Chapter 13
- Catalyst -

A fateful night
History will repeat
Souls will awaken, but only briefly
- The Prophecy of Ages

"It was a dark and stormy-"

"Whatcha readin', aniki?"

Kibatsurugi Kousei closed his book and sighed annoyedly.

"It's called 'A Wrinkle in Time', Mamo," he said for the fifth time. "I'm trying to read it,"

"Oh," his four-year old step-brother said. There was a pause, just enough time for him to try and start reading, before...

"What's it about?"

Kousei sighed again.

"I don't know, Mamo, I'm trying to read,"

"Oh,"

"So, what did you think of dinner, Kousei-kun?" his stepmother, Izumi asked.

"It was good," he smiled. "Say, dad? Can I go to Shigure's house tomorrow?"

"Can't say, I might have a meeting tomorrow," his father replied. "You may have to stay and watch Mamoru-kun, because your mother

has a book club meeting,"

"Aww..." Kousei whined. "Can he come here?"

"Yeah!" Mamoru said. "I like Gure-nii! Can he come over, pleaaaase?"

"I dunno..." their father said. "Izumi, what do you say?"

"I say...it's time to die!" said a voice outside the window. A man was pulled up next to Izumi's window, with a gun to her head.

"RYUU!" Taiki yelled, recognizing his old rival from his days in the mafia.

"Burn in hell!" Ryuu yelled, and pulled the trigger.

What happened next was only a blur to Kousei, but he did remember a white-hot pain in his left arm, and the heard-rending scream of his

younger brother, before everything went black.

He awoke in extreme pain, with the sound of steam escaping from the totaled engine. His left arm was crushed between what used to be

the front of the car and what used to be the back. Blood ran from four long cuts down his cheeks, and although he was in nearly

intolerable pain, he knew that he had to find where his brother was. Struggling to look around, he saw that his parents had been crushed

from the front of the car, even though they were already dead by the time of impact. Then, he saw Mamoru, pinned against the concrete

wall they had run into by a shaft of twisted steel, his hair shocked white. The whole scene seemed oddly familiar, but he didn't let that

distract him.

"HELP!" he shouted, as loud as he could. "Somebody, please help us!"

He continued, but the road was not a busy one and he expected that help wouldn't arrive for a while.

But then, he heard a rumble approach; a car. He screamed louder, "HELP! PLEASE HELP ME!"

The rumble stopped, and he heard someone get out.

"Oh my god...hey, anyone alive in here?" he heard a gruff voice say.

"Yes! I'm trapped in here! Is my brother okay?" he said frantically. "Call for help now, please!"

"I'm going to, kid, I'm going to!" said the voice. He couldn't quite see the man's face as he apprached the car on account of the broken

glass, but he managed to see he had long, black hair and well-defined, sharp features. "Just stay calm, okay?"

Kousei nodded, and promptly fell unconcious again.

The man, Gojo Katsutoshi, ran to a nearby pay phone and dialed an ambulence, before promptly returning to his car, where his 15-year

old adopted son sat in the front seat, clutching the left side of his face, where blood flowed from a cross-shaped wound.

"Murasaki..." he droned, looking out the window as they sped away. "Murasaki..."

-/-

Across Tokyo, in a shiny, modern lab, the genius Doctor Seiren made a note on his clipboard.

"Kaiko, time, please," he said.

"10:41," his wife noted. "Subject is stable and ready for testing,"

His foster daughter, Yukari, looked at the still form of her sister; hovering on the wall in front of her, suspended by the wires coming out

of her body. She had seen several of her father's experiments before, but never as advanced as her sister's case. She pulled back a strand

of green-black hair out of her face and looked at the peaceful look on her face.

"Here's to the future, imouto," she said softly.

"Subject number 0023, Seiren Kokuei," Dr. Seiren noted, speaking into a microphone on his collar. "Status; nearly complete,"

"Opening network connections," his wife said, tapping a few keys on the keyboard. The wires began to glow a soft blue color, and the

child began to open her eyes; they glowed a creepy reddish color.

"Integration complete," his wife said. "Time is now 10:43. Introducing Pharaoh programming now,"

"At last..." the doctor said, observing the progress as it was charted on the screen above. "We'll be rid of this pesky Hoste at last..."

"Hoste, father?" Yukari said, confused. "You don't sound like yourself..."

"Never you mind, Yukari," he said, adjusting his glasses.

The child prodigy looked at him a bit worriedly, chewing on her pencil, then looked at her sister. She seemed to be stirring a bit, and

moaning.

"Subject appears to be reacting to program," Kaiko noted. "Good...good..."

"Good? She looks like she's in pain!" said Yukari. "I think we should abort the experiment,"

"Nonsense, this is expected," her father said, throwing her an icy glare. "We will continue,"

Yukari looked at her father worriedly; now he really wasn't behaving himself. Despite the fact that he was using his own daughter as an

experiment, he cared for her and always stopped the experiment if she looked like she was in pain. After all, it was the point of the

experiments: painless cyberization; research for the Black Ghost company.

Suddenly, Kokuei's eyes snapped open and she screamed.

"What's going on?" Dr. Seiren said. "Mistress 9, an analysis now!"

"She's awakening!" Kaiko said.

'Mistress 9?' Yukari thought.

The child screamed again, and glared at the scientists.

"Ruthless monsters! You brought me pain, and now you must pay with your lives!" she screamed, her voice strangely warped.

Hearing the cold scream, something inside of Yukari seemed to awaken.

"Saturn, don't!" she screamed, a second soul gaining control for that small second.

But it was too late. The small child, whose body was under incredible strain on account of the machinery that made of the majority of her

body, could not hold the sleeping spirit of destruction inside her for much longer. It was released, setting the entire lab on fire. The wires

on her arms and legs snapped, and she fell to the floor. Yukari ran forward and held her tightly, and tried to get to her parents, but they

had passed out on the floor and surrounded by burning wreckage, unable to be reached. Biting her lip and struggling to breath through the

smoke, Yukari ran and tried to find a place to get out. She didn't recall how or why, but somehow, she managed to escape the lab and

collapsed outside her burning house, to the sound of the approaching emergency vehicles.

-/-

"Ahh, busy night, eh?" Officer Masaki said, taking a sip of his coffee. "All sorts of crap going on tonight; multiple-casualty car accident,

suicide, possible arson..."

Officer Kasumi Zabui nodded. "You say it like you're actually proud of it, Masaki-san."

Masaki laughed, but was interuppted by a tell-tale surge of static indicating an incoming message to the squad car.

"Patrol car 293, we have a possible homicide, think you can be there? Over."

"Homicide? Interesting!" Masaki said, his beady eyes lighting up as he took the radio. "Yes, this is patrol car 293, what are the

coordinates? Over."

"An apartment complex on 23rd street, 7th block. There are reports of a mutant, over."

"A mutant?" Zabui said absently, revving up the car and starting to drive.

"No problem. We'll be there, over," Masaki said, and put the radio on the hook. "God, Kasumi, what is it with you and those muties?"

"They fascinate me," Zabui replied, turning the wheel. "Much like murders fascinate you, I've noticed, rookie. Come on, let's go see what

this is all about,"

"Whatever," Masaki said, laughing a little. "But a homicide? We don't get those often,"

"Yeah, it is a bit odd," said Zabui. "Well, duty calls. Let's get at it."

Within minutes, they were at the scene. Several police cars had already shown up, their lights flashing blue and red, making the surreal

scene even eerier.

"Oh my god..." Masaki said quietly, whistling.

Reflecting the lights of the cars were countless spikes of ice piercing the brick and glass, some of which were stained with blood. The blue

and red reflected against the ice like some sort of demented christmas display.

"Glad to see you here, boys," the chief's voice said, as he made his way over. "We'll need all the help we can get tonight, what with all the

things going on..."

"Chief!" Zabui said. "What do you need us to do?"

"I have most people searching the building, questioning," he replied. "We need some people investigating outside; Kasumi, that'll be you.

Masaki, could you question the landlady?"

"Yes, of course," they said, nodding. The chief left, and Masaki made his way to a shivering old lady standing by the tree. Looking for

somewhere to start, Zabui thought he saw a small shadow in the alleyway near the complex. Approaching it, he saw a small child huddled

in the snow, shivering, his eyes big and filled with tears.

"Hey, you okay, kid?" he asked.

"...it's not my fault..." the child replied, his voice barely audible.

"What?" Zabui said, crouching close.

"Don't touch me! It's not my fault!" the child said tearfully, clutching his knees tighter.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Can you tell me what happened?"

The child made no reply.

"Hey, it's okay," he said, getting a little closer to the shivering child. "I-"

"I know I did it..." the child said, burying his head in his knees. "Mama told me not to...but I did...because Daddy...Daddy killed Mommy,

and I did nothing! Nothing..."

Zabui looked worriedly at the child; his expertise was in dealing with hardened criminals, not shattered children. Not knowing what to do,

he put his hand on the kid's head and attempted to smile.

"You're going to be fine..." he said, in as soothing a voice as he could manage. "I'm going to take care of you...I won't hurt you...nobody

will anymore,"

"Oh, how very sweet, Zabuza," said a cold, familiar voice. Zabui stood up, and turned to see Masaki standing there, his hands on his hips.

"Masaki?" Zabui said. "What did you just call me? Zabuza, or something? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on!" Masaki said, his skin taking on a bluish tinge (or was it just the lights?), and strange scars appearing on his cheekbones.

"You can't be that dense, Zabuza!"

Suddenly, something in Zabui snapped; another personality, another consciousness itched at his mind, begging to take control.

"Kisame, you dirty son of a bitch," he growled. "What do you want with me? Why are you here?"

"Finally, the real thing...Well, Zabuza...I'm here to...recruit you, in a way," he said, a wry smile on his face, his pointed teeth shining a

sickly yellow in the night. "Will you join me?"

"Join you? In that phony little organization of yours?" he said. "I'd rather stab myself in the eye with a shuriken,"

"...Mister, what's going on...?" the child said, looking at Kisame fearfully.

"That prodigy of yours would be a welcome addition," said Kisame, eyeing Shiro. "And you are as talented as I, so your spot is pretty

much already there among us,"

"Stop your useless flattery, and leave Haku out of this; we're not joining you," said Zabuza. "Leave us alone; we deserve a peaceful

future,"

"You're turned into a wuss, Zabuza; I'm embarrassed for you," said Kisame. "Itachi will be very displeased with you,"

"Tell that stupid bastard to leave us alone," Zabuza growled. "You got it?"

"Whatever," Kisame smirked. "But don't expect us to be gone forever,"

"I never did, now go," said Zabuza. "NOW,"

"Fine, have it your way," said Kisame, turning around. "You're missing out on a good opportunity,"

"I'm warning you..." Zabuza growled. Kisame sniffed and was gone. And just as soon, so was the fleeting fragment of Zabuza's soul from

his reincarnated body.

"Woah...what was that?" he said, staggering a bit, before gaining his senses. "Well, anyways, kid; you wanna come with me?"

"Me? Come with you?" the child said. He nodded.

"Yeah. What's the name?"

"It's Shiro, sir. What's yours?"

"Kasumi Zabui, I'm a police officer."

"It's nice to meet you, Kasumi-san," said the child. "So...are you...are you gonna tell anyone?"

"Why would I, kid? You didn't do anything, said so yourself." Zabui said, smiling a little. The child's face lit up, and he got up, standing at

his side.

"Okay, Kasumi-san. I'll come with you."

"Good boy."

Next
- Echos