Difference between revisions of "Tsuyuki's Cleaners"

Revision as of 04:04, 3 November 2020

Chapter 1 (James Cairo)

"Colin, Alex! Take down the ones on the side!"

I held out my spear as I slashed the air, as water exited my pouch and created an aquatic shield. The Abyssal Creatures charged into it, as I shaped it into a trap.

"Now! Nomi!"

Nomi zipped in, and slashed with her sword, the heat of the blade causing pressure to expand from within the water trap, steam exploding everywhere.

Nomi landed in front of me and gave me a thumbs up. "I guess you can say... we've CLEANED this spot up pretty well!"

I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Come on, let's help out the others."

A massive legion of creatures began to emerge from the portal. I held out my hand, ready to close it. I wasn't afraid. In fact, none of us were. Because we all knew what was going to happen next.

A bright green streaked appeared across the creatures, as they all suddenly burst into flames. The streak returned, kiting, zipping, and destroying the creatures left and right faster than any of us could process. Only one person I knew could move this fast.

"Holy shit! I'm gonna die!!!" Alex screamed. Nomi and I turned around, in concern, but we both gave him a dead expression.

Alex smiled. "What? Can't a guy have fun in the depths of hell?"

The green streak appeared and completely obliterated the monster that had overpowered Alex in a single blow, as the figure landed in front of us. She looked at Alex, her face expressionless but somehow emitting disapproval.

"Come on, Rei! I'm sure you enjoyed that. Got to save one of your own! My powerful Queen!"

Rei turned around and walked up to me, her eyes empty, as her purple hair tumbled to her shoulders from the wind.

"Finish it." She said. At least that was what I heard. Rei wasn't much of a talker. She was more of an action speaks louder than words kind of girl. It would be hard to believe this soft spoken 16 year old would have the power that could potentially be among the greatest of the Cleaners. But she had already made it a mission to become the best.

"Sure thing." I nodded, as Rei put her brass knuckles back into her hoodie pockets.

I raised the sealing rune at the portal, as it began to close.

"Good work, little sis!" Nozomi hugged Rei, but she stared at the ground, despondent. Clearly uninterested in returning the affection.

"Whatever." She said, dejectedly.

Colin ran up to me. "James, are you okay?"

Colin had noticed the wound on my side. He was always so perceptive. Probably among the whole squad, Colin had to be hands down the most hardworking. Of course, seconded to Rei. In my many years of working as a Cleaner (28 to be exact), I had never seen someone with so much heart. So much desire to better and protect the world from the Abyss. As Colin.

Most of the new recruits I encountered typically had the same mindset as Colin, but would quickly realize it's easier said than done. When they realize the horrors of the Abyss, the terrible creatures on the other side.

One of our militant commanders, Roy, always liked to scare the recruits into a reality check, by telling them of a tale of one Cleaner who became adventurous, believing himself to be the Aurum Savior, a legendary mythological figure who would one day lead the war into the Abyss, ventured in alone. He was missing for two years, and when he returned, he had never been the same.

Despite all the horrors of our missions to seal and stop the monsters from entering out world, Colin had never backed down from his dream to become a good Cleaner. I respected him for that. Unfortunately, many of our colleagues didn't, because... Colin wasn't exactly Cleaner material. Don't get me wrong. He had passion. He had heart. But he didn't have the skill or the power to be one. No matter how he worked, he always lagged behind.

But even so, I recognized it, and respected it. And accepted him into our squad. Colin has been a little brother to me ever since. Doing his best and looking up to me. And in a way, I looked up to him too, to stay strong. No matter what my heritage was.

"Heeeeey, come on Jamie. What's taking so long? I thought we were all going out for udon later." Nomi grabbed my arm playfully. Nomi, or Nozomi Tsuyuki is my step sister. Her father, Mato Tsuyuki, ran and owned our dorm. The place we stayed. I respected him too, but part of me felt isolated. Because no matter how Nomi, Mato, and on occasion, Rei, treated me like a member of the Tsuyuki household, I knew I was not truly related to them.

"Not sure why it's taking so long... maybe it's a bigger portal?"

"Hey... uhhh somethings coming out. And it's BIG!" Alex said.

Nomi narrowed her eyes. "What... oh god. What in the hell?!"

"Get down, James!" Colin shouted, as we all ducked. A giant Abyssal creature emerged from the portal and swung his hand, annihilating nearby buildings. The thing was gargantuan. His strength was ridiculous.

"James... that can't be..." Colin whimpered.

It definitely was.

The strongest kind of Abyssal, probably the most lethal and hardest to put down, even for a high ranking Cleaner. These beings were extremely rare. And if encountered, needed to be contacted right away.

The S Class Abyssal Sentinel.

"We can't beat that thing." I said, turning to Nomi, Alex, and Colin.

"Let's g-"

Suddenly, I heard a grunt, as Rei began to glow, her body burning with black and green flames as she shot into the air.

"Rei!" Nomi shouted after her.

"No Rei!" I shouted. "You can't beat that! We need to go!"

There was nothing we could do. I knew I should have seen it coming. Rei was never the type of girl to back down from a fight. Even if it was a S class.

Rei screamed as she launched a devastating punch on the monster's hide, but to no affect. The monster roared and tried to grab her, but Rei zipped out of the way, darting all across the battlefield like a rubber ball bouncing off of the walls at a hypersonic speed.

"REI! COME BACK HERE THIS INSTANT YOUNG LADY!" Nomi raised her fist in the air.

Alex walked up to me.

"Welp. There's no stopping her. Unless any of you guys are crazy enough to try. I guess all we got to do is try to help her out."

I gritted my teeth. There was no way we could defeat that thing.

I watched as Rei continued to kite in, delivering blow after blow on the monster's hide with her brass knuckles, doing no damage. She was fast, fast enough to hold her own against the S class, which was already really freaking impressive, considering it normally took at least seven High Ranking (even higher than me) Cleaners to dispatch one of these things.

But Rei couldn't penetrate its hide, or find any weak spots.

I clicked my communications device, to activate the distress signal.

I readied my spear, turning to the rest of our squad. "We gotta support Rei. No matter what. We're NOT letting these monsters take over our world!"

"YEAH!" Everybody shouted, as we joined in.

Rei rushed in, but finally lost her luck, as the monster launched a punch in her direction. Rei managed to block it, but was sent flying back. I instantly ran to the spot and caught her, as Rei got to her feet, breathing heavily.

"Rei... go easy on yourself. This is an S class. We just need to hold ou-"

"I will defeat it."

I looked at Rei. She stared at the ground, her eyes full of rage, clenching her brass knuckles so tightly her hands turned white.

"Rei, listen to me. I understand. But this is-"

"I WILL WIN." She shouted. "Even if I break my body to do it. I will become the strongest Cleaner. For Mom." She growled, as she zipped back into the air, trying to kite the monster, but the monster had already figured out her movements, and slammed her back onto the ground.

Our squad wasn't having too much luck. The monster was able to pick us off and fend us off like fodder. Its main focus was on Rei, but even despite that, we weren't able to get past its occasional wall of spikes.

Suddenly, a massive blast of darkness appeared from the monster's mouth, as it launched it at Rei. Rei swirled out of the way and shot inwards, trying to catch the monster's mouth, but apparently its insides were as tough as its outsides. Rei quickly darted out of the way.

My eyes widened as the blast exploded in our proximity, sending us all back. The only person left standing was Rei.

Rei breathed heavily, as she readied her knuckles.

"Won't lose. I won't lose." She muttered, as she looked at the monster with rage.

"You guys killed Mom. I will never forgive you." She said, as she readied herself for another shot.

"NO! REI! STOP! PLEASE!" Nomi pleaded. I joined in, begging for Rei to stop and try to evade, but Rei wasn't having it.

Suddenly the monster doubled over.

"What?" I asked.

The monster turned around, as something... some ONE. Stood on its head. Rei was motionless, as the figure stood at the top, and I realized he had just impaled the monster with a glowing sword. The sword looked nothing like the ones we used in the Cleaner Company. The blade was angular, silver, with weird markings on the side, like Alien language. The blade glowed silver, as the figure got to his feet. He was muscular, with a buzz-cut. His face, asian in appearance.

He regarded us, as he leapt into the air, and delivered a spiral cut with so much precision and technique, that it made my jaw drop. The boy ripped into the monster's neck, as a bright flash of light illuminated the street we had been fighting on.

By the time I regained my vision, the boy had landed in front of Rei, facing her.

He was around 5 foot 7. He had one of those faces that were hard to gage age from. He looked like he could have been anywhere near 15 to 20. But one thing was clear. He was ripped.

The boy held out his hand, and caught the monster's head from behind.

"So... strong..." Nomi muttered, as Rei was speechless, staring at the man who had just slain a S Class Sentinel in two strikes.

This wasn't normal. It couldn't be. No one was this strong. It just wasn't possible.

The boy turned to me, glancing at the seal.

"Seal it." He said. I stared at him, and shook my head, getting to my feet, and holding out the rune, as the portal began to seal.

I looked at the boy, as he put his sword back in its sheathe. He held out his hand to Rei, who had fallen to her knees in utter shock.

"Are you okay?"

Rei glared at the ground, clearly upset. I could tell. She had done everything she had to become strong. And rightfully so. She was the strongest of all of us. Far surpassing both me and her older sister. And potentially every high ranking Cleaner in the city. She did everything she could to excel. To become the best.

And to, in the span of ten minutes, realize there was a being far stronger than her.

Rei smacked the boy's hand and walked away.

The sky cleared, and I approached the boy, noticing the blood stains all over his clothes.

"So... I'm James. Umm what's your name?"

The boy looked at me.

"Mace. My name is Samuel Mace."