December 2nd, 2055
"No," the king said firmly. "I'm afraid that's not an option." He sets his mug of tea down and looks at his visitor with a stern look in his eyes. "As much as your reasoning makes sense, I'm afraid that I can't allow that to happen. A nuke… absolutely not. Japan… it already suffered two nuclear explosions back in World War 2 and they're left without a proper military, unlike other countries. They are… they are defenseless and no matter what, I will not use my resources to make someone feel defenseless, especially if they're indirect victims."
Brooks nods solemnly. "I understand. I understand your trepidation, Your Majesty, but… as a king, you can't please everyone. As a leader of a country, you have to put your people first, no matter what. A good leader, no, a true leader, looks after his people. He looks after the people who rely on him, depend on him, admire him, and love him. A king isn't just a man, a kind is a title of someone who is all-loving, someone who… who thinks of souls. The souls of those who matter the most to them. A king should… a king is the one thing the people need most, especially now, with this Hydra war. You have to be there for your people."
The king nods again before clicking his tongue. "It is because I care for all souls that I will not unleash a nuclear missile on Japan or anywhere near Japan. It is easy to look at the big picture when you have a title like a brigadier but you can only see the big picture in the military conflict. Your job is to complete your mission and to follow your objective. Worrying about the souls of everyone in our country, that's my job, not yours. Please, I don't expect you to understand my line of thinking but I just want you to know where I stand. I do not approve of Kira, no, and I'm still hesitant to sit here in and pretend to be dead when I know my people need me but this is war. Yes, this is war but there have to be bright spots in war and a nuke is anything but a bright spot."
"Even with that giant mushroom cloud?" Brooks manage to smile a bit. "I'd say a nuke is nothing but a bright, shining, shooting star. If you watched one go off with your own eyes, you'd believe me."
The king chuckles. "You saw a nuke go off, mate?"
"On TV."
"Fiction?"
"Fiction."
The king licks his lips. "I appreciate you coming all the way here but… I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline. Sorry, not sorry but I will not unleash a nuclear missile unless I have no other choice. Besides, whatever Kira's power is surpasses any weapon on earth. If I launch a nuke, I would be causing nothing more than unnecessary collateral damage."
Brooks nods. "I understand. And… you're giving me no choice right about now."
"And what choice would that be?"
Brooks reaches into his jacket.
Stepping out of the bunker after adjusting his shirt, he sees Lady Inda chatting with some security guards while sketching their faces. Upon seeing Brooks stand before her wearing his Hydra mask, she immediately freezes up.
The security team quickly checks inside the bunker before closing it. They look at Brooks and nod to him.
"Have a good one, mates." Brooks tilts his head to them before walking to Lady Inda. He grabs her by the wrist and leads her away.
Lady Inda notices a blood stain on the inside of Brooks' jacket. "What happened?"
Brooks smiles behind his Hydra mask. "I spilled ketchup; how klutzy of me." He grabs the sketchbook out of her hands and studies the pictures. He narrows his eyes over them before looking at the artist. "These are good drawings. I'm going to post them online. Now come on, let's get moving."
Lady Inda gulps before following him nervously.
When they get through the checkpoint, all of their belongings are returned to them before they leave the bunker.
"I am Hydra," Brooks tells himself before looking in the mirror. "I am Kira's enemy and his inside man at the same time." He smiles. "I will be Kira's Messiah. I will be the one to save Kira. I am already on a one-way trip to death's door."
Lady Inda looks at him, trying to listen in on what Brooks is muttering. "Why are you doing this?"
"You really shouldn't have made your face public," Brooks tells her. "You know, because your face is public, Kira can use you as leverage whenever he wishes. This is the path you chose and this is the conseuence you will face. No, this is the consequence you will suffer."
Lady Inda gasps and shuts her eyes, hoping that all of this is just a dream. She thinks back a few days and remembers when Brooks first showed her his social media, the messages he got on Facebook, and Kira's social media. To everyone else, it looked like a random list of names, but upon closer examination, she saw something that horrified her.
Linda Atwater.
That was her real name. Kira somehow figured out her real name.
Regret flooded her as she realized that she put herself in Kira's crosshairs by making her face public. It took decades and even though she did nothing, she still ended up becoming a pawn in his twisted game. She wanted to curl into herself and cry - the utter humiliation of such a rookie mistake almost taking a toll on her that she almost died of a heart attack… a natural heart attack.
When Brooks showed more of the posts and the secret messages hidden in the list of names, Lady Inda was one step closer and closer to almost passing out. She still wanted to curl into a corner and cry herself to sleep. She never wanted this; she just wanted to live the life of an artist and now, she's aiding and abetting an accomplice of Kira.
Brooks revealed himself to be not only Hydra but also Kira's personal chosen warrior to aid him in this war. She never revealed any details but Brooks told her that if she refused him or if she compromised him in any way, he would tell Kira and Kira would control her. He won't just control her, he will humiliate her so she'll be remembered as nothing more than a woman who died in the slowest, most painful, most embarrassing way possible in a public place on live TV for the entire world to watch.
Knowing that Kira can control people, Lady Inda knows that Kira has the means and supernatural resources to back this up.
But, there was a silver lining.
Brooks reveals more of the messages and reveals that Kira will reward her handsomely if she helps Brooks and keeps quiet about whatever happens next.
I'm sixty-one, she tells herself, I've been living in Kira's shadow almost all my life. I… I did not reach the age of sixty-one to die from a Kira-induced heart attack.
She thinks back to the kids back in the orphanage she grew up with. She remembered being trained to become L's successor but she never had it in her. She asked L what he wasn't good at or something that he was scared of. He didn't answer the first one because he believed that he was good at everything but the second one was answered as monsters. L explained to her and all the kids what the worst kind of monsters are and how he was a monster. That response stuck with her for a long time, maybe even her whole life, and it never went away, no matter how far she distanced herself between the orphanage and her new home.
She also heard that the orphanage was burned down so… she was kinda happy. She did not enjoy the kids there, nor the guy running the place. She didn't enjoy the presence of other children. Maybethat's why she never had kids of her own and now, if she makes one wrong move-
No, if I have a heart attack, it will be because of natural causes, not supernatural causes.
Swallowing her fear, she opens her eyes and gets ready to assist Brooks in his mission.
December 3rd
Getting off of work early, Rain discards her jacket on the carpet and heads for the living room. She waits patiently for her two younger brothers to get home as Gintik Hagmay materializes behind her.
"You should clean up your jacket; it's bad for you to make a mess."
Rain scoffs. "If only I had a ghost-like presence to help me clean up after me."
"Haha, nice try, Rainy."
Knock, knock, knock.
Rain looks over her shoulder. "Any chance you can get that for me? Please... papa?"
Gintik Hagmay laughs and floats over to the door. He opens the door and lets the twins in. "Hey there, cowboys, showtime tonight."
ArchAngel steps in and heads to the fridge only for Rain to beat them to it.
"Gentleman, Archer, now is the time for history to be made." She pulls out a carton of cranberry juice and grenadine. She then removes three wine glasses from the cupboard and pours herself cranberry juice and grenadine for her twins.
They take the wine glasses and head over to the couch.
"Being Kira is not easy when you have henchmen working for you." Rain almost takes a sip of her drink before stopping her. "Right, Dad?"
"Right," Gintik Hagamy rolls his unseen eyeballs.
Rain picks up the remote. "Thank god for satellite TV." She switches to live British coverage in London.
Brooks - or Hydra - steps up to a podium to make a live announcement to the world. With his Hydra mask tight around his face, there's not a sliver or crevice on any part of the rubber mask to show the skin of his face.
"Kira," Brooks begins in a deep, intimidating voice.
Rain's hair and eyes turn gray. "You know what to say, our beloved Hydra."
"Kira, this battle between us, going back and forth, I... I am so sick and tired of this. We must've been going at this for a month and no one made any progress. We are on the verge of WW3 so... unfortunately, you leave me no choice. For the sake of humanity, a sacrifice must be made and I will make that sacrifice. Kira, I declare nuclear war on Japan."
Angel gasps suddenly and almost chokes on his own bile before Archer pats him on the back.
"Compose yourself," Rain urges, "Angel, Hydra is ours to control; he is our agent, our self-destructive weapon."
Hydra continues. "I didn't want to do this but you leave me no choice. Kira, you started this, but now, I'm going to finish this."
Rain mutes the TV as Hydra is escorted off by his bodyguards as he's ambushed by reporters and hecklers.
"What have we done?" Archer asks curiously rather than in horror.
"We started a war to end a war," Rain explains. "But things will still go our way. Now, drink." She takes a sip of her cranberry juice.
The twins intertwine their arms like a snake around a pole and sip their grenadine.
December 4th
Without waiting another second, Brooks sits in the King's office and pulls out a radio. With his bodyguards and security outside with only Hydra in the room, he was left with some privacy as he enacted the next part of the plan.
"Silo 011-415, come in, this is Hydra. I say again, this is Hydra. Silo 011-415, check your inbox, you've got mail coming your way."
He opens up the king's computer before looking at the piece of paper in his hands. He types in the codes before sending the codes to the Silo. Five minutes later, the radio comes to life.
"Brigadier Hydra, this is Silo 011-415, requesting Kingpin's Authorization."
Kingpin is the codename for Her Majesty's authorization. Good, I have the codes memorized.
"7411981123005-Alpha-Gamma-Whiskey-510205-Green-Blue-Orange-Red-1."
"Authorization: Accepted. Awaiting verification."
Nothing to do but wait. But they will verify it.
"Verification: Accepted. Authorizations Gamma-Set and Gamma-Thunder required."
Brooks removes and installs a thumb drive into the computer and uploads the king's fingerprints and retinal scans."
"Authorizations: Accepted. Verification: Pending."
Brooks smirks.
"Gamma-Set and Gamma-Thunder Auhrotzation: Accepted. Missile: Type."
Brooks smiles. Now we're getting somewhere. "Intercontinental Ballistic Missile."
"Copy. Target."
He tells them the coordinates.
"Target confirmed. Blast yield?"
"Low."
"Airburst?"
"Affirmative."
Brooks feels his adrenaline spiking and he barely manages to contain himself before the voice on the other end continues.
"Time of launch?"
"6:45 PM, UTC."
"Confirmed."
That's three minutes from now.
"Requesting Final Authorization."
There, now... it's time for us to get shit done. I've sent them the verification codes of all kinds and now, it's time to send them the nuclear launch codes.
"Rat-5-0-Beta-1-3-Kilo-Kilo-Alpha."
"Verification: Pending. Verification: Accepted. Codeword?"
"God."
"Codeword: Accepted. Launching ICBM at intended target in T-Minus, two minutes."
Yes, Brooks smiles.
"Missile launch in five..."
"...four..."
"...three..."
"...two..."
"...one."
Somewhere far away from the king's palace, a nuclear missile silo opens and an ICBM is launched. Shooting up into the sky like a rocket, the nuclear missile disappears in the air, adjusting its course as it heads in the direction of Japan.
A/N: One chapter left. I'll see you guys and gals on Saturday.