Chapter 4- The Hunt for Spark
Back in Valerie's living room, it was very quiet. Akira a.k.a. Spark had just told his one and only friend who he really was and now he explained to everyone that Valerie's own hidden psychic powers were starting to emerge due to his presence, which of course shocked them as much as when he revealed his identity. Now everyone was sitting perfectly still, staring at him. None of the others said a word. Finally Kai decided that now would be a good time to break the silence.
Kai: "So what do we do now?"
Kaneda: "How should I know? This is really nuts."
Akira: "You could just destroy me."
Valerie's expression now changed from one of pure shock to that of concern.
Valerie: "Now why would we want to do that?"
Akira: "As you all must be aware of now, I have highly destructive power within my being. It is easily controlled for now, but what would happen if I lost that control? I'll tell you. The same thing that happened thirty years ago and just last year will happen again and considering the state of the city at the moment the effects will be horrible. It would probably be in everyone's best interest if I was killed."
Valerie: "No! There has to be another solution!"
Kei: "I am going to have to agree with Akira on this. It is possible that if we kill him then it will eliminate the possibility of another disaster. Plus if he were destroyed then Tetsuo wouldn't be able to come back. It's our best solution."
Valerie was up in the blink of an eye and standing in front of Akira in a protective pose.
Valerie: "It was not his fault that these so called powers of his destroyed the city twice in a row. It's not his fault! You guys said that Tetsuo lost control of his powers and probably didn't know what he was actually doing until the very end! Don't kill Spark, try to find some other way of solving your problems!"
Akira: "Valerie, my name is Akira and my body must be completely destroyed. As much as I'd hate to say it, it's the only way to completely eliminate my powers."
Valerie's lightly tanned skin began to grow pale as what he said began to sink in. Her deep green eyes darted around the room almost like she was in a panic.
Valerie: "No, don't say such things please!"
Kaneda: "Valerie why are you so dead set against this?"
Valerie: "I don't know, I just know that it would be wrong to kill him."
Kei: "It has something to do with Drake doesn't it?"
Valerie's normally quiet voice now became even quieter as Kei mentioned that name. Drake had been a soldier in the old Army of the Metropolis before Tetsuo had received his powers, and the two were a real item. They had even eloped at an old temple far from the city. Drake had always told her that he did not believe in killing innocent people, especially children. Then a short time later Valerie had received a message from Neo Tokyo that her new husband had been killed when his tank was exploded by a teenage boy named Tetsuo Shima. That was all they had told her. And even now she was still in mourning. Yet despite the fact that one from the so called Akira project had killed her true love she still believed that all life, especially young life like that of a child was precious and should not be thrown away so easily. Akira's face took on a look of great concern. In the short time that he had spent with her, he had never seen Valerie break down and cry. In fact he had never seen anyone cry before in his whole life.
Kai: "Oh great, nice move Kei. Now look at what you've done!"
Kei: "Oh my god Valerie I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have brought him up. Please forgive me."
Valerie: "Don't worry about it, I'll be okay. It's alright, I ~~~ oh no.
Kaneda: "Oh no? Oh no what? Valerie what's the matter?"
Valerie: "The army ~~~ the army is coming here. They've found out about Spark somehow!"
Kaneda: "That can't be right Valerie, how could you possibly know if they were or not?"
Akira: "~~~ it's because she can see it in her mind. I can see them coming too."
Kai: "Don't look now but I have a perfect view of the highway from the window here and ~~~ and ~~~THERE'S A BUNCH OF TANKS HEADED RIGHT FOR THIS GARAGE!!"
Kei (looks out the same window): "Oh s**t Valerie was right! We have to leave now before they find us! And we'll definitely have to take Akira with us!"
Kaneda: "And just how are we going to do that huh? If we drive on out of here on the bikes they'll spot us!"
Valerie rushes over to the coat rack and quickly slips on her long black leather jacket.
Valerie: "We'll use the down and out gate to get out of here."
Akira: "~~~ down and out gate?"
Kaneda: "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that, that's the underground tunnel in the garage that leads into the sewers. You built a ramp leading into the sewers to act as a bomb shelter!"
Kai: "So if we ride the bikes down into the sewer they won't find us here!"
Valerie: "Right, now enough talk. Let's get to the garage before they come bustin' down the door! Spark, come with me."
Akira: "~~~"
Kei: "If they find you here then there's no telling what might happen!"
Valerie: "Come on, I won't let anything happen to you kid."
Akira seemed to calm down a little at these familiar reassuring words. And in the blink of an eye they were down in the garage and quickly moving their bikes over to the opening in the floor. Valerie's bike rivaled Kaneda's in its sheer mechanical beauty. It's shape was almost like that of Kaneda's bike, yet it was painted jet black with gold flames painted on the front and it had two seats built into it and the back of the bike reached over the two seats and connected with the windshield forming a roof. It was the bike she had built for herself and Daniel, and she had not used it since he died.
Kai: "Does that thing still run?"
Valerie: "It runs just fine, I would never let it break down! I even kept it full of fuel! Spark, get in the back seat and put this on."
Valerie handed Akira a helmet that matched the paint job on her bike. Akira put it on and scrambled to get into the back seat of her bike.
Valerie: "Now when we are all in I'll press the button that's on the wall down there and that will shut it. Now hurry up and go down there and wait for me."
Kei, Kaneda and Kai were down the tunnel in a flash, and now it was Valerie and Akira's turn to go down. The two could hear the tanks coming even closer, everything in the garage was shaking and stuff was falling from the shelves and breaking. Valerie's bike roared down into the tunnel ~~~
Valerie: "Guys, they're closer than we thought, keep on driving and make two left turns and head on straight for about two miles and wait for us!"
Even Akira heard Kaneda's now distant voice shout an acknowledgement, and now the sounds of the others bikes began to fade. Valerie stopped her bike long enough for her to run over to the left hand wall and slam her hand onto a big green button. Akira then heard the sound of the gate's doors closing sharply just as the tanks were now in front of the garage. Racing back to her bike, the mechanic jumped into the driver's seat and yelled to Akira to hold on tight. Grasping a firm hold onto the handlebars in the back of the driver's seat Akira let out a loud yell as the great black motorcycle raced through the sewers at top speed, sending up great sheets of water from the large puddles on the floor which had now become their own private highway. After the two left turns Valerie all of a sudden began shouting something that slowly became more and more audible ~~~
Valerie: "HUH?! IT'S ALL IN MY BRAIN, I CAN SEE IT! THE TANKS AREN'T STOPPING AT THE GARAGE, THEY'RE MOVING AWAY FROM US! THEY'RE NOT AFTER YOU; THEY'RE AFTER SOMEONE ELSE!"
Akira: "VALERIE, THEY MUST HAVE THE OLD DEVICES THAT THE MILITARY USED TO MONITOR THE AURAS OF THOSE WHO CAN CONTROL THE POWER!"
Valerie: "WHAT'S AN AURA?"
Akira: "THE PHYSICAL REPRESENTATION OF ONE INDIVIDUAL'S POWERS BASICALLY! MY AURA MUST NOT BE STRONG ENOUGH FOR THEM TO DETECT YET BECAUSE MY POWER WAS WEAKENED WHEN I RETURNED TO THIS PLAIN. YOUR POWERS ARE NOT YET FULLY DEVELOPED YET SO YOUR AURA ISN'T VERY STRONG. SO WHO'S AURA ARE THEY DETECTING?!"
Valerie: "COULD IT POSSIBLY BE TETSUO?"
Akira: "I SURE HOPE NOT, IF IT REALLY IS HIM THEN THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT HE IS STILL NOT MENTALLY STABLE. IF IT IS HIM HE MIGHT ATTACK THE TANKS AND KILL THOSE PEOPLE!"
Valerie: "WON'T THEY TRY TO KILL HIM IF HE DOES?"
Akira: "I DON'T THINK SO, EVEN WHEN I WAS JUST STARTING TO AWAKEN MY POWERS THE GOVERNMENT AND THE MILITARY WANTED ALL OF THE TEST SUBJECTS TO STAY ALIVE SO I DOUBT THAT THEY WOULD KILL HIM RIGHT AWAY. IF IT IS HIM THEN HE'S PROBABLY STILL WEAK FROM RE-ENTERING THIS PLAIN. HE'S PROBABLY WEAKER THAN I WAS CONSIDERING THE STATE HE WAS IN WHEN HE LEFT."
Valerie: "THEN LET'S CATCH UP TO THE OTHERS AND TRY TO FIND HIM BEFORE THEY DO!"
Not too far away, the sleeping Tetsuo awakens to the sound of tanks closing in on him. He tries to get up in order to run away and hide but he falls back down again, still too weak to do anything. Fear began to rise up inside of him as he realized that when the tanks found him, he would either wind up a lab rat once more, or get slaughtered.
Tetsuo: "I've never felt so helpless before. Maybe this is punishment. But I never got to tell Kaneda that I'm sorry. Please ~~~ somebody help me."
That was when the teen felt a strange rumbling along with a familiar sound coming from deep underground, and just like the tanks it was getting closer. Then he heard the tanks stop. He looked up and saw a bunch of soldiers and scientists come into the alleyway. One of the scientists was holding some sort of portable aura scanning device. The scientist then pointed to him and shouted ~~~
Scientist: "It's him, the forty first test subject. Retrieve the body for testing after completing termination. On my mark, one ~~~ two ~~~"
Tetsuo shut his eyes and braced himself ~~~
Scientist: "Thr ~~~ what the hell?!"
At that moment a large section of the floor of the alley that was right in front of Tetsuo opened up and out came four motorbikes, one of them a very familiar red machine.
Tetsuo: " ~~~ Kaneda?! ~~~"
Valerie drove right up to the soldiers and scientists brandishing her large hunting knife.
Valerie: "Lower your guns and back off or you'll wish you're mamma never gave birth to ya!"
The four bikers and Valerie's passenger had the element of surprise on their side. And the people in the alley could just barely make out a faint green aura around Valerie and a white aura around her passenger.
Back in Valerie's living room, it was very quiet. Akira a.k.a. Spark had just told his one and only friend who he really was and now he explained to everyone that Valerie's own hidden psychic powers were starting to emerge due to his presence, which of course shocked them as much as when he revealed his identity. Now everyone was sitting perfectly still, staring at him. None of the others said a word. Finally Kai decided that now would be a good time to break the silence.
Kai: "So what do we do now?"
Kaneda: "How should I know? This is really nuts."
Akira: "You could just destroy me."
Valerie's expression now changed from one of pure shock to that of concern.
Valerie: "Now why would we want to do that?"
Akira: "As you all must be aware of now, I have highly destructive power within my being. It is easily controlled for now, but what would happen if I lost that control? I'll tell you. The same thing that happened thirty years ago and just last year will happen again and considering the state of the city at the moment the effects will be horrible. It would probably be in everyone's best interest if I was killed."
Valerie: "No! There has to be another solution!"
Kei: "I am going to have to agree with Akira on this. It is possible that if we kill him then it will eliminate the possibility of another disaster. Plus if he were destroyed then Tetsuo wouldn't be able to come back. It's our best solution."
Valerie was up in the blink of an eye and standing in front of Akira in a protective pose.
Valerie: "It was not his fault that these so called powers of his destroyed the city twice in a row. It's not his fault! You guys said that Tetsuo lost control of his powers and probably didn't know what he was actually doing until the very end! Don't kill Spark, try to find some other way of solving your problems!"
Akira: "Valerie, my name is Akira and my body must be completely destroyed. As much as I'd hate to say it, it's the only way to completely eliminate my powers."
Valerie's lightly tanned skin began to grow pale as what he said began to sink in. Her deep green eyes darted around the room almost like she was in a panic.
Valerie: "No, don't say such things please!"
Kaneda: "Valerie why are you so dead set against this?"
Valerie: "I don't know, I just know that it would be wrong to kill him."
Kei: "It has something to do with Drake doesn't it?"
Valerie's normally quiet voice now became even quieter as Kei mentioned that name. Drake had been a soldier in the old Army of the Metropolis before Tetsuo had received his powers, and the two were a real item. They had even eloped at an old temple far from the city. Drake had always told her that he did not believe in killing innocent people, especially children. Then a short time later Valerie had received a message from Neo Tokyo that her new husband had been killed when his tank was exploded by a teenage boy named Tetsuo Shima. That was all they had told her. And even now she was still in mourning. Yet despite the fact that one from the so called Akira project had killed her true love she still believed that all life, especially young life like that of a child was precious and should not be thrown away so easily. Akira's face took on a look of great concern. In the short time that he had spent with her, he had never seen Valerie break down and cry. In fact he had never seen anyone cry before in his whole life.
Kai: "Oh great, nice move Kei. Now look at what you've done!"
Kei: "Oh my god Valerie I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have brought him up. Please forgive me."
Valerie: "Don't worry about it, I'll be okay. It's alright, I ~~~ oh no.
Kaneda: "Oh no? Oh no what? Valerie what's the matter?"
Valerie: "The army ~~~ the army is coming here. They've found out about Spark somehow!"
Kaneda: "That can't be right Valerie, how could you possibly know if they were or not?"
Akira: "~~~ it's because she can see it in her mind. I can see them coming too."
Kai: "Don't look now but I have a perfect view of the highway from the window here and ~~~ and ~~~THERE'S A BUNCH OF TANKS HEADED RIGHT FOR THIS GARAGE!!"
Kei (looks out the same window): "Oh s**t Valerie was right! We have to leave now before they find us! And we'll definitely have to take Akira with us!"
Kaneda: "And just how are we going to do that huh? If we drive on out of here on the bikes they'll spot us!"
Valerie rushes over to the coat rack and quickly slips on her long black leather jacket.
Valerie: "We'll use the down and out gate to get out of here."
Akira: "~~~ down and out gate?"
Kaneda: "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that, that's the underground tunnel in the garage that leads into the sewers. You built a ramp leading into the sewers to act as a bomb shelter!"
Kai: "So if we ride the bikes down into the sewer they won't find us here!"
Valerie: "Right, now enough talk. Let's get to the garage before they come bustin' down the door! Spark, come with me."
Akira: "~~~"
Kei: "If they find you here then there's no telling what might happen!"
Valerie: "Come on, I won't let anything happen to you kid."
Akira seemed to calm down a little at these familiar reassuring words. And in the blink of an eye they were down in the garage and quickly moving their bikes over to the opening in the floor. Valerie's bike rivaled Kaneda's in its sheer mechanical beauty. It's shape was almost like that of Kaneda's bike, yet it was painted jet black with gold flames painted on the front and it had two seats built into it and the back of the bike reached over the two seats and connected with the windshield forming a roof. It was the bike she had built for herself and Daniel, and she had not used it since he died.
Kai: "Does that thing still run?"
Valerie: "It runs just fine, I would never let it break down! I even kept it full of fuel! Spark, get in the back seat and put this on."
Valerie handed Akira a helmet that matched the paint job on her bike. Akira put it on and scrambled to get into the back seat of her bike.
Valerie: "Now when we are all in I'll press the button that's on the wall down there and that will shut it. Now hurry up and go down there and wait for me."
Kei, Kaneda and Kai were down the tunnel in a flash, and now it was Valerie and Akira's turn to go down. The two could hear the tanks coming even closer, everything in the garage was shaking and stuff was falling from the shelves and breaking. Valerie's bike roared down into the tunnel ~~~
Valerie: "Guys, they're closer than we thought, keep on driving and make two left turns and head on straight for about two miles and wait for us!"
Even Akira heard Kaneda's now distant voice shout an acknowledgement, and now the sounds of the others bikes began to fade. Valerie stopped her bike long enough for her to run over to the left hand wall and slam her hand onto a big green button. Akira then heard the sound of the gate's doors closing sharply just as the tanks were now in front of the garage. Racing back to her bike, the mechanic jumped into the driver's seat and yelled to Akira to hold on tight. Grasping a firm hold onto the handlebars in the back of the driver's seat Akira let out a loud yell as the great black motorcycle raced through the sewers at top speed, sending up great sheets of water from the large puddles on the floor which had now become their own private highway. After the two left turns Valerie all of a sudden began shouting something that slowly became more and more audible ~~~
Valerie: "HUH?! IT'S ALL IN MY BRAIN, I CAN SEE IT! THE TANKS AREN'T STOPPING AT THE GARAGE, THEY'RE MOVING AWAY FROM US! THEY'RE NOT AFTER YOU; THEY'RE AFTER SOMEONE ELSE!"
Akira: "VALERIE, THEY MUST HAVE THE OLD DEVICES THAT THE MILITARY USED TO MONITOR THE AURAS OF THOSE WHO CAN CONTROL THE POWER!"
Valerie: "WHAT'S AN AURA?"
Akira: "THE PHYSICAL REPRESENTATION OF ONE INDIVIDUAL'S POWERS BASICALLY! MY AURA MUST NOT BE STRONG ENOUGH FOR THEM TO DETECT YET BECAUSE MY POWER WAS WEAKENED WHEN I RETURNED TO THIS PLAIN. YOUR POWERS ARE NOT YET FULLY DEVELOPED YET SO YOUR AURA ISN'T VERY STRONG. SO WHO'S AURA ARE THEY DETECTING?!"
Valerie: "COULD IT POSSIBLY BE TETSUO?"
Akira: "I SURE HOPE NOT, IF IT REALLY IS HIM THEN THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT HE IS STILL NOT MENTALLY STABLE. IF IT IS HIM HE MIGHT ATTACK THE TANKS AND KILL THOSE PEOPLE!"
Valerie: "WON'T THEY TRY TO KILL HIM IF HE DOES?"
Akira: "I DON'T THINK SO, EVEN WHEN I WAS JUST STARTING TO AWAKEN MY POWERS THE GOVERNMENT AND THE MILITARY WANTED ALL OF THE TEST SUBJECTS TO STAY ALIVE SO I DOUBT THAT THEY WOULD KILL HIM RIGHT AWAY. IF IT IS HIM THEN HE'S PROBABLY STILL WEAK FROM RE-ENTERING THIS PLAIN. HE'S PROBABLY WEAKER THAN I WAS CONSIDERING THE STATE HE WAS IN WHEN HE LEFT."
Valerie: "THEN LET'S CATCH UP TO THE OTHERS AND TRY TO FIND HIM BEFORE THEY DO!"
Not too far away, the sleeping Tetsuo awakens to the sound of tanks closing in on him. He tries to get up in order to run away and hide but he falls back down again, still too weak to do anything. Fear began to rise up inside of him as he realized that when the tanks found him, he would either wind up a lab rat once more, or get slaughtered.
Tetsuo: "I've never felt so helpless before. Maybe this is punishment. But I never got to tell Kaneda that I'm sorry. Please ~~~ somebody help me."
That was when the teen felt a strange rumbling along with a familiar sound coming from deep underground, and just like the tanks it was getting closer. Then he heard the tanks stop. He looked up and saw a bunch of soldiers and scientists come into the alleyway. One of the scientists was holding some sort of portable aura scanning device. The scientist then pointed to him and shouted ~~~
Scientist: "It's him, the forty first test subject. Retrieve the body for testing after completing termination. On my mark, one ~~~ two ~~~"
Tetsuo shut his eyes and braced himself ~~~
Scientist: "Thr ~~~ what the hell?!"
At that moment a large section of the floor of the alley that was right in front of Tetsuo opened up and out came four motorbikes, one of them a very familiar red machine.
Tetsuo: " ~~~ Kaneda?! ~~~"
Valerie drove right up to the soldiers and scientists brandishing her large hunting knife.
Valerie: "Lower your guns and back off or you'll wish you're mamma never gave birth to ya!"
The four bikers and Valerie's passenger had the element of surprise on their side. And the people in the alley could just barely make out a faint green aura around Valerie and a white aura around her passenger.