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A short story that turned into a long mess
Topic Started: Apr 23 09, 1:44 AM (1,906 Views)
Lenna Suzaka
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Supreme Goddess of the Ten Heavens
Pwease continue.
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RazorStar
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I will, thank you. (How did you know I'd get my chapter done today?!)

Chapter 7: Mindfield

The sun was out but the weather was real cold today, lights flashing, sirens roaring, not a good day to be where I was, but that's fate for you. Everything happens for a reason, human action is the inevitable conclusion to all rational thought in the universe, and I'm still trying to say the world is a sphere of chaos. Until I found the truth that is, in the hands of a short Japanese man who claimed he had known it all. Information on people isn't so hard to come by I guess, identity theft is common place, you throw a dart in a room of people and one in every three times you hit a guy who had his credit information stolen once. So why am I here? Why is this location relevant? If I had to guess, it would be the actions of those responsible for my body, Satoshi Dias and Capricia Lyon. My throat was swollen but I definitely could taste the slow trickle of whatever I ate last, and the air definitely smelled a little off.

There was the contradiction. Two people knocked out cold, still breathing fine, but oblivious to all that was around them. I wonder if the only difference was that their eyes were closed while mine were open. The shock of realization came upon me and I fell to my knees. Like a tidal wave all that had happened had been ingrained in my mind. The Duskon were in this person to my left, and to my right is my girlfriend Capricia Lyon. This man was infected… controlled maybe? Those shadows happened to be a weak point, but only when they assumed a real form.

The things that came rushing back… what? This hasn't happened yet! What am I…? What is this? No… this can't. I've got to stop this future from happening. I finished my collapse and fell to the ground. What is this… power?

---

"So this is the airport huh, been a while since I've been in one" J remarked casually, looking at the wandering bags and people. "My dad used to go on a lot of vacations to exotic locales, but it hasn't been the same since he left." He laughed, "You hear about crazy security has become and you can't even relax here anymore."

Heath tapped him on the shoulder. "You're going the wrong way J, private flights are this way."

J looked at him patiently, "Why am I leading the way anyway? Shouldn't you be doing that? After all you do know where we're supposed to be going."

"I'm more comfortable if you take the lead." He said quietly, "but even I can read the signs on the ceilings."

"Yeah well, I'm a bit distracted." J looked over at the crowds and opened his ears to walls of noise, echoing like thunder. "Never figured it'd be so damn loud in here."

The red haired boy nodded in agreement, and reluctantly drifted off to where they were supposed to go. Their approach to the destination was swift, as they came across a person they weren't expecting to see. The man's blue-gray eyes were boiling with rage as he stomped toward J.

"Hey asshole!" He shouted quite loudly, loud enough to get a few awkward glances from people walking by. "That was some fine acting back there, but you forgot one thing."

J looked at him blankly, taking notice to the headband tied around his head, he was almost unfamiliar, but J wasn't about to forget that voice any time soon. "I thought my improv was excellent Sage, but please tell me what I missed."

Sage's cheek twitched uncontrollably as he tried to compose himself. "What those cops would do after you made your daring escape. I had to be brought in for questioning. Two of those guys seemed alright letting me go free, but that third cop, Jimsomethingorother, wouldn't have it. Anyway long story short, I got brought into holding for a long time before some mysterious guy bailed me out and drove me over here."

"Well everything turned out alright, so I don't see the problem here." Heath chimed in with a scowl on his face.

"Why are you fighting his battles?" Sage responded. "Can't you deal with your own problems J?" Sage looked back to see that J was not standing where he was before, and instead staring down Sage's rescuer. "J! What the heck are you doing?"

But Junius was not listening to Sage's protests; instead he was eerily focused on this mysterious man. His suit was rich, his shoes were rich, but he was giving off a stronger aura than any typical businessman ever could. If anything it was warm and soothing, a very charismatic smile was drawn on his professionally sculpted face. He was…

"You must be Junius Gibson am I correct?" He spoke with a calm measured tone, letting his charisma act in every word. "You seem intent on studying me, so you should at least know who I am." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his business card, gently handing it to the young man.

"I see, Mr. Zerick Aldaune… There is something very unsettling about you."

Sage grabbed him by the shoulder. "Don't be so rude to people you've never met, you wonder why people don't like you. This is the guy who got me out of Holding, and is actually a very nice person, so try showing some respect."

"Ah, relax, relax boys. You don't need to show me respect if you don't want to, I don't exactly need it." Brushing off J's cold words like they were nothing he gestured to the gate off in the distance. I think we'd be better off relaxing in the plane instead of standing in this busy terminal. You guys are like my employees, so I expect you to get along."

"Employees?" That one word struck a nerve in J's psyche. "I hope this isn't just a business venture for you. These things called Duskon, or shadows, or whatever they are… are not something that can be capitalized on."

"I'm sorry?" Zerick replied dumbfounded, "I'll use my words more carefully then. Consider yourself an army, or a police force if it suits you better, I'm simply here to make sure the law and money are no problem in stopping this Duskon threat. I'm a businessman by nature, so I hope you'll forgive my error. I know what these creatures can do, I don't want to make it seem like I don't care."

"Don't worry about it." J sighed, "I've got some more issues, but we might as well get on this plane so I don't change my mind about joining you on this mission. I'm sorry for my harsh words, Mr. Aldaune."

Glad that they could come to an agreement, Zerick and the three youths walked off towards the plane, and after a quick security check, the quartet was free to go. Everything began to progress smoothly once again, and J and Sage were even able to relax in each other's presence.

---

Everything was alright for once, for some reason I felt unnaturally calm in this plane, with my worst enemy, a business man with what seemed to be a lot of clout and someone who would be best described as a red haired hunter. I was relaxed, but very slightly disturbed, like the nagging feeling you get when something bad is going to happen.

I kicked back and took a look around, the plane was well made, incredibly spacious for the small amount of people on this flight, truly an excess of money was being shown here. Was the man just trying to impress us, or did he really have so much money that flying on a private jet was considered everyday life for the man. There seemed to be a whole kitchen in the back of the plane, and some high quality chefs as well. I stalked around a bit, checking the aisles and other things to see what was around. Unfortunately, there was nothing of interest so I slumped back into one of those comfy chairs, and almost immediately fell asleep. It was going to be a long flight anyway, might as get a bit of sleep.

As I closed my eyes I began to hear the voice again, the person who had claimed to know me personally. Instead of my thoughts being intruded, I seemed to be seeing the world through this person's eyes. He was looking straight into the deep blue eyes of a young woman, and he seemed to be murmuring sweet nothings as he moved his lips closer to her ear. Judging by her reactions, the move seemed to work on her, breaking down her defenses. He softly licked her earlobe, and a large shock seemed to erupt in the pair.

I'm starting to feel a bit like a voyeur… anyone want to tell me what's going on? Nothing... but a drip of water seemed to echo. Drip. Drip. Drip. The sounds of water became a bit louder now, until the sound stopped completely. I turned to my left and saw an old man's face, covered in wrinkles and liver spots. I let out a loud gasp and tried to calm myself.

"Ho, didn't mean to scare you my boy." He tapped on the ground with a long wooden cane. "I wasn't expected another protector to gain access to my head so easily."

"I didn't do this on purpose. I just came across here by accident I swear." Panicking, looking for one phrase to calm me down. "How did I get here anyway?" I asked, hoping for the calm emotions to take over.

"How indeed." He said while stroking his marvelous beard, "Well I left the door open, so naturally anyone who wanted to could get in." As if out of nowhere he materialized a table and sitting room out of the empty space. The window in the room had shown everything this man was seeing. It was raining outside, and it looked like there was a lot of blood around. "Welcome, young protector to the head of Cyrus Parise, I'm sure if he was unconscious he'd be glad to see you again."

That wasn't right, I thought. I didn't know any Cyrus Parise, and I definitely didn't know this location. The only thing familiar about this place was hiding in the shadows of Cyrus' eye. The old man with the beating stick, Satoshi Dias was smiling and congratulating him, from the looks of it. There were sounds of the outside in this room, only sights it seemed.

"Again? I think you have me confused with somebody else, I've never met this person."

"Hohoho, that's what they all say. But you were young, and little kids don't have very good memories" He said, justifying his opinion with a degree of arrogance. He smiled and pointed his cane at my forehead. "Well, my only goal here was to provide 'confusion' so I'm going to forcibly remove from here. You should probably close your eyes, kid." He was about to strike but suddenly stopped. "Oh yeah, you should try to be nicer to that red headed kid, otherwise you might regret it." I felt the hard point of the cane hit me right between the eyes. A large flash soon followed and I felt like I was being ripped apart from the point where his cane made contact. The sensation subsided almost instantly, but when I opened my eyes, I was back on the luxury airline, cold and awake on the leather seat.

---

"How long was I out?" J asked the redhead sitting next to him.

The younger boy turned his head to J and mumbled that it had been about seven hours. Seeing that a magazine had taken his attention away again, he didn't bother to say anymore to Heath. Looking over to the front of the plane he saw Sage and Zerick playing a game of chess. While J didn't really know the game himself, from their expressions alone, he could tell that Sage was in a bit of a pickle.

Sage's brow furrowed as he moved his pawn forward, slowly releasing his hand of the piece. Zerick acted in haste and knocked the pawn away in just a few seconds. J decided to get up from his seat and watch closer, but Sage was already in Checkmate.

"You're pretty good for a young kid." Zerick said as he packed away the travelling chessboard. "I mean, you even removed half my pieces, that's no small feat against someone as talented as I am."

Sage shook his head, "No, I can't help but feel like you were just baiting me with those pieces, I was too aggressive moving in and you slaughtered me."

J jumped in, "So how are you guys doing?" He reached out and tapped Sage on the shoulder, "Having fun without me?"

Sage shrugged and looked back at the younger one, "Actually, yeah I am. Have a nice nap?"

"A weird one" J said as he reminisced, "and if I can remember it so vividly, I doubt it was much of a dream."

Zerick seemed intrigued and leaned in towards the conversation, "Something interesting happen in that dream? You aren't having any sort of health issues are you?" He seemed concerned as he asked these questions in a calm and caring tone.

"My health is fine," J said while pulling up a seat right beside Sage, "But the dream was a little weird." He clasped his hands together as he told the pair all that had happened. Sage merely gave a raised eyebrow and a confused look, but Zerick seemed to understand completely.

"Cyrus Parise, huh?" Zerick seemed to remember who that was pretty quickly. "A-ha, another one of the protectors, I am amazed that you were able to establish a mental link with a person you've never met!" He reached down into a briefcase and began pulling out folders of different people's personal status, medical charts, and other general information, including Sage and Junius, until he came up with Cyrus' file. "Yeah, if you want to find out more about this guy or any other protector, feel free to read through these."

Sage seemed a little stunned that this complete stranger had all of his personal information and quite a few other people's info as well. "This is an invasion of privacy, I can't go through these!"

J on the other hand had already scooped up the file on the person's head he invaded and was going through everything. "22 years old, Son of an oil tycoon…" He mumbled skimming through the files, saying whatever popped up as interesting just a bit louder than the rest. In a stream of ideas, the contents on the folder were for the most part memorized. "You sound like a whiner Sage, it's free information."

"Yes, free information is well and good" Sage explained, "but the stuff in here is at least somewhat private!" He glared at J, who had his hand quickly retreating from Sage's file. "Don't look at that, or I'll go through yours." The threat was enough to keep J away from Sage's file, but his curiosity didn't stop him from viewing all of the other files sprawled out on the table. A total of twelve were on there, as Heath's file did not seem to be with the rest of those.

"Yes, of course Heath's file would not be in that group." Zerick seemed to read J's mind. "These dossiers were for me to get information on potential protectors, and since Heath was already with me prior to this needed recruitment, I didn't need a file on him."

"Makes sense." J said, accepting the explanation. "So are all of these people who actually succeeded?" He asked as he picked out one of the files at random.

"Yes, all of these are protectors who survived the initiation. You'll be working with each of them, so you might as well get to know a bit about them."

Sage pushed the files towards Zerick, and more importantly away from J. "The names are enough, thank you. If these people want to reveal this information, then that's fine, but I can't let a person like J continue viewing these."

"Fair enough." Zerick happily accepted the files back, ignoring J's pouts. "Most people I deal with don't have much in the way of moral fiber, so it's nice to see it in the youth of today." Pulling out a blank sheet, the man scribbled a few things quickly and handed them to Sage. "Here are the names of all of the protectors, Sage."

Sage took out the list, and read it calmly and slowly. "Junius Gibson, Sage Valdez, Heath Aldaune, Kefir Rahal, Marshall Freedan, Cyrus Parise, Capricia Lyon, Jennifer Barton, David Myung, Linda Sykes, Graham Fisher, Stephen Edwards and Arianna Venisk… what?"

"Venikosnova." Zerick corrected, "She's half Russian."

"Ooh, I like Russians." J said lewdly, with a wide grin.

Zerick shook his head, "She's also 10 years old. Sorry J."

J leaned back in his seat, "No big deal." Peeking over at the watch on Sage's wrist, something occurred to J. "Hey, what's our E.T.A. anyway? We've been up here for about 8 hours."

"We're not too far now, should be about an hour before we land in Naples. After all, this is one of the fastest commuter planes in existence." Zerick extended his arms in marvel of the flying piece of metal. "From there we'll take a boat to Sardinia, no airport on the isle, so we make due."

"I see. It's Zerick, right?"

"Yeah. What is it, J?"

"I need to ask you a question. What, exactly do you do?" J started to explain his line of reasoning, scratching a lone beard hair, "You have the jet, an incredible amount of technology, the influence to bail someone out of jail, and you can't possibly be any ordinary citizen. Who are you?"

"Ah, that is the million dollar question is it not. Very well, I can explain this one very easily. Wall-Shop, Excess Mobile, General Titanium, LO&L, Moogle, Lockter and Ramble, along with many more companies are all under my influence. What I say to do for these companies, they do. I head these companies, but they can run effectively without my guiding hand. I just get a good cut from each."

Sage gasped in shock, "Those are all fortune 500 companies… you must be making in the billions each year."

Zerick smiled, "The important thing is that I'm spending billions each year as well. At the stage I'm at, all that money is essentially going to be cycled back to me. It's a little arrogant to say, but the world's economy would collapse if not for me.

J seemed to be in shock too, "That's ridiculous… how can the world's resources be so unfairly distributed like that." Suddenly an idea flashed for J, "Couldn't you end world hunger with that cash, stop war, you know save the world?"

Zerick looked at him blankly, "What do you think this protector project is? A joke? This is how I'll help the world, by ridding evil from existence. Someone of my wealth is obligated to do this much for the world, and you're the process in which I'll do it. Don't accuse me of not caring for this world."

J seemed downtrodden and backed off. "I'm sorry." He said quietly under his breath. "I'll leave you two be, I need to check something out." With that J slumped away from the pair and went back to where he was originally sitting.

As Zerick was just beginning to relax, his cellphone started ringing. "This is Zerick", he said calmly as he answered. "What's happening, Marshall?"

"The issue you wanted us to check out, it was a Duskon strike… I haven't seen things this horrible even on the battlefield. We've cleared out most of the Duskon, but their leader escaped."

"I see." Zerick said with no change of inflection, "I'm going to be in Naples in about 45 minutes, do you want to hold tight there and give me a full report later?"

"Can do. There's something very disturbing that I can really only say in person. Goodbye for now." The phone clicked off and settled back into Zerick's pocket.

A bout of curiousity got the best of Sage, "Marshall is one of our comrades right? What's going on."

Zerick reached back into the travelling chess set and pulled out a white and black rook, "One of the more powerful Duskon has been located. You may need to get ready to fight after we disembark. Tell J and Heath to get ready, I'll go alert the pilot."

Sage understanding the seriousness of this quickly rushed over to were J and Heath were. "You guys, we may be encountering more Duskon soon.

Heath looked up from his reading material and said in a excited tone, "I've been waiting for so long, it's always nice to come back home!" A wide slasher like grin materialized on his face, as the plane started circling around the city. Waiting to touch down in the minefield.
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RaeMina
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Let me be your sword and your shield
So you say that Satoshi has a magnificent beard?

I'll show you magnificent


Anyway, keep it up~ *thumbs up*
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RazorStar
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Whoa! It's Cousin It!
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RaeMina
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Let me be your sword and your shield
XD yup, but there thousands of magnificent beards out there. I think they even have some sorta union thing too >>
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RazorStar
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Chapter 8: Caught in a Web

"Preparing our descent, please fasten your seatbelts and turn off all electronic devices." The pilot's smooth voice rang out over the intercom. The runway is surprisingly clear, so we'll be quick to touch down. The current weather in Naples is a cool 12 degrees Celsius with an 80% chance of rain." The nearly silent click signaled that the pilot had shut off the communicator and was wholly focused on landing.

"Air traffic control, this is Z-O-1-1-0 Dieci, preparing for landing, do you copy?"

The pilot and co-pilot waited for 15 seconds, but got no signal. "Looks like you're gonna have to land this thing without help, Jeff." The blonde copilot stated, fiddling with a few of the switches to prepare for landing.

"Ha, I love challenges." The black haired pilot scoffed at the supposed difficulty. "With this plane, and you by my side, we can do the impossible, Julie. Landing a plane without support is cake for an ace pilot like me."

"Dieci maintaining a steady course, speed in the green, descent matching standard levels." The copilot stated, as if each sentence fragment was a checklist to a perfect landing.

"Landing gear initiated." Jeff pulled the crank for the landing gear to come out, and the copilot made necessary adjustments to the flaps on the plane's tail and wings. Going perfectly, and nearing the ground, Jeff tilted the nose up. "Begin flare, Dieci maintaining a steady course.

"Brace for impact." They both said over the intercom as the front wheels of the landing gear hit the asphalt, and gave a little bit of a bounce, before settling onto the runway. The plane shook a little as Jeff slammed on the brakes to slow the machine down. The plane slowed a steady stop in a matter of seconds. Taking some time to catch their breaths, Jeff waited a while before reaching for the intercom again.

"Well, we've made a safe if not a little bumpy landing. You may now exit the plane, please be careful when opening overhead containers as the contents may have shifted. Please have a nice day." Jeff shut the intercom off and sighed. "We did it baby, another amazing landing from yours truly."

"If you wanted it to be amazing you'd have got the landing gear to roll perfectly and not bounce us up a few feet." Julie said coldly, while Jeff acted like he was hurt.

The two were interrupted by a knocking on the cockpit door. "It's Zerick. Can I talk to you two?" the pilots gladly complied and opened the door for the owner of the plane. While they were talking they watched as the other passengers took off. The red haired one, Zerick's son, walked off the plane with a big smile and his hood over his head, and the black haired youth, and oldest of the three other passengers, stopped to say thank you to the pilots before departing. The brown haired kid seemed to be lost in his own thoughts as he got off the plane like his golden eyes were staring into another dimension.

"Well, at least they aren't punks." Jeff thought to himself, as he snapped back to the conversation at hand.

"So how is the Dieci?" the older man asked. "I noticed the landing was er… not quite up to your usual standards."

Julie stepped in, "That's the weird part… we didn't get any air traffic support as we landed. Doing it without any support is difficult, even for experienced pilots like us."

Zerick looked a little surprised, but it didn't seem like he hadn't considered the possibility. "I understand. Excellent landing, Mr. and Mrs. Barrow, once again I am amazed by your skills."

"You embarrass me with your flattery." Jeff smiled and tried to shrug off his kind words. "So, what do you really need, Boss?" He said, getting right down to business.

Zerick took some time to consider his words. "How long do you think it'll take for you to get back up in the air again? And how far will the Dieci get you?"

"We've got enough fuel to get us to Berlin safely and any other cities about that distance away." Julie replied, as she looked back at the fuel gauge.

"Considering the runway is empty, I could get us up in fifteen to twenty minutes." Jeff added. "Enough time for us to go over any checks we need to do. Are you coming with us, sir?"

Zerick shook his head and began to leave the cockpit. "Please make sure you head out as soon as possible. Head away from the Mediterranean Sea though, Berlin is probably the best place." He stopped to stick his head back in the plane, "and if you don't get moving I'll be docking your pay." Zerick hopped out without a word after that.

Jeff shrugged and shook his head. "Well I don't want to lose money for doing nothing, let's get our baby in the skies again." He turned to nudge his wife but he was just nudging air.

"I'm way ahead of you dear!" She shouted from outside the plane's cabin. "Just getting the crew ready to fly again… they know what's at stake." Jeff smirked, and made his move to the cockpit, flipping a few switches. He shuddered with anticipation as he waited patiently for everyone to get ready to go.

---

The sights were horrifying, as the trio had got off the plane and began moving into the core of the city. Sage did his best to hold the overwhelming feeling of vomiting, as he scanned the streets filled with blood and pieces of corpses thrown about.

"Watch your step." J said callously as he stepped over what appeared to be loose intestines. The desire to puke was too overwhelming for Sage, as he looked into the scared eyes of the torn apart person. It was a little girl.

"This is horrible." Sage said, not even wanting to open his eyes and look at what was around him. J was dead silent, but he kept eyes set on scanning everything around them. He wanted to burn this into his memory, so that'd he never forget why he was here.

Heath had been leading them down the street suddenly stopped in front of a destroyed car. "This is… excessive, even for most Duskon. More than likely it is a powerful one leading many. If the leader hasn't already fled, leave him for me." He cracked his knuckles a bit and shook some dust out of his eyes.

"You think if we find this guy, we're just gonna leave him to you?" J said defiantly, "These monsters won't know what hit them."

Sage listened to the younger people beside him argue about who would get the Duskon's head, but he caught something moving out of his corner his eye. He turned his head and saw the quick flash of a person running off into the distance. Almost instinctually, Sage drew his hands like he was holding a bow and fired a beam of concentrated light from his right hand. With the same motion he fired a few more shots aimed at the person's legs.

A distorted but violently loud scream was heard as the person collapsed to the ground. Heath looked impressed, but Sage was fearful that he hit the person instead of just stopping him. "Nice shooting, Sage. That was a Duskon, more than likely weakened by the other protectors around here." He tapped one finger on his forehead. "The next one is mine. If you want the people to survive, aim for solid shadows, they should be shaped more like monsters than people."

"And the other option is murder, then?" J added, a little disgusted by what he was thinking.

Heath nodded, "Kill the parasite or kill the host, either way is fine with Duskon. They will die either way. I won't bother telling you to seek the moral option if at all possible; the decision is entirely up to you. Heath perked up in anticipation as if he sensed something. "I'm moving on ahead. Keep your wits about you."

The Canadians let him pass by, they were both thinking the same thing, but Sage spoke up first. "Will he be alright?" Heath looked way too happy for it to be normal.

"He's got a nose for trouble, but he'll be fine." J said, "We should give him some support just in case, but he's got more experience doing this."

Sage shook his head as he thought J had missed the point. "I meant mentally. He said it himself, killing the host doesn't matter to him."

J sighed, and made a long stretching motion. As he did, the rocky cuffs around his arms and legs slid towards the centre of his body. The cuffs began to change shape until they looked a bit like a harness a skydiver would use. "If you're that worried, then we gotta beat him to any Duskon left running around. You'll get a better view and shot from high up."

The black haired youth began weighing his options, but decided he'd be getting better shots in the air, even if J's harness seemed shoddy at best. They were still people, and deserved to live. Sage stood parallel to J's chest and let the rocky harness lock him in.

"Comfy?" J asked as he spread his wings open.

"Not really." The elder said, "In fact-" Sage was suddenly interrupted by the quick take off and loss of control he felt. The wind deafened what Sage had to say. Once J had settled at a particular altitude, they could hear each other speak again.

Sage caught a person running out of the corner of his eye and fired. The shot landed behind the person, but he fell face first to the ground, covering his head soon after. They saw Heath's familiar black cloak run past, ignoring the cowering person completely.

"You missed." J said as he kept an eye on the action as well.

"No, I was just aiming for the shadow." Sage corrected him.

"Yeah but he had a normal shadow. Heath already beat you to it." J explained as he saw it all with his eyes. "You didn't see Heath's knife fly through?"

"No, I'm not good at seeing while moving so quickly. I've never done shooting like this before." Sage's complaints fell on deaf ears; J wasn't paying much attention to him, as a new idea popped up in his head.

"Are you up for something a little kinky?" J whispered casually into Sage's ear. Sage had seen another person running and fired off a shot accidentally. He hit the side of a building and made a large hole in the structure.

"What!" Sage flailed around and made J lose control of his flight. The younger one acted fast and tucked his arms under Sage's and tied him up in a leg lock.

"Jesus the Holy Prophet, your spasms are gonna get us killed!" J said as loud as he could, he waited for Sage to settle down before adding what he was going to originally say. "I was saying we should try linking our minds and working together. We use Sagittarius and Libra in conjunction and-"

"No." Sage immediately dismissed any of J's crazy ideas and shook off the younger's grip on him. Sage turned his eyes to a flat roofed building and pointed to it. "Set me down there, I can get a good angle from that high up." J complied and took his cargo down to the roof of the building. He released Sage about a foot above the roof and let him handle the short drop down.

"I'll keep to the skies then." The winged one said as he let his makeshift harness revert back into its original form.

"Hold up a sec." Sage held out his palm to stop J. "Act as a spotter for me."

"Heh?" J had an incredulous look on his face as he tried to figure out what Sage meant.

"Fly above any Duskon you see that wouldn't be in my direct line of sight." Sage explained carefully, "I can shoot over these buildings well enough, but I can't see past them too far. The main streets down here are fine, but I need to use something as a reference point to hit anything else. Out of the edge of his peripherals, Sage caught a Duskon running away from the centre of the city. Not letting it get away that easily he fired a surge of energy through his fingers and down through the Duskon's legs. The person shrieked in pain and collapsed onto the ground.

"Nice shot." J complimented him as he started to peel away. "Alright I'll help you out, just don't hit me now!" J gave a mock salute as he began to fly in an orbit around Sage's position.

"I'll try not to!" Sage yelled, but he got no indication if J heard him or not. Sage began to take a few deep breaths as he brought him self into a strong mental focus. With each deep breath he could feel the energy inside his bones get stronger and stronger. His blue-grey eyes were ready for anything.

---

Heath was mildly disappointed when he ventured deeper into the city. The people left there were either dead or just barely hanging on to life. Some even asked for him to be their angel of death, but Heath would not have any part of it. He couldn't kill the weak and he wasn't allowed to kill innocent people anymore. Any Duskon still around were too weak to even fight. They were covered in burns and bruises, and didn't want to have any part of their quick deaths. They couldn't fight back at all as Heath finished the parasites quickly.

Heath had a sensation though as if he felt something big was waiting for him. An aura of strength and anticipation was waiting for him. As Heath took each street carefully, he removed any lone Duskon around and felt the aura grow stronger and stronger. The sweat rolled down his back, his body hairs stood up in excitement, and he couldn't help but lick his lips for what was coming. Like a big ball of energy had settled in Heath's stomach, he couldn't wait for what was coming.

The cloaked teenager took his next steps cautiously yet swiftly, each footstep was matched by two loud heartbeats and the chattering of teeth. As he came around the last corner, he could tell he was in the right place. A short wispy haired salary man was adjusting bodies into a perfect circle. Each dead body had a hand over their heart and another reaching above their heads to touch the foot of the body above them. They all seemed to die without marks on them. It indicated that they were killed in a different manner than the rest of the people he had seen in the city.

"No!!!" The Duskon screamed at no one in particular as he frantically examined the bodies, shrieking like a banshee. "The numbers don't add up!" He counted each one over and over again. "I have fourteen males and fifteen females! The numbers aren't even!" He started kicking one of the dead women out of the circle and began crushing the corpse's ribs with his boots. "Why!" A loud crack was heard, "Don't! You! Fit!" He kept shouting as he broke every rib she had. "Though the monster sounded angry, Heath could tell that he was enjoying every cracking sound. As if it was some kind of twisted take on Chopin or Mozart, the Duskon was out of his mind with pleasure.

Heath smiled, he was hiding the sheer disgust he felt at this beast with the exhilaration he'd get when he killed him. Any pain this Duskon was inflicting would be felt twofold. Heath threw one of his knives straight through the distracted Duskon's ear. "Turn around, freak." He called out over the Duskon's wild screams. Heath took a good look at his enemy's face. It had a crooked nose, round cracked glasses and a large hole in his left ear. His eyes were twisted in black and red tones, and had not a shed of humanity in them.

After ten loud howls, the Duskon stopped his howling and glared deep into Heath's eyes. The Duskon opened his mouth to speak, but the red head had already thrown another knife, this time ripping through his right ear. The Duskon screamed at the sky, covering his ears and howled another ten times.

"You don't get to speak until I tell you to." Heath told the hissing salary man; though there was no doubt he was more monster than man.

"I Refuse." He spoke bluntly, which elicited the obvious response from Heath. Another knife went flying, this time through the right arm of the host. Once again the Duskon began screaming at the sky but instead of the expected ten screams, he stopped at eight before silencing himself.

Out of nowhere, the ground began shaking like an earthquake without the giant cracks. The area began pulsing from the centre of the circle of dead bodies. The pulsing got faster and faster until it produced a milky white sphere of energy. The sphere expanded in size almost instantly growing to the size of a city block, trapping Heath and the loud Duskon inside.

"Mwahahaha!" The shrill laughs of the Duskon echoed and rebounded off the walls of the newly formed prison. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard, and Heath couldn't take his laughs any longer. He fired another blade from his pocket, but the Duskon deftly dodged the dagger's damage.

"Thank you so much for finishing the spell, boy." The Duskon taunted the young redhead. "You just saved me a lot of time!" he trailed off into a fit of laughs, letting his wide smile speak for him.

"What the hell is going on, Duskon?!" Heath pulled out two long blades and pointed them at the man's eyes.

'You don't know?" he cocked his head to the side, "It's a trap you fool!" Those laughs grew louder and louder, as he tipped his head to the sky. The blood draining from his ears dripped onto the pavement below, like he hadn't even noticed he was losing so much blood. "I bet you want to get out of here don't you?"

"Yes." Heath scowled, letting his annoyance show in the harshness of his words.

"There's only three ways out of here!" he wagged his finger at the boy, "do you want to know them?"

Heath snapped his wrist and flung another blade at the Duskon's ear. He narrowly dodged, but the sound of it popped the Duskon's eardrum. The blade disappeared into the void beyond the barrier.

"Damn it! My ears! They hurt!" He screamed violently, losing the measure of joy he had in his laughs. "You're on your own kid. I'd rather kill you flat out, but I was ordered to hold off." His eyes opened wide as he howled out one last time. "I hope we'll meet again, but for now, you've got this trap to worry about. Don't get too excited now." The Duskon made a hasty retreat, stumbling out of the white force field.

Heath was trapped in the sphere. He was all alone again, nothing alive remained in here. The area inside the sphere looked normal, no issues with the way it was before the white prison existed, but outside, all Heath could see were inverted shadows of the world around him. He had tried to think his way out of here, but thinking was never his strong suit. All that came of his efforts was a sense of panic. He tried walking through the barrier like the Duskon, but it was like walking into a wall. He tried cutting through with his knifes after he retrieved them, but they were repelled like magnets.

He was stumped, he couldn't solve it alone. He broke down, his fear taking control of him. He fell down to his knees and started to cry. "I was careless" he mumbled repeatedly, "I'm useless." He added to the cycle of self doubt and hatred. "I'm all alone." He said in a sobering tone.

Heath slammed his head on the ground, and yelled out each time, "Useless!" His head hit the hard pavement. "Worthless!" A superficial cut appeared on his forehead. He started screaming but it was nothing but gibberish. After all, nothing could hear him shout anyway.

"Hello?"

Heath thought he heard something, out of the darkness.

"Hello?" it called again in a deep voice. "Is anyone in that thing?" Heath didn't know who it was, but someone had heard him.
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RaeMina
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I am officially worried for Heath's mental health. But, twas a good chapter. The only thing is that bugged me is wayward quotation marks floating around in the multiverse =P Do a check for those, and uh yeah~
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RazorStar
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Oh god no, wayward quotation marks! I really suck at proofreading...
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RaeMina
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Gotta make up for your perfections somehow =P

And I gotta say I'm confused about the plot, 'cause it seems like it's only kinda there... If I were to summarize it so far it would be guy kills self, awakens bizarre powers and meets with other bizarrely powered people to stop demons from mass murder. SmI missing anything, or are we just getting started here?
Edited by RaeMina, Jun 2 10, 7:03 PM.
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RazorStar
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For the most part you've got it. I've been focusing more on character development. I'm trying to build up the plot slowly and surely so any eventual twists will hit like a hurricane.

Well that's the plan anyway.
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RaeMina
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Hakay. Now I know what to look for.
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RazorStar
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Chapter 9: Fallen Angel

"I assume you have a clever plan." The dark haired man assumed as his large friend walked away from the large dome. A dim scowl enlightened his friend's face, giving him the answer he was not hoping for. "Disappointing, I'd expect more from the great Americans."

"Ease up, Kef." He replied calmly, trying to rationalize through this problem. "These things take time and a level head. That thing is boiling hot right now, just like the deserts in the Middle East. It looks more like a magic spell than any technology I've ever seen, so I don't know how to go about this."

"Well... we should start off with what we do know." Kefir propped himself up against a nearby building. "That barrier cracks and reforms itself rather quickly. There's a person inside, and it looks like fast enough projectiles will go through it, as evidenced by the knives stuck in the buildings nearby. What if we could make a large hole in it, enough for a person to go through?"

The large man shook his head in refusal. "It's a good plan, but I don't have any moves that'll let us do that. My flamethrower will just make the heat worse for the kid inside, and the rail gun will only make a small hole in the barrier. Anything else I have is utterly useless in this situation." He looked over at the spear hanging off of his friend's shoulder. "Can you do anything with that spear?"

"Nothing useful, I'll just overheat the shell and the poor kid will cook inside. I brought a few grenades, but I doubt the blast will do anything to that barrier. It seems to respond to matter, and absorb energy..."

The wind whistled loudly, as a winged figure suddenly descended from the sky, landing between the two fighters. Kefir and Marshall immediately pointed their weapons at the sudden intruder. "Who are you? Don't make any sudden moves!" They shouted over each other as J raised his hands in surrender.

"Relax, I'm on your side." J stated his intentions. "My friend is the one in there, and I think I have a way to break this thing. I just need your help. If you'll put that lance down, and quit pointing that gun arm type thing at me, I'd be much better at explaining myself." The youth flashed a smile and let his wings recede into his back.

"How do we know that you can be trusted?" Kefir said, leaving his spear and deep gaze pointed at the intruder. After all, you might be a Duskon wanting to protect his prey."

J put his thumb and forefinger to his chin, obviously not thinking he'd need to explain himself. "Zerick Aldaune and Satoshi Dias are the ones who put me up to this. I don't know them to well, but they gave me this power, and I'm guessing they gave you your power too." He added hastily, "And you... Kefir, you mentioned Duskon, which are the things were hunting right now." J shrugged, "Is that good enough?"

Kefir slowly lowered his spear, and gave a snort of resigned acceptance. Marshall smiled and shook his hand. "Well if we're gonna be working together, we might as well introduce ourselves. I'm Marshall Freedan, former Senior Officer in the US Army. He's Kefir Rahal, Freelance Mercenary. He's a lot nicer than his persona lets on, he's just a little rough around the edges." Marshall started rambling on about how they met, and his life story, but Kefir cut him off.

"Enough, American." He said curtly, ending that topic. "So, what's your plan kid?"

J waved over to a shadow in the east, and told him to come over. With haste Sage ran out and joined the three guys already there. "Sage." J called out, "We're gonna break through this thing with brute force." J spread his arms out wide and rotated them in large circles, "Show them your most powerful shot on that barrier."

"Fine, but you gotta know that this drains me a lot. I can only do this twice after this." Sage warned, but J didn't seem to care.

"That's alright, I can save you when you run out of energy." J said, brushing off Sage. Sage shrugged, and pulled his hand back, like he was gripping a bow. In a flash, the invisible bow became visible as Sage began pouring his energy into the weapon. With a loud yell, a great ball of blue energy gathered near his fingertips, and like a bolt of lightning, sizzled through the barrier. The arrow left a mark on the great white sphere, as a round meter wide hole remained indented on the barrier before it slowly regenerated.

"Impressive." Marshall said, complimenting the young archer. "How's the kid inside though?"

"I'm fine!" Heath's voice responded from the barrier. "It's getting really hot in here though. I can dodge whatever you throw at me, but each attack seems to be increasing the heat in here."

"Ugh." J responded. "I thought it'd do a bit more than that, but it should be enough. Kefir, Marshall, Sage, this plan depends on you three working in coordination with me. Libra has suggested something to me called a mental linkup. With this we should be able to unify our attacks and destroy this barrier in one go."

Marshall raised his right arm in confusion. "Who is Libra, what is this mental linkup thing?" he scratched his head as he let J explain.

"You have a certain subconscious spirit in your head right? Well, I've noticed that I've been able to get into the heads of the Protectors I know. Not very far in though, because these people's subconscious block the way. By allowing a slight opening, our subconscious spirits, Libra, Sagittarius, and whichever you two guys are called can allow us to think on the same wavelength. It's very fascinating stuff, and if this wasn't a life or death situation I'd love to try it out more."

Kefir shook his head. "So if we did this, you all would be able to know my secrets?"

"No. Not unless you were thinking about them right as we were doing it. I'm only proposing this so we can save Heath, if you don't want to work together, I'm not sure if we can pierce this thing.."

Kefir looked deep into the youth's eye, letting the passion in there say what needed to be heard. After taking a deep breath, he decided it'd be alright. "So, what's next?"

J looked at Sage. "I'm tired of explaining things right now, do you want to take over?"

Sage muttered a curse under his breath, but decided to put his hatred aside for now. "We three are going to attack from the ground. The important thing is to fire our most devastating attacks. Nothing flashy, just pure raw power. Judging by the weapons you have, this shouldn't be an issue. Since J's best tactics involve attacking from the air and dropping, he's going to break the barrier from the top. If we all hit at the same time, the barrier shouldn't regenerate fast enough, and it'll shatter like glass." He exhaled, wondering if he wasn't speaking too fast for the rest of the group.

"Simple and crude." Marshall blurted out. "I like the way you two think. Let's go break a barrier!

---

Hot. It's too hot. My throat, my lungs, they're burning. Gotta keep focus. Gotta stay alive.

"Yeah, I'm still breathing Ophi." The sweat poured down his face like a waterfall. "It's nearing 50 degrees in here." Two other protectors were here. A man named Marshall, and a man named Kefir. It's too hot. Can't see straight. "I have to calm down somehow."

"Just relax." The voice inside his head, Ophiuchus spoke. "I won't let you die here, just breathe and sit still. The cloak is doing everything in it's power to cool you off, so just stay still. Your friends are doing everything they can to save you."

"Hah. That's comforting." Heath spoke, making a dry cough as he spoke. The worst part was the lack of moisture in this heat, but those words made him at ease. His friends. He had friends who cared about him. He had J, who was doing everything he could to save him.

"Infatuation..." Ophi said suggestively. "Could my partner have finally found love?"

"Shhh... He's the first person my age to care about me in this way. I don't know what it is but..."

"If it makes you happy, I'm happy." He said in a gentle voice. "Keep thinking those thoughts, and we'll live through this."

Heath smiled. He and Ophi had definitely lived through a lot, but for the first time, it felt like more than mere survival. So he waited patiently, knowing his rescuers would arrive in due time. He could already hear their plans through the white walls of his temporary prison.

---

"J, the mental link has been set up." the feminine voice of Libra spoke inside J's head.

"Good." J flicked his nose, and try speaking mentally to the three protectors. "We'll be attacking now, we need to trust each other for this to work."

"Leave the mental communication to the girly, Kid." A poisonous voice echoed in J's head.

"Settle down, Scorpio, we're all pretty new to this kind of thing." A high pitched voice replied in turn, Libra knew it to be Virgo's voice.

J took off and headed towards the sky, at a certain altitude, he would maximize the weights on his body, bring in his wings and crash down on top of the dome. When he made the drop, Sage would fire his most powerful arrow at the east side of the dome. Marshall would follow up with his railgun and blast the west side. Kefir would then use his most powerful spear attack to penetrate the south side of the barrier. If timed correctly the barrier should collapse. He hoped. All he had now was trust in the people below him, and their minds above him.

"We've reached the altitude, prepare for the drop." Libra spoke to all four protectors.

Marshall flipped a switch on his cannon arm, turning the knob towards electricity. The high pitched over excited Virgo was issuing a countdown as Marshall patiently waited to blast through this thing. "5 seconds!" She yelled happily! "4 Seconds!..."

Sage held his hands at the ready, his invisible bow drawn and energy gathered in the tips of his fingers. "3!" The suave Sagittarius continued the countdown, feeling the perfect synch from Libra, Scorpio and Virgo. "2!..."

Kefir had his spear ready to strike the heart of the barrier. The spearhead was shaped like a drill bit and laid parallel to his outstretched right arm. Like a bullet, he'd use his left arm to propel the spear through the barrier, and it would explode at the point of impact. The scorpion's venomous voice continued the countdown. "1..."

Time stood still, the protector's all fired their strongest attacks at the mighty shell. "Let's get Frisky!" They all shouted as they began their destructive onslaught. Sage's arrow hit the target first, a streak of blue energy made an even bigger hole than last time, creating hairline cracks expanding from outside the point of impact.

Marshall's mighty arm cannon hit the target next, a streak of lightning launched a large shell of iron straight through the white barrier, making even larger cracks than Sage's arrow. The shell crossed through the entire dome, falling gently past Sage into the hard pavement. The barrier seemed to be losing integrity with every shot.

Kefir's attack hit third, the drill pierced through the barrier, like a knife through butter. Kefir wasn't done yet, he knew the spear could do so much more, so he called on it's power. Heaven Buster! Saying the name of his spear's attack started the drill's head spinning, Kefir watched as it started to leak a black powder, all while the drill's rotational momentum produced bright sparks. The outcome was obvious as the sun rising. The explosion blew Kefir back and nearly destroyed the entirety of the south side of the barrier. The white walls were struggling to restore their former glory, but they wouldn't have time to recover. The Angel was falling.

J curled into a ball and began his descent, all five-hundred and thirty pounds of him would hit the top of the barrier at the maximum force. J didn't care to know what the terminal velocity of his descent was, but his drop would almost assuredly break that barrier. Of that, he had no doubt. He was able to watch the protectors below him blast through the white dome like it was nothing. Then, as if no time passed at all, he hit. The resistance was strong, but with over eighty thousand newtons of force, it easily cracked under the pressure of J's weight and speed. After the barrier broke, J's reduced his weight back to his original 130, but still left a large crater in the ground. His stomach felt like scrambled eggs, but he had to see what happened to the barrier.

All five of them were in shock as they watched the barrier break like glass. It fell apart in beautiful white shards, each of them lit ablaze as they hit the ground. It was a beautiful sight, but J had to vomit after the ride he went on.

"You idiot!" Libra yelled at him inside his skull. "I know you wouldn't change your mind if I told you, but do you have any idea how many G's your body took with that drop? It's good it worked, but don't try to move anymore!"

"Heh." J looked in the eyes of all the people surrounding him. "I'm some kind of genius aren't I?"

Kefir shook his head, but he couldn't help but compliment the ballsy youth. "It worked, I'll give you that much."

Sage just chuckled as he pulled J up to his feet. "Can you stand?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine." J took a step and promptly fell on his face. "Heh, guess I need some time to recover after all."

Marshall lifted him up easily and put J on his back. "Enjoy the ride kid, you earned it. We could use guys like you in the army you know." Marshall's warm smile illuminated the group. J looked over and saw Heath getting up from the rubble that the four of them had no doubt caused.

"Hey Heath." J called out weakly. Heath's ears perked up as he ran towards the piggyback victim. "Are you alright."

"Of course I am!" He said happily, giving J a great deal of relief. The group had worked together to defeat a difficult opponent, even though it wasn't a living breathing thing, J knew that this kind of companionship was rare. He was truly at ease, as he slipped into a bout of unconsciousness.

---

"Those bastards!" A short businessman yelled out, kicking the ground in anger. 'They destroyed my barrier! I had great plans for that one I did! He snapped his fingers wildly at the large Duskon standing beside him. "But your army didn't get me the right number of people, that barrier wasn't perfect, it was supposed to envelop the entire city of Naples, not just a city block!"

The larger Duskon grabbed the businessman's arm. "It's because you have no strength that you have to rely on tricks to get these monsters caged. When you can defeat a beast with strength, it shows you are a true Duskon."

"I don't need lectures from you General!" He pulled his arm away and pointed to himself. "I am the great gentledusk, Anshi! Do not forget that I have followers of my own. Those who swore allegiance to me with blood."

"First off, don't call me General, it makes this human's emotions boil over. Second off, you call those cultists followers? True followers have loyalty to their superiors and they always follow orders."

Anshi hopped around madly, "Those cultists won't turn tail and run like your 'army' did. They will gladly give their lives for me."

The general shook his head. "What good is a duskon if he doesn't have the free will to act. Your cultists are nothing but children wanting to impress their insane father." He glared at the mad Duskon. "You can call me Brute, I rather like that name."

Anshi laughed as he looked down from the skies above. "Thank you for the compliment Brute. Insanity suits me well, it's the first state of mind I ever had! I treasure it oh so much." He gave a cold sneer, "Emotions sure are great aren't they?"

Brute looked at him and gnashed his teeth together. "Yes, there is one thing you are right about. I truly enjoy my hatred of people. Just the sheer exhilaration of emotion I get when I think about them. They take too much for granted, and that just pisses me off! If our arrogant leader wasn't so concerned with wanting a good fight, I'd have crushed these buffoons already!

Anshi put a hand on Brute's shoulder. "In time, Brute. You know well the rule of our society. The strongest govern, the weak obey. Unfortunately for us, we obey this time". Anshi put a hand to his bleeding ear. "I want to get that stupid red headed kid too! Damn it damn it damn it and other such things!"

"Let's go." Brute spoke loudly and turned his back on the protectors, "There's nothing more to do here." In a puff a smoke, both Anshi and Brute became like shadows and slipped away into the back of the world.

---

The clouds had cleared up, and the sun began to pierce through the sky again. All was well in Naples, as well as it could be. Medical teams had begun swarming the streets, looking for survivors among the piles of dead bodies. The counted dead were around five hundred, the injured nearing one thousand. Those numbers were uncomfortable for Zerick Aldaune. It meant he wasn't quick enough to stop the mindless destruction and once again he would have to bear the responsibility of the dead souls around him.

"Mr. Aldaune, sir!" A volunteer worked called to Zerick amidst the busy town square. "We've received word that your son and his friends are in good condition and that they are heading your way."

"Thank you." Zerick replied warmly. "Please continue to assist the medics in any way possible." The man ran off as quickly as he came. Zerick felt the cold wind blow through his entire soul, letting himself feel the cries of the injured. As he was about to lose himself, he heard a familiar sound. The sound of a gust of wind, and a zipper opening up.

A portal appeared behind Zerick, shining blue in the clear sky. A foot stepped out of the vortex, then came an arm, then the entire body of Satoshi Dias stepped out, clean as a whistle. Satoshi looked around and the hustle and bustle, and immediately guessed what was going on. "I got here as soon as I could. Looks like you beat me to it, again."

"Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough this time. We're looking at around five-hundred dead, five-hundred permanently disabled and five-hundred injured but in a manageable condition." Zerick looked into Satoshi's wise eyes. "Is this truly the best we could do?"

"I know it hurts friend, but we did the best we could. There are always the unfortunate who don't make it, but their sacrifices are what remind us of the beauty of life." Satoshi went back to a fond memory in his life, "You met me amidst a great tragedy, and I believe together we've done more good than that incident has destroyed."

Zerick looked and accepted Satoshi's words. Zerick knew there were going to be sacrifices from the moment he learned of the Duskon, but even after all of these years, the sights of dead bodies curdle his stomach.

Satoshi asked a question to get Zerick out of his cloud of depression. "So, how is that Junius kid doing? I hope he's still alive, he's a little bit of a masochist..."

Zerick replied with a bit of enthusiasm, "J and the other protectors here destroyed a barrier and warded off the Duskon here. If we had got here sooner there might have been less casualties, but Marshall and Kefir did an excellent job of warding them off by themselves. I feel confident that we can stop the Duskon with such capable people working for us.

Satoshi seemed shocked when Zerick said they had destroyed a barrier. Being someone who knows all about them, it seemed highly unlikely that four people could destroy one. "I'll have to hear more about this from Marshall and the others. Destroying a barrier should be nearly impossible..."

"Well if it makes you feel better, they are on their way here, you can hear the story from them." Zerick grabbed Satoshi and gave him a big hug. "Did you bring the ones from England?"

Satoshi broke away from the hug and dusted himself off. "I just need to open the door for them, and they'll be here in a second."

Zerick nodded, and placed his hand on his partner's shoulder. "Please do that as soon as possible. With those and the few others I am picking up at the moment, we will have all thirteen in Sardinia in a few hours. From there, we can finally begin our plans to beat the Duskon."

Satoshi begun his preparations to open the portal for the two protectors. Chanting something under his breath, he summoned a zipper from a void in space. With a gust of wind and a hard yank, Satoshi opened the zipper and let the people through. Capricia Lyon and Cyrus Parise had arrived in Naples, confused as anyone could possibly be.

"Where... are we?" The couple said in perfect unison.

CHAPTER END
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RaeMina
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Let me be your sword and your shield
Capricia and Cyrus... Are we supposed to know them?

I really liked this chapter for some reason :D Prolly 'cause my mind was thinking up some pretty sweet graphics(and having this play in the background helped some :3 )
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RazorStar
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We'll get to know them soon. That's what the next chapter is supposed to be for. But Cyrus knows you. he knows everything. =O

Dayum that is a badass theme.
Edited by RazorStar, Aug 11 10, 4:56 AM.
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RaeMina
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I wish Valkenhayn was my butler :( That way the song would play whenever he'd walk into the room~

Wait, if Cyrus knows everthing, why is he confused as to where he is? =P
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RazorStar
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He can't know what he doesn't know, you know.
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Lenna Suzaka
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Really nice story, I took the time to finally read bits and pieces, but I noticed one thing... you started this April 2009 @.@
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RazorStar
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Technically February 2009 is when I started putting it on paper. I got it finished by March, and typed up by April. Yeah, I'm really slow when it comes to these things.
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RaeMina
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I can forgive you on that one XD Not everyone's perfect~
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RazorStar
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Chapter 10: Dark Gate

"Welcome to Naples." Satoshi opened his arms up and turned around in a circle. "Normally known for it's beauty and majesty, it now smells like rotting flesh and looks like it's in shambles."

"How awful." The blonde woman replied as he she looked at the medics carrying body bags into helicopters. "Why would you take us here Mr. Dias?" Her light green eyes pleaded for an answer.

The brown haired man standing beside her adjusted his glasses and looked around carefully. "The issue seems to be resolved, in any case. I imagine the things that did this are why we're here."

"Bingo, Cyrus." Satoshi acknowledged the man. "Now then I'd like you to meet Zerick Aldaune, my partner in this operation, and good friend. He'll explain this better than I, since I just arrived as well." Zerick walked towards them and greeted the pair with a modest bow.

"Hello there, Cyrus, Capricia. It's a pleasure to meet you." Zerick offered his hand to the couple. Two firm handshakes later, Zerick began explaining what was going on. "In short, what happened can be best described by this body over here. You can hear me say that such and such happened, but I want you to truly understand what we are here to prevent."

Zerick walked up to one of the unchecked body bags, and opened it to reveal the torso of the dead girl inside. "I must warn you not to come over here if you find blood gruesome."

Cyrus cautiously stepped back, while Capricia leaned in closer to take a look. She didn't stay too long, just long enough to make her cover her mouth and turn away. "That is wrong on so many levels." She said, trying to hold down the bile rising in her throat.

"Indeed. As you can see, her insides have been devoured, ripped apart by teeth, and nothing else." Satoshi said rather coldly, looking over the body like a trained coroner. "She was probably decapitated after she was eaten, as the loss of blood near the neck is minimal."

Zerick shook his head. "Truly one of the unfortunate ones, most of the people here were attacked by chainsaw wielding Duskon, and were killed relatively painlessly-"

"Painlessly?!" Cyrus shouted, but quickly calmed himself down. "That's way too morbid, how can you speak so ill of the dead? These people were killed ruthlessly and without justice, and even the survivors will never live to enjoy what they once had." Cyrus pointed to all the blood and flesh on the ground. "There are severed limbs lying on the streets, this is... this is..." Tears choked the rest of words, keeping him silent.

Capricia went to comfort the man, bringing him in tightly to her chest. "I can help the people still living, honey. Please don't waste your tears, save them for better times." Capricia broke the hug apart while Cyrus wiped the tears from eyes.

"Sorry, Cap. I'm not used to this at all, and blood still makes me sick." He choked down his sadness and spoke again, "I'm glad I have you by my side." Cyrus smiled, and cleaned up his fogged up glasses. "So go on, show them your power!"

Zerick raised his eyebrow in curiosity and mumbled, "This sounds promising."

Capricia rushed over to some injured people lying on stretchers, they were bleeding badly, but with quick medical attention they'd live. The woman placed her hand on the dying person's chest and mumbled softly in a prayer to God. A warm mist exuded from her palms and the person's wounds started healing almost instantly. Within a minute the near dead person had the strength to walk again. Capricia hurried on and continued this ritual as all the people still alive were healed back to perfect health. She even managed to reattach someone's severed arm this way.

Zerick's eyes were opened wide in amazement, "That was amazing! I would have never thought those powers would manifest in such a way!"

Satoshi shook his head, "No, I never actually gave her the spike. She gained this through natural ability."

"So, this is human potential." A wide smile took over Zerick's face as he clasped his hands together, "Marvelous."

"There is a catch though. It's not entirely obvious, but she can't use that ability without being near Mr. Parise."

Zerick took his palm to his face, "The power of love then?"

Satoshi gave an inaudible nod. "Horribly inconvenient I know, but she does have one trick that doesn't require any enabling from what I can tell. Barrier making. She's a natural at it, when we were attacked by Duskon on our way here she was throwing them aside with kicks and punches augmented by barriers. Instantaneous creation of an ultimate offense and defense."

"So she can do what you can do then?" he raised an eyebrow in response.

"Better. I need to at least create on a conscious level, she's been doing this for years without anyone noticing." Satoshi had a gleam in his eyes. "Oh, looks like everyone else has arrived" Satoshi noted the five figures walking towards them.

Cyrus waved to them furiously before sprinting to meet everyone.

---

"...and that concludes our report, Mr. Aldaune." Kefir finished discussing everything the five had seen here today.

Satoshi seemed astonished by what he heard. "A barrier that absorbs thermal energy and roasts the people trapped inside it. And you said you broke it right?"

Marshall gave a wide smile. "That's right, you should have seen it! Sage was all like pew pew with his arrows, and Kefir was all like HEAVEN BUSTER ORAORAORA and I was all like BOOOOOOM, and then J fell out of the sky and it cracked into little pieces. It was awesome."

"That has me more worried than you can ever realize. C'mon Mr. Freedan, you need to show me the spot where the barrier was, I need to do some research."

"Alright. Don't get lonely without me guys!" Marshall laughed as he led Satoshi towards the wrecked barrier.

Zerick took a look at the four standing there, "How are you guys feeling? You look a little wobbly there J. How about you son, are you okay after that." He continued rattling off questions like a concerned parent would.

"I'm fine." Heath said with a smile, "J saved my life after all, I'm very happy." He said while jumping up and down.

"J's out of it right now." A feminine voice spoke from J's body. "That falling out of the sky thing took a lot of him, and he has some minor internal bleeding. He needs some rest basically, so if you don't mind, I'll be unresponsive until his wounds are healed." Libra said crudely, leaving with a vacant stare.

"Ah there's no need for that." Zerick snapped his fingers and called Capricia over. "This guy over here needs some treatment, he has internal bleeding."

"Oh my, right away Mr. Aldaune." Capricia ran up to the large crowd and placed her hands on J's ribs. "Ooh, that's not good, some of these are broken, you're lucky they aren't puncturing anything. Internal bleeding is contained somehow, you seem to have a real good body for this sort of thing."

Sage leaned over and whispered to Cyrus. "Hey she's pretty cute, did she come with you?"

Cyrus chuckled, "Yeah, she's my fiancee. Isn't she wonderful?"

Sage looked down in disgust and mumbled something about being unlucky.

"Hmm, you say something?"

"Oh no not at all." Sage muttered quietly, "you bastard."

"There you go, all fixed up. How do you feel, kid?" Capricia asked as she moved her hands away.

"Body functions exceptional. Movement is at 100%, blood flow optimal, no illness detected. Thank you Capricia." Libra spoke calmly.

Capricia looked up in shock. "Whoa, you're a girl?" She reached her hands back and grabbed around his nipples. "Weird, you're awfully flat chested..."

"I'll have to ask you to stop that, please." J responded in a tired voice. "I wasn't expecting to be woken up so early. … Who are you anyway?"

She stepped back slowly, regaining her sense. "You sure are weird. Anyway you're feeling alright now?" J nodded softly. "That's a relief."

"Yes, now that everything is all nice and peachy, why don't you tell us what that was, I've never seen a form of medicine that worked like that." Kefir said loudly.

"Hmm, I don't think I can really explain it that well, but it comes from my hands, and it heals people, so it's not bad or anything."

Kefir's eyebrow twitched in frustration, "Wouldn't that be really dangerous, you could have done more damage to him!"

J raised his hand in an effort to silence the man. "Relax, Kefir. I feel great right now, if she had done anything horrible to me, I wouldn't be talking to you right now."

"Tch" Kefir settled his anger, but still held onto his suspicion.

A dead silence hovered around the group of protectors, no one really in the mood to say much. Cyrus scratched the hairs on his chin and called out to J. "Hey, can I speak with you privately? I've got something I need to square with you."

J offered to help him out, and followed him to a remarkably clean alleyway, just out of sight from the others.

- - -

"What do you want?" J stared up into the older man's eyes, rising on his toes to try and meet his gaze.

"Relax J." He said casually, reaching into his jeans pocket pulling out a weird looking gun. He pointed it at J and fired.

"ACK!" J moved his arms to block his head, but realized he didn't feel anything. He peered through his arms to see that the gun had changed form into a weird looking cellphone sort of thing.

Cyrus smiled, "Ha, that gets everyone. This is something I've been working on for a while. It's basically a collection of information I've gathered over my life in digital form. A memory holder if you will." Cyrus began pressing buttons wildly with his thumbs until he came to images of a large cruise ship. "Play video." he said. The device in his hand reacted to the voice command and projected a video on the wall of a building.

"Enjoying the cruise boys?" A light airy voice spoke over the rushing waves. "You should come inside, it's chilly out here."

"Five minutes." The older brother said politely, leaning against the starboard railing. "I want to see the stars." The night air was brisk and hollow, but not enough to deter two young stargazers.

"Fine." The woman said, defeated. "I'll get your dad to come out here if you aren't in soon." She left, floating on the winds that brought her."

"I'm glad she left." The younger one said, climbing to the top of the railing at sitting on it, dangling his feet in the air. "She's just in it for the money, like all the other moms."

"You can't be sure about that." The older one said. "Besides, you're four years old, you don't get to be cynical about anything."

The younger one pouted and leaned back slightly, tilting his head upwards. "Hey look, it's orion's belt."

The older brother rested his arms on the rail and looked up. "Sure is. Do you know what that star is to the north?" He pointed off the railing, causing the younger brother to lean back farther.

"That's the north star! Polarbearis!" The younger said. "Should I follow it?"

The older brother looked confused. "What do you mean, 'follow it'? And it's Polaris."

"Look at it Cy! It's flashing. That means it's calling." The younger brother turned so his legs were facing the outside of the boat. The wind picked up, and started to howl in the night, chilling the air. The world lost it's voice for a minute, the only sound was the howling black wind.

"No!" Cyrus yelled, spooking the young boy. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, the younger brother jerked forward off the rail, spooked by Cy's voice. He lost his grip on the railing and started to fall. The older brother acted as fast as he could, managing to slide under the bottom rung and secure his younger brother with his legs. But the weight was too much, every second felt like needles were ripping out his muscles, he couldn't hold his brother like this forever.

"Argh!" Cyrus' voice was nothing but a grunt, the pain of this awkward position made the air taste like fire, desperation was the only thing keeping him focused on saving his brother. "Hang. On. Jack." He said, wheezing out each word, gasping for colder air. It was too hot, Cy couldn't even grasp the existence of cooling relief. He used the bottom rung of the railing for leverage and tried pulling himself back up. Every inch felt like a mile, and every wasted second meant his legs were going to buckle soon. Suddenly, his grip was lost, as Jack slipped down his leg, grabbing onto the last rung he had, his brother's foot.

"I'm sorry." Jack said, letting streams of tears run down his face. "I have to go now, Cy. Maybe I'll see you again?" He sounded delirious.

"Don't be stupid!" Cyrus yelled, pain welling in his throat. "If you fall from here, you'll die. I won't get to see you ever again!" The older boy's glasses fogged up, now when he didn't need water, he was practically covered in it. "Pull yourself up!"

Jack stopped, he hung off Cyrus' leg like a dead weight. Slowly he turned his eyes upwards to face his crying brother. "What is death?" He asked, as his fingers lost grip on the shoe. Cyrus' loud scream was unheard over the splash as Jack hit the ocean.


The video suddenly cut out, leaving a blaring static. Cyrus pushed a button in the middle, ending the projection. "So that was my childhood memory."

J leaned back against a brick wall, not letting the bricks dig into his back. "And was there something I was supposed to get out of that? Do you want my pity or something?"

The elder's eyes opened wide as he took a step back, flailing his arms wildly as he tripped over a garbage can. "Ow..." He said rubbing his butt. To his credit, he made a quick recovery, "I wanted to say this, you are my brother, Jack Parise. Didn't my younger brother look exactly you?"

J scowled, and turn his suddenly intense glare to meet Cyrus' dirty glasses. "I hope you're not trying to say I'm your long lost brother or anything retarded like that."

Cyrus scratched the back of his ear rapidly, "Well that's exactly what I'm saying." Without a hint of hesitation in his voice, he plainly answered.

"You're not kidding me... you really believe something stupid like that?"

"You're afraid of water." Cyrus pointed out, almost randomly.

"Yes.." J entertained the man, but worried about where he was going with it.

"Anything over say, six feet, right?"

"Yes..." J wanted to stop him right there, but he couldn't.

"Now, you don't remember anything from when you were four years old or less."

Something snapped, J came up to Cyrus as close as he could get his face in to his so called 'brother'. "Stop this." He said, exhaling on the taller man's glasses. "I am not your replacement goldfish. For my entire life I have been Junius Gibson. Your brother is dead."

Cyrus pushed J back as hard as he could, but J barely moved. "I don't remember anything from when I was younger than four simply because it's illogical that I would! I'm sure you don't remember either. Me being afraid of water is just a coincidence, I'm sure lots of people are. Just because we have the same color hair as each other doesn't mean we're related." J took a step back and took a deep breath. He wanted to shove this nuisance away with all his might, but he was being completely sincere with his emotions.

"You two have the same eyes." Cyrus blurted out, trying to keep his heart from going out of control.

"Your brother had golden eyes?"

Cyrus shook his head. "No, your eyes are the same brown as his were, they even have the same look to them, maybe your eyes are a bit harder, but they still feel the same to me."

Suddenly, like a rhinoceros, it hit J. He had appeared differently to this person. He was still casting some sort of illusion on him, that had to be it. J walked forward and pulled in the taller man for a hug. Cyrus accepted and squeezed the teenager close to him. J squeezed back with 10 times the force. "I am not your brother. Whoever he was, he died from the fall or he died from the impact of hitting the water, or he drowned, I don't know. You need to accept that. I am Junius Gibson, and I always will be."

Cyrus understood. This was a completely different person than the one he once knew. He pushed himself out of J's grip. "Even though your blood type, hair color and eye color and even fears are a perfect match to Jack, you are not the same person." He pointed his finger to the sky, "However we are still brothers. These powers unite us, so at the very least, I consider you to be like a brother to me."

J's cheek twitched irrationally. "How did you know my blood type and fears anyway, huh Cyrus? Those aren't things I tell people."

"Hohohoho, wouldn't you like to know?" He cupped the palm of his hand and held it to the side of his lip, laughing loudly and luxuriously. "How about you fight me and if you win I'll let you in on my secret."

"What's in it for you?" the younger one asked skeptically.

"If I win I'll have you be my servant for three days. A whole 72 hours. What do you say?" Cyrus extended his fist to J.

J immediately pounded the fist with his own. "Even if you just want a servant, I never turn down a challenge. Don't hold back." A wicked smile fixed itself on J's face. "I know I won't."

"Just how I like it." Cyrus dropped a pair of concealed guns from his pockets, and got into a wide sort of stance, constantly moving in long strides around J.

"Go!" J shouted as he charged at the circling opponent. Cy already saw an opening in his form.

---

Satoshi and Marshall came up on the white barrier than had been recently destroyed. It looked like shards of glass had scattered along the road, more like an actual structure had fallen apart, and not just a ball of energy. Satoshi opened up a small portal, and pulled out a flashlight like device. The head rotated like a gyroscope, while the handle stayed completely still. The flashlight shone a red, green, and blue light over the glass shards, whirring and buzzing all the while.

"The core is still intact." Satoshi said, turning off his special flashlight. He turned to the large dome, barely holding it's form and turned to look at large chunks that had been blown off the original framework. "Barriers when destroyed should immediately dissipate and send off a shock wave of energy. This ball didn't. Worst of all it's providing heat into the atmosphere at a ridiculous level. I hate to say it Mister Freedan, but you definitely did not destroy this barrier, if you can call it that."

Marshall shifted his weight awkwardly, watching the spheres cracks fill in ever so slowly. "So what do we do now?"

Satoshi wagged his finger. "Ah, I have a plan for this, I need to borrow your girth for a second. Get behind me." Marshall turned his head, puzzled. "Now. Please." Satoshi said impatiently. Marshall moved swiftly, and stood behind the short Japanese man. He began speaking something like a prayer.

Gates that bind the land of the dead,

Hands that spin the world's core,

I call upon your vicious cries to save this sinful world.

In this universe, only gravity is constant,

Bring us your mighty servants to banish this corruption!

Dark Gate!

Satoshi's hands burned with a brilliant red light, getting darker by the second. Black vines shot out and expanded in size until they could hold houses in their grip. They coiled around the burning white sphere and started to squeeze. Ripples of pain flooded through Satoshi, he knew that he was only a vessel of this destruction occurring. Marshall could only look on in shock. This wasn't something that could ever happen, not even in this unrealistic world where a man could have a cannon for his arm.

The vines crushed the white sphere, leaving it in nothing but tiny shards of what it once was. The dead bodies that were inside were unrecognizable, crushed into a mass of blood and meat. The vines were not finished though, they scooped up all the remains of the deadly sphere and whatever else was in the way, and carried it back into Satoshi's hands, which absorbed everything the vines were holding. Everything disappeared in an instant. The sheer force acted a second later, flinging Satoshi straight into Marshall's gut.

"Close your jaw, you're drooling on me." Satoshi said as he got back to his feet, dusted himself off and picked up a lone piece of the white barrier that had survived the onslaught. The shard vanished in his hand, leaving Satoshi rather disappointed. "Shame, I wanted to study it more, but I've got a good idea of this works now.

Marshall was struggling for words, certainly words couldn't describe what he just saw. So he resorted to the lowest common denominator. "What the hell was that?" He said, much louder than he had anticipated.

"I take it you've never seen a portal to hell before?" Satoshi said, nonchalantly. "Well don't worry, you won't for a long long time, I would hope." Satoshi stood completely still for a while. It seemed like he tried to move, but he couldn't. "I figured as much." he muttered to himself. "I need to ask you a favour Mister Freedan."

"What's wrong?" He went to the older man, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"I can't move my legs, I won't be able to for a few days. I need you to carry me on your shoulders, Mister Freedan."

Marshall seemed even more dumbfounded than before, what exactly did this old man do anyway? Satoshi gave him a cold honest look, he wasn't kidding when he said he couldn't move. Marshall lifted the old man gingerly up onto his shoulders, waiting for him to settle himself there. "How's that?"

"Very good." Satoshi tapped the bald man's head. "Onward horsie!"

"I'll drop you." Marshall said half-threatening the old man, before shrugging it off with a laugh. "You better hold on tight." He unleashed a wide smile.

Satoshi smiled. "I love idiots." he thought casually as Marshall carried him piggyback to where Zerick and the rest of the protectors had gathered. "Phase 1 is proceeding smoothly."
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