Chapter 6- Into the Woodland Paradise
Colonel: "Kei, just what in the name of old Tokyo are you doing back here?!"
Kei: Those tanks were chasing us for some reason, I bet they think we're terrorists or something."
Colonel: "Very funny, now what's the real reason?"
Kaneda pointed in Valerie's direction and the colonel looked. He ended up seeing Tetsuo of course, which caused the now retired military man to go ballistic.
Colonel: "What the f*** is he doing here, I thought he was dead! Is this some kind of joke?!"
Kai: "It's no joke sir, that's him. He somehow regained enough power to return to the physical plain. We found him a little while ago, they were going to lynch him and use his body for testing. He's really hurt. Can you help us?"
It was obvious to even the most simple-minded person that the Colonel was very agitated. And who could blame him? Because of this boy Neo-Tokyo was a half dead community barley able to keep most of the population from leaving its borders. It was because of him that the Colonel had decided to retire from the army and move out of the city and out into the far off countryside were few lived. He occasionally went into the city to see Kei and her friends, but that was mainly to check up on how they were doing and not for his own sake. He sometimes saw Valerie too in order to be a shoulder to cry on. He had been one of Drake's commanding officers so he felt somewhat obligated to do so. But to give help to the one who destroyed so many lives ~~~ he had no idea what to do. Then a little boy who had been sitting there next to Valerie stood up and moved from behind her bike and faced the Colonel. He then held up his hand, the hand with the tattoo on it, which immediately identified himself to the Colonel, who had now turned pale ~~~
Colonel: "How is that possible? You're ~~~ are you ~~~"
Akira: "Colonel Shikishima, I am the one called Akira, but I am also known as Spark now. Tell me, how powerful am I?"
Colonel: "You ~~~ oh my god ~~~ you're the strongest one of all."
Akira: "That is accurate. And because of that one truth, I do have some authority on what you call the power, and I can tell you right now that the power contained within Tetsuo was indeed a dangerous weapon, but no longer. The people who gave him his power thrust it onto him without any prior training and without any guidance what so ever. It therefore poisoned his mind and drove him mad, making him think that the entire earth was against him."
Colonel: "Are you trying to say that it was not his fault that he did all those terrible things?"
Akira: "He was not ready, unlike all of the other official test subjects before him."
Colonel: "What do you mean by official test subjects?"
Akira turned around and pointed at Valerie and Kai.
Akira: "Valerie with her kind and caring heart was in the Olympic Stadium looking for spare parts when I rematerialized into this world. It was in such close proximity that my energy awakened her sleeping abilities. So far she has demonstrated premonition, heightened senses, mind reading and the ability to make her aura physical. And Kaisuke just a short moment ago demonstrated a small amount of mind reading. He probably absorbed a very small fraction of Tetsuo's powers when Tetsuo killed his friend Yamagata.
Kai: "How did you know about that?!"
Akira: "I saw it of course."
Valerie: "So that's how we have powers now! Man, this is really strange and scary isn't it?"
Colonel: "Well it's going to get even scarier if we don't get out of here! I'm guessing that you guys somehow managed to scare those soldiers off, but make no mistake they'll be back. Everybody get on your bikes and follow me and my truck, I know the quickest way out of the city. You guys can stay with me until we figure out a solution to our predicament."
Kaneda: "It's better than staying here and getting blown away. C'mon guys, let's move it!"
Kei: "We'll put Tetsuo in the back of the truck. I'll load my bike in the truck as well and make sure that he doesn't get any worse than he already is."
Everyone agreed to that and in just a few short minutes the odd little group of seven people was on their way out of the city and headed towards the mountains that the colonel now called home. It was a long drive; they had to drive for about six hours to even get close to their destination. And as they drove on, signs of civilization slowly disappeared, giving way to more nature than any of them had ever seen before. Cherry blossoms flew like pink snowflakes, filling the air with their sweet scent. Despite all that had happened to them in such a short space of time there was still beauty left in the world. Cicadas buzzed and the sound of the brooks and streams was so relaxing. They now turned down a grassy path heavily shielded by trees, the sunlight from the cloudless sky streamed down through the passing leaves. Kei looked up from her crouched position in the back of the truck and called out to the Colonel.
Kei: "I'm afraid to ask this but are we there yet? He's breathing all right and I've managed to stop the bleeding but it doesn't look like he's waking up."
Colonel: "Just another mile down this path and we'll be there, then we can put him into a bed and see what else may be wrong with him."
Valerie: "I hope he'll be okay when he wakes up."
Akira: "What exactly do you mean?"
Valerie: "Even while he's asleep I can feel his emotions and right now there is so much guilt and sadness inside of him that I'm afraid that might be what does him in."
Akira leaned over a little to get a better view of what was up ahead. He gasped in amazement. It was an old temple complex with gardens and ponds and shrines of all kinds. The paths were all done up in cobblestone, a rock wall surrounded the entire perimeter of this enormous place in the woods and there was even a small dojo near the center. The sun was directly overhead, filling the entire area with a glorious light. They parked their vehicles and stood for a moment, just taking everything in.
Akira: " ~~~ Beautiful."
Valerie: "Yeah Spark ~~~ it's just like a dream."
Colonel: "Kei, just what in the name of old Tokyo are you doing back here?!"
Kei: Those tanks were chasing us for some reason, I bet they think we're terrorists or something."
Colonel: "Very funny, now what's the real reason?"
Kaneda pointed in Valerie's direction and the colonel looked. He ended up seeing Tetsuo of course, which caused the now retired military man to go ballistic.
Colonel: "What the f*** is he doing here, I thought he was dead! Is this some kind of joke?!"
Kai: "It's no joke sir, that's him. He somehow regained enough power to return to the physical plain. We found him a little while ago, they were going to lynch him and use his body for testing. He's really hurt. Can you help us?"
It was obvious to even the most simple-minded person that the Colonel was very agitated. And who could blame him? Because of this boy Neo-Tokyo was a half dead community barley able to keep most of the population from leaving its borders. It was because of him that the Colonel had decided to retire from the army and move out of the city and out into the far off countryside were few lived. He occasionally went into the city to see Kei and her friends, but that was mainly to check up on how they were doing and not for his own sake. He sometimes saw Valerie too in order to be a shoulder to cry on. He had been one of Drake's commanding officers so he felt somewhat obligated to do so. But to give help to the one who destroyed so many lives ~~~ he had no idea what to do. Then a little boy who had been sitting there next to Valerie stood up and moved from behind her bike and faced the Colonel. He then held up his hand, the hand with the tattoo on it, which immediately identified himself to the Colonel, who had now turned pale ~~~
Colonel: "How is that possible? You're ~~~ are you ~~~"
Akira: "Colonel Shikishima, I am the one called Akira, but I am also known as Spark now. Tell me, how powerful am I?"
Colonel: "You ~~~ oh my god ~~~ you're the strongest one of all."
Akira: "That is accurate. And because of that one truth, I do have some authority on what you call the power, and I can tell you right now that the power contained within Tetsuo was indeed a dangerous weapon, but no longer. The people who gave him his power thrust it onto him without any prior training and without any guidance what so ever. It therefore poisoned his mind and drove him mad, making him think that the entire earth was against him."
Colonel: "Are you trying to say that it was not his fault that he did all those terrible things?"
Akira: "He was not ready, unlike all of the other official test subjects before him."
Colonel: "What do you mean by official test subjects?"
Akira turned around and pointed at Valerie and Kai.
Akira: "Valerie with her kind and caring heart was in the Olympic Stadium looking for spare parts when I rematerialized into this world. It was in such close proximity that my energy awakened her sleeping abilities. So far she has demonstrated premonition, heightened senses, mind reading and the ability to make her aura physical. And Kaisuke just a short moment ago demonstrated a small amount of mind reading. He probably absorbed a very small fraction of Tetsuo's powers when Tetsuo killed his friend Yamagata.
Kai: "How did you know about that?!"
Akira: "I saw it of course."
Valerie: "So that's how we have powers now! Man, this is really strange and scary isn't it?"
Colonel: "Well it's going to get even scarier if we don't get out of here! I'm guessing that you guys somehow managed to scare those soldiers off, but make no mistake they'll be back. Everybody get on your bikes and follow me and my truck, I know the quickest way out of the city. You guys can stay with me until we figure out a solution to our predicament."
Kaneda: "It's better than staying here and getting blown away. C'mon guys, let's move it!"
Kei: "We'll put Tetsuo in the back of the truck. I'll load my bike in the truck as well and make sure that he doesn't get any worse than he already is."
Everyone agreed to that and in just a few short minutes the odd little group of seven people was on their way out of the city and headed towards the mountains that the colonel now called home. It was a long drive; they had to drive for about six hours to even get close to their destination. And as they drove on, signs of civilization slowly disappeared, giving way to more nature than any of them had ever seen before. Cherry blossoms flew like pink snowflakes, filling the air with their sweet scent. Despite all that had happened to them in such a short space of time there was still beauty left in the world. Cicadas buzzed and the sound of the brooks and streams was so relaxing. They now turned down a grassy path heavily shielded by trees, the sunlight from the cloudless sky streamed down through the passing leaves. Kei looked up from her crouched position in the back of the truck and called out to the Colonel.
Kei: "I'm afraid to ask this but are we there yet? He's breathing all right and I've managed to stop the bleeding but it doesn't look like he's waking up."
Colonel: "Just another mile down this path and we'll be there, then we can put him into a bed and see what else may be wrong with him."
Valerie: "I hope he'll be okay when he wakes up."
Akira: "What exactly do you mean?"
Valerie: "Even while he's asleep I can feel his emotions and right now there is so much guilt and sadness inside of him that I'm afraid that might be what does him in."
Akira leaned over a little to get a better view of what was up ahead. He gasped in amazement. It was an old temple complex with gardens and ponds and shrines of all kinds. The paths were all done up in cobblestone, a rock wall surrounded the entire perimeter of this enormous place in the woods and there was even a small dojo near the center. The sun was directly overhead, filling the entire area with a glorious light. They parked their vehicles and stood for a moment, just taking everything in.
Akira: " ~~~ Beautiful."
Valerie: "Yeah Spark ~~~ it's just like a dream."