Chapter 1

It was days ago.

The cool breeze hit the seaside hotel. The black hair of a young man softly blew back and forth, almost in tandem to the continuous sounds of the crashing waves.

It was almost evening in Tijuana. The sunset radiated a breathtaking tint of orange, yellow, and purple that decorated the sky like artwork.

On the outside patio of the beachside resort sat Black Prince Alec. He wore his usual black suit and raised his glass to drink. The Scotch whiskey filled his mouth with a crisp flavor that encompassed the tides of the Irish Sea. Faithful to his tastes, it was his favorite drink, Bowmore.

He had arrived earlier that day and met with contacts that brought him to the hotel. Despite seeming to be taking a day off, he was waiting for his prey. He ordered his local contacts to call him when the package was ready for striking. In a moment's notice, he would transform into lightning and retrieve what he wished for.

"It's still hard to believe that such a brute would have the foresight to find an object that could be used against the King of the End." He remarked with distaste.

He had not yet met the 8th Campione. While under normal circumstances, he would have approached the new king to seek a possible agreement, he threw out this precedent.

The Campione had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and instantly began battling with every Campione that crossed his path. Not to mention that it appeared that he was constantly seeking new opponents like a certain tyrant of Eastern Europe. Trying to deal with such a man would only lead to wasted effort and useless conflict.

"All the more reason to simply ignore him." Alec concluded.

Just then he received a call. "My Lord, Prince Alec." The voice greeted.

"Yes? I can assume that the prey is ripe for picking." He responded.

"Not exactly my lord." The man hesitantly replied.

He furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?" He let out with an irritated tone.

"I..uh..well…" The man stuttered.

"Let me guess. While we were waiting for them to leave the compound, they escaped through some unknown means." Alec suggested.

"Yes and no sir. It appears that they have escaped through a hidden tunnel that led from the compound to outside the city limits. The trouble is there is more than one van, all of which have spread out at widely different distances with the closest at 10 miles and the furthest at 400."

Alec frowned. They must have left at a varying time intervals.

"How many are there?" Alec asked.

"Six and counting my lord."

Alec began to ponder. While the new king appeared to be a fool, it seemed that someone behind the scenes wasn't.

"Give me the coordinates for all the vans on my GPS app. I'll take care of it."

Ending the call, he saw the first target, now 15 miles away.

*sigh* "I'll have to show whoever's behind this the futility of their efforts."

He donned a mask that obscured his face and race off as lightning to the first target.

"I can't believe it! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!"

The man shouting was the driver, currently sweating profusely.

"You're not going to die. Only two vans have been compromised." His passenger explained.

'Compromised? Are you insane? They've been blown to bits by lightning strikes!" The driver retorted.

"Just calm down" the young man replied.

"Calm down? Just calm down?! Easy for you to say pretty boy, you can do magic. I, on the otherhand, can't make a toothpick break!"

The receiver of the frantic tirade was Alonso Chavez, who despite the seeming disrespect given by the driver, actually held great power in the Sixth Sun.

He had dark brown skin and sleek black hair. His silver suit fought to contain the girth of his muscles. Yet, his most striking feature was his eyes. Both stood apart from him with an electric blue glow that seemed to hypnotize anyone staring.

He sighed and looked out the front window.

It was expected that undesirables would target the incoming shipment of artifacts. Yet, while they gained a huge head start through their use of the underground passage ways secured by that one difficult fellow, the enemy had covered incredible ground. Additionally, they were able to utilize high level lightning magic. So they were dealing with either a high class, immeasurably fast enemy or a powerful and coordinated group.

The latter seemed the most probable. This meant that they were somehow being tracked. Familiars probably littered the route. He could disable familiars within the near vicinity but such an action would identify them as a prime target. Additionally, this van was carrying a very powerful artifact. For it to fall into the hand of an enemy would be disastrous. Taking those facts and possibilities into account, he made a decision.

"Look, I have a plan, but for it to work, you'll need to trust me and do what I say." He told the driver. His stern expression began to calm the driver down.

The driver looked at him with a resigned look and asked, "Alright alright. What's the plan?"

Alec landed on a plateau, returning to his human form. He looked at the GPS coordinates. The last four vans had proven to be decoys. He was becoming more annoyed. The vans had been disappearing and reappearing having covered great distances.

"Such a waste of my time." He lamented.

Still, he understood the need to be discreet in this endeavor. He didn't need to be identified in this endeavor so masquerading as lightning became the most efficient way to hide. He saw the next target, 40 miles away the GPS app stated.

*sigh* "Let's hope this one proves results."

Yet, just as he was putting his phone away, one of the vans locations became lost.

"What's this? It appears someone has finally wised up to a part of our scheme. It seems fortunate that I went through the trouble of making my connections place familiars throughout the possible routes. Well whoever it is, they may well be responsible for this goose chase."

"Still…" He added. "…to have destroyed familiars in such a vast area, they must be considerably powerful."

Alec pondered. This could very well be a trap, a red herring.

He smirked at the thought. "But against a Campione, they'll have no chance. Still, I should adequately reward them for their efforts." He transformed once again and raced off.

The blue-eyed young man quickly got out of the van. Currently, they were in an empty area within some rock formations.

He turned to the driver and ordered "Take this cave entrance. It should take you to the outskirts of Mexico City, where you should be able to easily deliver the packages. Go full speed and do not stop. I don't know how much time I can buy you so hurry!"

The driver floored the accelerator and drove off.

"Now then…" Alonso spied a clear area. He began to focus by closing his eyes. He felt 2…3…4 familiars! Two, quite close and the others spread far. He kept focus on these magical signatures.

He reached out with his hand and he chanted, "Fear the bellows of the sky. Divine Storm! Let the world hear your call!" Pulling out a great axe, a booming thunder exploded outwards like the sound of a bomb, sending a huge sound wave that destroyed the familiars.

The axe he held was a great stone axe, carved out of greenstone with carvings reminiscent of Mayan temple walls. The blade was arched with a razor jadeite edge. He slung it on his back and began leaping with great speed towards the south. Looking back, he glimpsed a small light in the sky from his periphery. "Looks like I got their attention." He spouted in a huff.

He tried to keep the distance, hoping to keep their attention but free from their grasp. Yet, just as he reached near a cactus, he leapt away as lightning smashed it apart.

"Ah, so you do posses some skill." A voice called out from the dark.

Surveying his surroundings quickly, he replied. "I could say the same for a mage who commands lightning magic which is no easy feat."

"Well, while we could stand here idly complimenting each other, I ask that you not waste my time any further for I have other matters I would like to attend to." The voice suggested in a contemptuous tone.

Alonso gritted his teeth. "Arrogant aren't we?" He let out. "Well I'm afraid you will have to prepare for a delay as I am not one so easily defeated." His eyes darted around trying to pinpoint the voice's location.

*sigh* "Look, save me time and hand that package you are concealing behind your back. I can easily take it but I offer you the chance to give it to me out of mercy. Now hand it over." He commanded.

Alonso was surprised. The enemy had noticed he was concealing. But that last sentence was all he needed and he located a dark figure, lurking behind a cactus. It apparently was wearing a magical shroud of some kind as he couldn't make out any details.

"Sorry to disappoint you…" He readied his axe, looking at the direction opposite of the figure. "…but I REFUSE!" With blinding speed, he twisted and lunged at his real target with his axe ready to cleave.

*SWISH*

He swung but was shocked. He missed!

"Well, I think I'll take my leave. I've already gotten what I came for." The voice haughtily declared as he began to casually toss a box in the air.

Wide eyed, Alonso frantically felt around for the box on his person. It was taken! But how?!

"Pray that we don't meet again." The figure threatened.

Alonso lunged once more but his axe hit only air.

The thief was gone.

"Such incredible speed!" He marveled.

The after a moment, he then began to laugh. "I hope that package is to his liking!"

Turning off his godspeed, Alec found a nice rock near a cave.

"That was easy enough. Now then.."

Opening the box, a great explosion rippled through the area, sending Alec flying into the cave. He could faintly hear the laughing of his former opponent in the distance.

Brushing himself off, his face scrunched up.

"I should teach that fool his place!"

Yet looking at the ground, he spotted tire tracks leading further inside the cave.

"It appears I will have the last laugh." He transformed into lightning and shot further inside the cave.

Within seconds, he reached the van and sped past it. The van's brakes screeched and it came to a stop.

With his disguise, he approached the van. "Look, I've had a bad night. Get out of the van and surrender or else face the consequences." He ordered.

The driver was trembling. He stretched his hand out and just as he was about to neutralize the protective barrier around the van, his phone rang.

"Yes what is it? I'm very busy right now….What?"

"My deepest apologies my lord, but it appears that the package that contains the artifact has arrived in the museum. We saw it as they brought it in along with its sacred box."

"Tch!" He smacked his lips. "To think it has evaded me this far."

Breathing a tired sigh he concluded, "Well let's improvise."

Once again the lightning sparked out and rushed to exit the cave. The driver sat in his seat, still trembling. Shaking, he started up the car to complete his delivery.