The HPSC, a government organization, employs daylight Heroes and Hunters with the intention of keeping the peace and public safe from monsters and Villains. However, the general collective is unaware of another side to the HPSC; formally called "EDEN".
This facet of the governmental institution is primarily used in conjunction with world-ranking Hunters and elite political figures. The members of this branch are given special licenses and are not held down by rules like most members of society. In fact, these beings are authorized in removing corrupt officials and others deemed unlawful.
The hidden faction is divided into two categories; Cøde:Names and Cøde:Breakers.
Cøde:Breakers are considered to be of lower "ranking" than the Cøde:Names but are still given as much assistance as possible. Cøde:Names have a wide range of freedom, as they are permitted to kill whomever they please; unless ordered otherwise by EDEN. However, both are kept separate from the other. In other words, only those within the group know of their members' identities.
Cøde:Breakers are assigned and referred to by number. Their number denotes their strength; Code:06 being the weakest, and newest to join the group, and Code:01 being the strongest.
Luxu dashed silently through the thick pelting rain. His black cloak was soaked with rain but still rippled behind him, making his figure appear blurred like phantoms. His companion trailed along swiftly, eager to aid his confidant. The latest of Eden's reputable group, Koji alias Code: 06, had allegedly been assigned the same mission as an afterthought.
Although the kid wanted to be present, he was too green to be of assistance. This operation had been designated as characterized as delicate by the Chairman. The person distinguished as "Luxu" had willingly vouched for his presence and so the boy wouldn't allow himself to fail. The normally ditzy teen hadn't known how this mysterious entity had earned his agency's trust without knowing.
The plan was simple: Yukihina and his subordinates would take care of the bodies and provide as much distraction outside. Meanwhile the duo of Luxu and Koji would find and rescue the prisoner known as Mia while completing the mission they were initially given.
Upon reaching the wall of the decrepit building, the pair of agents surveyed the area and both didn't falter but instead climbed silently up the vertical surface. He admired the infrastructure as many abandoned buildings showed wear and tear, yet this, while not in an amicable state, had clearly been cared for.
Luxu could feel the intent and calls for murder through his companions due to the sentries he placed in their shadows. The man disregarded their desire for battle in favor of preserving the integrity of the imprisoned young.
At the second floor, a window was silently picked and the figures dived in with inhuman agility.
The boy removed the hood of his cloak the moment shelter was available and cast aside the garment in a series of swift movements. Luxu gave Koji a knowing look and made his way to an awaiting doorway. The redheaded silently followed after his leader to complete the objective. Grasping the doorknob tightly, he slowly turned it clockwise and pushed on it until it was slightly ajar.
Stealthily skulking into the stairwell, the duo found a man walking leisurely down the stairs, his back facing them. A moment later he was suspended by his neck with steel wire attached to the ceiling. The two left the man to dangle by his lifeline, his gurgling slowly diminishing into the silent entryway.
Slipping even more carefully up to the third floor and down the hall, the agents exchanged looks and prepared for what lay ahead.
A girl struggled harder against her bonds; hands bound behind her back and legs together. They had tied her up securely to make sure she didn't escape and left her there for who knows how long. She could remember daylight peering from beneath the doors before dying out. She could hear the drunken leers and conversation of the men outside the room.
It had given her the impression as if there was a lot of work to do in this place, in spite of the fact that they abducted a person nonchalantly. The people who captured her apparently are trying to extort her father and couldn't do anything to harm her until their objective was achieved. It was a small mercy but the relief that she relished in wouldn't last, since her situation was no less dire.
The room she had been tossed in is decorated fairly nice. Although the stench evoked a sense of danger to her. A couch and coffee table were in her line of sight, some plants decorated the corners of the room. In actuality, the extent didn't seem out of place.
She struggled harder in a last attempt to escape but the rope held tightly. Just out of her hearing range, she could make out the sounds of muffled footsteps nearing her location. When the door to her prison finally opened, she trained her eyes on her captors.
Three men were approaching and she could see some swaying back and forth in a drunken stupor.
The passage that lay before them had cots lining the far side of the wall. For an unknown reason, the younger of the two had an uneasy pit form in his stomach. A hand landed on his shoulder. With a deep breath, the youth psyched himself up for the resistance that would surely come. Stalking down the passage, both were alerted to footfalls coming in the opposite direction.
Two guards entered the narrow hallway just in time for one to have his mouth muffled and receive a knife between the ribs.
To make sure the other would be restrained, Koji forced the security against the wall and choked him. Even as he watched his partner get silently dragged out the window by the taller of their captors, the remaining man's attention was drawn towards the perpetrator holding him. He wasn't tall, in fact he was barely three inches shorter than he was in height. However, his eyes were absolutely horrifying.
Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were glowing green against an inky black sclera. Eerie viridescent light shone from the eye holes as the poor unfortunate man looked into them. He found himself reliving death a few hundred times, each more gruesome than the last.
Before his mind could fail and send him into a blissful coma, the boy holding him wrenched his arm into a painful hold rendering him on the edge of consciousness. The brief moments before his vision failed allowed him to hear a final sentence.
"Before you kill him, transmit the location of their prisoner from his mind."
Patrolling an alabaster corridor in the dead of night with flickering lights hadn't been the plan. He was meant to retire to the shared chambers of all the guards an hour ago. Where was his locum?
As the guard turned the corner, a strange coldness crept down his neck and settled along his arms. In the most haunting atmosphere he had ever felt, the man detected an anomaly. The air underwent a drastic change from earlier; as if imported from the heart of the final circle of Hell. The chilly air had been accentuated as his breath was visible and his body immediately started protesting at the temperature. The familiar sensation of goosebumps and the prickling of the hair on his body stood on end. The only sound was the man's breathing, and even that was oddly muted. His heartbeat hammered in his ears.
The fluorescent lights flickered halfheartedly, as if on their last volts. The antiseptic scent of the hospital was abnormally sharp. But all these paled next to the invading sense of nothingness that flooded the hallway. It wasn't malevolent or benign. It was neither obstructive and oppressive nor light and gentle. It was simply an empty, patient void that sucked all feeling and thought as calmly and implacably as the ocean's tides.
Death.
That's what it was. The hallway felt like Death.
"You captured a woman earlier today, did you not? Where are you keeping her?"
The detached tone in which the disembodied voice spoke cut through the entranced man's fear-stricken brain like lightning. A form emerged from the corner of his vision. The entity appeared to be young, yet acted nothing of the sort. In the time this being made an appearance, the guard was left to his mercy.
His actions were so malicious, as though he was a demon in human form. It was unnerving to say the least.
"Don't make me repeat myself," with a sickening crunch he snapped his victim's left index finger.
"S-stop! I-I-I d-don't know!"
He screamed and tried to escape but the hands that held him were like manacles of the hardest steel.
"Please, I don't know!" Struggling to be free of his psychotic captor, the guard clenched his teeth and held strong to lessen the pain. Nevertheless, the unnatural movements against his will caused him to fidget further and more actively.
"I can keep this up all night," His voice developed a sadistic edge as he snapped the man's middle finger.
"Tell me where she is being held and this can be over… or perhaps you'd rather I continue." He snapped another finger without waiting for an answer.
His victim couldn't take it any more, it was too much. The pain was something he could handle on most days but this feeling of helplessness and terror was overloading his senses. He couldn't handle it any more. "Third floor. Take a left. first door on the right side. Just please…"
There was an intense pain in his chest and then darkness claimed him.
Koji stared blankly at the dead man before him, an intricate knife protruding from his chest.
From what he gathered of his superior in the brief time he'd spent with him, Koji suspected that the cloaked man felt rage towards these humans. Using others to fulfill their own goals. Promising unimaginable value, yet falling short in order to intimidate and extort more from their victims. Blatantly endangering the innocent.
How could someone show pity to this trash for all the terrible acts they committed on others? He looked to his senior with apathy, expecting a mad desire to kill or lust for carnage. However, he was surprised because neither had been present. It felt like his heart was being gouged out if their eyes met.
'I see…'
Those nonhuman eyes that don't consider killing as murder nor life as existence. The eyes of a death god.
Those cold and calm, yet cruel eyes. For someone like himself and their organization, who are used to killing en masse, this person seemed infallible.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go." Other than a sense of urgency, there was no emotion in the man's voice.
In this world, there are things that should never be seen.
She could smell the hot, rancid breath of her captors. The staunchy smell from their sweaty, unwashed bodies and alcohol wafted over her nearly making her gag but she refused to open her mouth for even a moment. There was little she could do but tightly shut her eyes and mouth and wait for it all to be over.
The last thing she saw before squeezing her eyes shut was the nearest one reaching for his belt.
Suddenly she felt the bonds on her hands and arms loosen and without a second thought she struck out with her fist.
There was an immediate impact: a strange gurgle and a resounding thump followed by a snicker.
Gathering up the last of her courage, Nia forced an eye open to find a startling scene. A boy around her age was face first, lying on the ground in front of her clutching his groin while another stood on an unconscious man's back trying to stifle his amusement at his comrade's predicament.
The boy is dressed in formal looking attire with sneakers and a loose tie. His partner was a little more frightening. No human features were visible as a cloak as dark as night obstructed her view. From head to toe, the man was covered. Even his face appeared to be hidden by a mass of darkness. The only reason she allowed some form of trust to the two was because of her release.
Realizing that this building had an abundance of criminals, the girl tried speaking up about her imprisonment. Memories of fear and evil intent cloud her mind. She recalls being manhandled as she travelled through the hallways. The stench of blood and shrill screams encompass her.
Mia, who had been tightly snuggled against her captors body with a head covering preventing her from knowing her surroundings, traveled lethargically. As they were in this unfamiliar area, she had prayed to any god that would listen to her plea. Being subjected to the looming threat of death and assault while being led further into the unknown.
As the group travel throughout the halls, the bold whiff of blood gets heavier, many doors seemingly ajar, with the telltales of death and murder easily accessible.
After traveling a few more minutes Mia struggles relentlessly and refuses to continue. Feeling her legs give out and moaning to herself in order to pretend that she cannot continue, the girl hoped this nightmare would end. It's not as if she hadn't noticed people being knowingly slaughtered.
Someone lifts her up by the armpit and they hastily speed walk in order to catch up to our guide. The captors try making conversation with one another, but are easily ignored, not wanting to answer or give anything away.
With an audible yelp, Mia swiveled her head to meet the empty space of one of her saviors. It dawned upon her that she'd been spiralling back into the memory of her abduction.
Mia shakes her head but understands to keep composure.
All around them her captors lay on the ground unmoving.
Luxu undid the rest of her binds with swift hands while the girl tried to hold back her tears, the youngest of the three noted puddles of red liquid spreading out from under a few of her former captors. She looked up at the most powerful of them and noted a look of concern and anger in his eyes; the way he seemed to unconsciously grind his heel into the spine of the man below him added to the fact that he resented what had almost taken place.
When she gazed upon her associates who saved her, she saw another taller person enter the room not a minute later.
Flinching backwards and pretending all their gazes didn't redirect to her, the extra character whispers into their superior's ear. Nodding to whatever the taller man had told him, the person garbed in all black replied back positively. She figured that whatever commotion that took place in this building was dealt with and that it would be destroyed soon enough.
"Thankfully, we reached her in time. Had we not, well… let's not think about it." He undid the rest of her bonds and allowed his aloof yet stern gaze fall upon the scum that dared to harm his associate.
"Hey… Yuki, Koji, get her out of here. Make sure she's safe and taken care of. I'll stay behind to tie up loose ends."
His two friends shared a look that held only grim resolution. They knew what the enigmatic man was up to. There would be no survivors nor any evidence to prove anything. These common thugs had incurred his wrath for harming someone he cared for. In his eyes, that particular act was unforgivable.
He was fair and just in a majority of his actions and lifestyle, yet should you choose to poke fun at the carefully veiled monster… you had to pray to whatever gods were listening. For they will not save you from whatever hell you unleashed on yourself.
The two Elite-class had gathered Mia and carefully assisted her in walking away from the room. They weren't even completely out of the room until he spoke up once more.
"Koji, do you mind closing the door behind you? It might get a bit loud... Thanks," the young man smiled thinly.
As soon as the door closed and the trio were a few meters away, screaming could be heard. It resembled a banshee wailing for everything it was worth.
A loud crash made itself known as a bloodied figure ran into the hallway where the trio stood. Huffing in desperation, the figure hastened its pace until he reached the two males and disoriented female.
"Please! Please, save me! I don't want to die!"
An eerie silence emanated into the narrow walkway. Feeling a shiver travel up his spine. The man scampered away hoping to preserve whatever life he had left. Suddenly, a dark silhouette clutched at the man's leg, causing him to lose his balance and crash to the floor. It looked as if a shadowed hand materialized into reality and took hold of the living. The hand then dragged its victim towards the other end of the hallway that was expertly hidden by masterfully placed shadows.
The man's screams and pleads for help frightened Mia, but the two males stood rigidly. Almost as if this were something they had experience with. When the man was no longer visible, a crunch was heard and everything was silent.
Mia remained rooted to the spot, appalled that her saviors were also ruthless killers. Letting go of a breath she didn't know that she was holding. Trying to get the circulation back in her limbs, Mia gathered up her courage once again. She remembered a quote her father always reiterated to her when in public.
"You can cry and break down all you want when your work is done."
Luxu focused on a body not too far from the doorframe. He could hear hasty huffing from the body. "So, this is it? Ever since I exterminated the thugs from G-Falcon, your superiors have forced you to capture and earn more from drugs and trafficking."
"Since your business was good. Why did you believe no one would come looking for the missing persons?"
A strained voice responded ignoring the previous question, "You bastard. Which faction are you from?"
"Faction? You assume I'm part of a rival gang attempting to steal your territory? Forgive me. These members of your family will not live to see another sunrise."
Willing command over the shadows beneath and the ill-lit structure behind him, soft, muffled crackling furthered into growls and roars of creatures unseen in modern society.
Shadowy wisps of inhuman bodies slowly rose from pools of ink. Their yellow eyes trained on the crowd before them. Where a person's mouth was meant to be, they had none; a cracking was heard faintly, it resembled the crunching of bones.
A scream brought some out of their reverie. One of the creatures was feasting on the body of a grown man at least twice his size. This became the signal for the other wisps of shadow to have a mouth of teeth form from nothing and begin feasting on the people in front of them. Screams and wails were common throughout the building.
A small mercy, Luxu assumed. He watched the carnage unfolded impassively. After centuries of war and death, he had grown accustomed to the sights.
Several minutes later the trio of emancipators fled the building and escaped into the woods. A car was waiting for them at the edge of the forest along with their cloaked member. Mia was confused at first, but that feeling faded once she accepted her liberators wielded strange abilities. Piling into the car, between Koji and the third coworker, Mia slumped in the soft seating allowing her a form of rest.
Luxu pulled out a phone and dialed a number. Some moments later, a response was made. "Mission has been completed, all secondary objectives also complete. There were no casualties, an incident had occurred but that was efficiently taken care of; the scene has been doctored to suggest a drug lord or major crime boss to be the head of this network of smugglings."
Besides the boy and person nicknamed "Yuki", Mia had her eyes drawn to Luxu. Taking a closer look at him, his form didn't betray any sense of tiredness or fatigue. Unlike Koji, who exhibited a sense of weariness like a regular person, he showed no weaknesses. Yuki seemed to be in a far better state than Koji, but relayed a similar aloof mannerism.
Resting her head against the cushion of the seat, Mia let her eyes droop.
'Who are these people?'
Luxu noted the soft snores of their rescuee. It would take almost an hour of fast travel to reach the city. Once there, Mia would be heralded to the intensive care unit of a government-sponsored hospital and kept under close watch for a few days. Koji would most likely stumble to his own room and collapse onto his bed due to the high strain and stress. Yuki has his own ways to decompress and relax from a mission.
'Hm. I wonder if this is what it's like being someone's Hero.' thought the cloaked man as the group accompanied Mia to safety.
"I will talk with you in the morning," mentions Yukihina, exiting the car. He slowly turned his gaze over to the backseat of the vehicle. He memorized the ones who he accompanied with his old comrade. One had defining features while the other were only part of another successful mission. "I believe it's time for me to leave."
Luxu thanks Yuki and Koji discreetly for allowing them safe travels. Yuki smiles in his own creepy way and chuckles darkly, but said it was nice to see him again.
A/N : This series will be a bit of backstory for Luxu as he performs missions in Pre-Quirk era as well as set up future interactions with characters. Primarily posted on AO3.
