she slowly licks the blood from the knife. After being thoroughly emotionally disturbed by Aikō's abnormal acts of kindness, the man asks her something before collapsing from shock.
"...Why?"
"Why?" She repeats.
"Because it's so much fun!" She giggles loudly to herself as the man falls limp, being held up only by the knife stabbed into his hand. She drops the man's combat knife in favor of her own dagger, which she pulls out of the man's hand, finally letting the rest of him fall to the ground. She briskly walks out of the room and into the hallway, lumping over the piles of bodies blocking her way.
"Now to make them all my friends~"
Akira Shinji
When she called for reinforcements, the headquarters wasn't joking around. Whoever these people are, they must be serious business.
Dozens of helicopters, hundreds of men on the ground, all for one warehouse. It's a little silly, but Akira just ignores it. She's more worried that she'll be unable to control it all. She's never supervised this amount of soldiers before.
She told her forces to stand down as more and more showed up. Eventually, it stopped and now everyone is waiting around for her command. Nervous, she waited and waited for a good time to strike.
That's when she saw the reinforcements.
Jack
They were supposed to stick together, but the guy Jack paired up with, Isamu, had other plans in mind. Acting like they're partaking in friendly competition, Isamu ran ahead while raving on about how he was going to save more lives than Jack. I like the enthusiasm, but this is more serious than a game of baseball.
Well, it doesn't look like Jack will be winning. He's entered dozens of rooms in this maze-like building and still no sight of anyone. He can't even find Isamu.
He comes across an office. Great. No way anyone would be kept in here. He goes to leave until he spots something interesting on the wall. It's a floorplan, and not just of any building, but the building he's in right now. In the center of the map, an X marks the center of a large room, with multiple crates drawn for detail. Are we in… a warehouse? The X turns out to be many Xs. 14, in fact. Over in a room far on the left bottom side, there is another X. The shape of that room reminds Jack of the laboratory. These Xs… they're people. There's another X in a room not too far from the laboratory. Jack assumes that it must be Isamu's.
All of this put together, Jack presumes that the 14 Xs in the large, center room must be the location of the other 14 kids on that bus. According to the layout, they're all tied in a line of chairs up against the far wall opposite of a large garage door. He takes note of the room he's in now and tries to commit the route he has to take to his memory.
As he proceeds to the large room, Jack looks over himself. The large cut on his right hand is still there, but it has various stitches holding the cut closed. Why go through the trouble of mending my wounds? Did they want to keep me for something?
On the back of his left hand, the crest still sits there. Its color is a faded grayish-black, different from the golden yellow Jack is used to. It must be inactive, so what exactly does it mean when it's active? Jack presumes it must have something to do with the Goddesses, or courage, or… something. The whole thing doesn't make sense to Jack.
He remembers the heavenly voice that talked to him after he awoke from his unconscious state. He was hanging in the air, even though he was all out of energy at that point. The voice had told him that he was now, truly, without a doubt, the Assistant. Is that why this symbol is still here? Jack was used to the marking disappearing completely, so its idle state on his hand must solidify his permanent role as The Assistant, right?
He's almost there, now.
Isamu
Screw this damn place! It would be better to just leave, Isamu decides. However, that might be a little harder. He can't even find anyone, so how's he going to find a way out?
At the end of the hallway, Isamu notices that the hallway opens outwards into a larger room instead of another gray, metal door. Finally. Maybe I'll get somewhere, now.
Aikō
After leaving that interrogation room, Aikō's been having a hard time finding people to stab—err, people to affectionately stick a knife into. She merrily skips along the hallway. Oh, a bigger room? Filled with people to show my love to, perhaps? Yaaay!
Jack
Finally. Jack has made it into the room; although, it is very dark. Maybe he can find a light switch or something. As he moves to find one, the lights turn on automatically, but only for one side of the room. Oh yeah… motion detection.
As he surveys the room, he notices… Isamu?! And… is that…?! Jack can't believe what he's seeing. Aikō… no, it can't be. Isamu notices Jack standing still with his mouth wide open.
"Jack! There you are!" Isamu's loud greeting catches the attention of Aikō, who looks over at both of them.
"Hello there!" She skips toward them. As she comes closer to Jack and Isamu, he notices the large stab wounds on her left side. How can she be so cheerful?! What the hell is she doing here?! Isamu notices it, too, for he expresses a look of bewilderment and concern.
As she moves closer, she peers at Jack curiously.
"Oh, Jack! Hello again," she says completely casually as she bleeds from a large hole in her side.
"What the hell happened to you," Isamu barges in. Aikō tilts her head to face Isamu.
"I wasn't talking to you, Isamu." She says coldly.
"Someone wanted to show me some kindness and, well…" She glances down at her bloody knife and bloody hands.
"I… returned the favor." After making the remark, she giggles to herself, seemingly enveloped in her own world.
"Wait, you know each other?"
"Yeah, we go to the same school. Well, we used to. I don't think they let cold-blooded killers go to school." Isamu says, referencing Aikō's very unusual obsession. Jack thinks for a second.
"Was she on that bus?" Jack asks.
"No, she wasn't." Isamu turns to Aikō.
"Yeah, why the hell are you here?" Isamu asks with a confused tone. Aikō ignores his question as she stares off into space, probably thinking about stabbing fantasies.
"So, Jack. You look pretty injured." She focuses her eyes on Jack's right hand.
"Yeah, I—"
"Does it hurt? I bet it hurts."
"No, not—"
"Doesn't it feel good~? Don't you want it to hurt more?"
"No, I'm fine. I'm good, really."
"Oh, okay." She looks down with a sad expression on her face.
"...Isa—"
"No chance in hell." She clicks her tongue.
"You guys are no fun…" Jack's amazed that she's still cognizant with all of her blood dripping out of her. Well, her eyes are narrowed, her face is red, and she's shaking, not to mention she's on some sort of pain trip. But considering everything, she's mostly okay.
"Aikō, listen to me. There are people here who have been kidnapped." Jack says with concern.
"Yeah, I know. I kind of... took her under my wing." She says proudly. Of course, there's more to this story than Jack knows at this point.
"What? Who are you talking about?"
"Akane. That's who you were talking about… right?" Jack looks to Isamu, who shakes his head.
"Not anyone I know."
"You guys haven't met her?! You have to! You have to, you have to, you have to! She's like this robot that is able to really express emotions well which is something you wouldn't expect a robot to do and, like, she's—" Jack goes from listening intently to vaguely paying attention to a single word she says. Man, she is talkative.
As Aikō continues rambling, Jack looks around. The other half of the room is still pitch black. That's where the 14 other kids were on that map. If he could just turn on—
Instantly, the room lights up. There's a lot to see, so he takes it in one at a time. At the end of the room, against the wall, the 14 kids are all tied up and unconscious. In front of them stands a singular figure, dressed in a red, long robe that touches the floor and a white mask with a wide, black smile. It's creepy and Jack is momentarily scared at its appearance.
"You stupid, insolent children." Their voice is very nasally yet masculine in tone.
"Coming here and messing up my plans! That's just not cool!" Cool? What is he, a child?
"What's not cool is capturing innocent children from a school bus," Jack replies. He didn't even mean to say it, it kind of slipped out. Ever since the fight with Yūdai, Jack hasn't been his usual self; a stuttering, socially nervous wreck. For the most part, he's been confident in his words and the meaning behind them. Maybe it's this assistant thing.
"You have no idea what I had planned for them! They were going to live out fulfilling lives in my robots! It would have been… a dream come true!" Aikō's gaze floats off as she becomes enveloped in thought about what he just said. What is it? Jack is very curious what she's thinking. ...Ehh, nevermind. It's probably something sinister.
"Here, I'll give you the grand tour of what my dream could look like!" The weird man in the costume cackles to himself.
"Robots, attack!" doors from behind the man abruptly swing open and multiple large bots emerge, vaguely human-like in form, with two arms and legs, but still very mechanical in design. Their eyes glow a bright red. Jack estimates them to be around 10 feet tall.
The robots are quick, wasting little time reaching them. Without much time to prepare himself for a sudden fight, Jack looks over to Aikō and Isamu. Aikō grips her knife with a deadly look in her eyes.
"I'll find some way to make them hurt!" Isamu similarly has taken his shirt off, showing his toned muscles, and moved into an aggressive fighting stance.
"Finally, a fight! Let's go!" They both charge in as Jack watches them intently. Aikō's speed is incredible. She dashes quickly past any punches and attacks the robots would have only dreamed to inflict on her. In fact, they aren't even close to matching her speed. She jumps onto the back of the robot closest to her and drives her knife into the weak spot on the back of its neck. It sputters and falls to the ground as she jumps to the next one.
Isamu isn't much different in caliber but differs plenty in fighting style. Instead of quick movements, Isamu swings with intense fury. His punches are strong enough to not just dent the metal exterior of the robots, but pierce through and damage the internal mechanisms within. He unleashes a fury of punches that drop multiple robots in just a couple seconds flat.
Jack stands there, motionless. Even after his supposed appointment as The Assistant, he still can't use any energy. He can't channel it. He can't even feel it. In the few moments he was able to use the life energy, he could sense life in the grass and the trees and people like Yūdai, but now, there's nothing.
Although Isamu and Aikō may have impressive combat capabilities, the sheer number of robots pouring in from the multiple doors from all sides of the room overpower them.
Isamu is the first to fall. Already drenched in sweat, he takes a painful, sweeping metal arm to the chest, knocking him backwards and onto the ground. He lays there, stiff. Isamu…
Jack runs over to him.
"Are you okay?" Isamu grimaces as he grabs his chest in pain.
"...No!" He coughs up some blood.
"Why… aren't you helping?"
"Umm…" Jack tries to look for the words. Why beat around the bush? Just say it. You're useless. Jack's gaze drops to the ground, overwhelming feelings of sadness washing over him. What the hell is wrong with me?
In the corner of his eye, he spots Aikō having some trouble. As the robots continue to miss Aikō, some do manage to land strikes, which only empowers her more. Her speed increases, but her wounds worsen. Even if she has the mental fortitude to keep going, her body can only take so much.
"Come on, you hunks of meta—aaah!" She's knocked to the ground. Jack runs over to her.
"Aikō! Are you okay?" There's blood everywhere. It almost completely covers her entire face, oozing from her forehead, her nose, her mouth, her eyes. Not to mention the stab wounds have been getting worse as she further stresses her body.
"Never… better…" She still has a smile on her face, even in these dire moments as she drifts out of consciousness.
"No! Aikō, please! Stay with me." Her eyelids relax as she becomes unresponsive. The robots all surround them now, like a large ocean surrounding a small island. The weird man in the robe cackles loudly as the robots move in for their final attack.
Suddenly, in a far corner of the large room, a metallic cacophony can be heard echoing throughout the warehouse. Robots begin dropping like dominoes as the source of the destruction draws closer to Jack, a fading Aikō, and an incapacitated Isamu. The commotion catches Jack's attention and he stands to get a better view of the assailant.
It is a robot, that much is clear from the metallic skin color. With mysterious white hair and a more refined form, it whizzes by at a speed that nearly matches Aikō's as it cuts through the robots with incredible ease, almost like butter, which may be for a number of reasons; either the robot is very strong or it's because of, Jack notes interestingly to himself, the electricity coursing through the blades themselves. Jack considers that it could be a combination of the two.
Jack realizes who the sudden assailant might be. Aikō had mentioned her name before. Akane. She appears to be in some sort of rampage mode, slicing through every single thing in her path without hesitation. He needs to get her attention. Aikō. She might listen to a familiar voice. Jack crouches down to Aikō again.
"Aikō. Aikō… Akane is here." At the sound of her name, Aikō slightly opens her eyes. She's still mostly disorientated and her eyes don't focus on anything particular.
"A… Akane. I'm supposed to protect her."
"She's here, Aikō."
"..."
"She's protecting us."
"...What?" Her eyes open wider and focus on Jack.
"No, that's… she's in that closet. Safe from any harm…"
"Then who's that?" Aikō turns her head to face the rampage Akane is still on. She's nearly cut through all of them. There's no telling what she will do once she gets to them. Aikō, still confused, calls out to her.
"...Akane… Akane!" Upon hearing the name, she turns her head towards them, eventually turning her entire body and walking over to them. She calculatingly looks at Isamu, then at Jack, and finally at Aikō. At the sight of her, Akane's stiff stance relaxes and her face relaxes, too. Jack notes how expressive her face is. It's just like Aikō said. Now with a look of worry on her face, Akane runs over and crouches next to Aikō.
"Aikō! You're bleeding everywhere! Oh no, I didn't do this, did I?"
"No, Akane. It's okay. Everything's okay."
"Everything is not okay!" The robed man stomps angrily on the platform he stands on.
"You've completely wrecked all of my robots! Even all of the backups!" He stops his tantrum and takes a few deep breaths.
"Well, if they can't do it… I'll do it myself!" The man brings his right arm up to his face and taps on his wrist watch.
"Let's see how you do against this! My ultimate form! Mwahahahaha!" A large mech suit rises from the ground behind the man. Its head nearly touches the ceiling of the room, which Jack estimates to be around 30 feet tall. The man climbs into the cockpit of the robot and closes the glass door-like apparatus over him, sealing him inside. He taps a button and the machine whirs to life.
"Try and stop me now!" The man cackles again. Unable to do anything, Jack looks at Akane. Now out of her murderous trance from earlier, she is paralyzed by the size of the mech suit. It reels its giant fist back and aims for Akane.
"This is for destroying my bots!"
"Akane!" She doesn't move. Jack attempts to push her out of the way, but he's not fast enough. It strikes her directly, sliding her backwards through multiple wooden crates before stopping just before the large garage door. No! Jack stands up to face the man. He chuckles again.
"None of you can hope to match my intense power! Just give in already! You're next, black-haired boy!" Jack looks at Isamu. He's fallen unconscious. So has Aikō now. And it appears that Akane has been gravely injured, as she lies still on the ground, motionless. I'm the only one left. It's all up to me now. I stand as the last hope for these people. Aikō, Isamu, the children behind him and possibly every man, woman, and child on this Earth… but how can I do that without any powers? Jack tensely clenches his fist.
"Just gonna stand there, huh? You're making this too easy! Raaaagh!" Once again, the large mech suit winds back and throws another straight punch in Jack's direction. Instead of giving in to the sheer force of the strike, Jack lifts his hand in front of him. The fist loses all momentum in an instant with shock waves bursting everywhere at its sudden stop.
"You… you kidnap these innocent people..." Jack speaks through gritted teeth and his voice becomes hoarse. He's filled with a seething rage.
"You take them away from their lives..."
"And then you… you hurt my friends…" Jack tries to keep it under control, but he feels himself slipping to his anger, losing all control of his body, until his thoughts are nothing but primal instincts. His breathing quickens. He can feel his heart thumping. A bright, white aura surrounds him as his jet-black hair stands on end from the energy coursing through him.
"I'll give you one last chance to turn around. Turn around and gain the chance to live a better life. I'll offer you that freedom… even if you never gave it yourself." The man grits his teeth.
"What?! What is this… forgiveness?! I don't need your mercy, you insect! Diiieeee!" Another punch is thrown, this time with the left hand as Jack has incapacitated the right one. You… you idiot… It's slipping. He can feel his body shaking with adrenaline and frustration. What have you done… He can't stop it.
"... YOU FOOL!" Jack subconsciously moves all of his energy to his right hand and throws a blow of his own to meet the robot's left fist in the middle.
"AAAAAAARGH!" In an instant, the two fists connect. Jack's burning will and immense energy absolutely disintegrates the fist on contact, his attack acting more like a precise explosion. The force behind the punch carries, destroying the arm, the body, and every single part of the robot, even the man inside, disintegrating him as well.
"NOOOO-AAAAAAAHHHHHHhhh…" His shrieks of pain echo throughout the warehouse. The impact crumbles the walls and the ceiling of the entire warehouse into a fine dust.
As everything settles in the aftermath of the attack, Jack stands there, his fist still suspended in the air. The bright sunrise spills into the ruins of the warehouse, casting welcoming shadows and burning his eyes for only a moment. His breathing is still quick. Soot rains down on his head. He stares at his fist. White smoke emanates from it again. To keep from injuring his hand, he made a split-second decision to keep some of the energy on his hand to protect it. It appears to have mostly worked. He lowers his hand to his side. He relaxes his stance, bringing both feet together and leaning back.
Jack had punched in an upward direction, so as to not hit any of the kids behind the mech suit. It was foolish and a little shortsighted, but they're okay, so Jack decides it's best not to think about it. Move forward. Isamu and Aikō still lay unmoving in the rubble. Jack turns around. He sees someone sitting in the distance. Akane. From what Jack can see, she has a terrified look on her face. Did she see that attack… Is she terrified of me…?
While staring at Akane and caught up in thought, the clouds of dust surrounding them in the ruins of the warehouse begin moving chaotically. Jack looks up. It's a helicopter. It's actually a lot of helicopters.
Akira Shinji
As her helicopter touches the ground, Akira spots a couple bodies in the debris. She dismounts and calls for soldiers to move in. They move in ahead of her as she stays back with her helicopter where she scopes in and holds their backs with her sniper rifle. The soldiers move into the clouds of dust. The sound of their boots stomping through dust recede into the distance. A moment passes. ...Come on. As she waits for their return, she spots something shiny in her peripheral view. She looks over. It's a robot. Another one.
She crouches down and moves behind some cover.
"I've got vision on additional hostiles. It appears there are more down here, soldiers. Stay vigilant." She says into her handheld radio. She moves from one piece of shattered wall to the other, moving closer and closer to the target. She places her sniper rifle on her back and pulls her pistol. Gathering confidence, she bursts around the side of the wall, aiming at the enemy.
A shred of hesitation slips into her mind. In the past 10 years, she's never let it happen. She was trained to specifically fire with intent. It wouldn't do her any good if she hesitated in her line of work, yet she finds herself doing it now. The robot just looks so… alive.
Not just in design, but in emotion. It has a visible expression of utter terror, like it's fearing for its life. Akira slowly lowers her weapon. The robot slowly opens its eyes as it begins breathing quickly and with great difficulty. She's never experienced something like this ever before. Akira breaks her gaze and looks around for any soldiers.
"Come on. We have to go." Akira commands. The robot hesitates.
"We're here to help you." Akira adds.
"...Can you help my friend?" The robot asks pleadingly. Its voice, filled with emotion and complexity, once again piques Akira's interest.
"I'm sure they'll get help. My soldiers are looking for them right now." Akira stretches her hand out to meet the robot's.
"...Okay." Akira hoists the robot to its feet. Its leg appears to be damaged, so she places its arm over her shoulder for support. Akira speaks into her handheld radio once more.
"Upon completion of search-and-rescue, I want all soldiers to report in front of the building. Over and out." As she hobbles over to the front of the building herself, Akira yawns loudly into the dusty morning air. I didn't get enough sleep for this.
...In a large, dark office underground, in a completely different part of the world, a tall, mysterious man lightly stirs his coffee before sipping it. He places it down, having had his fill of caffeine for the day. As he does, someone raps three times on his office door.
"You may… enter." The man calls out with a slight sigh, a bit peeved that someone would dare interrupt his alone time. The door swings open, revealing a worried man who's drenched in sweat from running.
"Sir, if I may… there's something we need to talk about." Without turning around in his chair, the man responds.
"Take a seat." The sweating man sits down in a chair across from the other man's desk.
"Sir, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but…"
"...Continue."
"It's the robot, sir. It's… gone."
"Gone?"
"Yes, sir. And not only that, but it seems that intruders returned with the robot and wiped out the entire division."
"All of the guards… dead?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, what about Inari? Surely he put a stop to them, right?"
"Well, he put up a fight… and he almost won, sir, except…"
"Except what?"
"Except for this young boy, sir. He threw one punch and blew the base to dust." The man leans forward and places a picture on the desk. The man turns away from his window and picks up the picture, bringing it to his face. He peers over it analytically.
"...That's the boy. We ran some analysis on him. His name is Jack Katsumi."
"Jack Katsumi… Interesting that such a small boy has put such a large hole in my plans." He crumbles the picture in anger and tosses it aside.
"Bring my forces together; I need to address them personally."
"Yes, sir." The man gets up and leaves the office. The tall man turns back around and stares out the window in thought. Jack Katsumi, you foolish little boy... I will make you pay for what you've done!