Difference between revisions of "The Story of Yeling Mah"

Revision as of 21:43, 2 December 2021

Hinokami, Suijin, Fujin, Hachi, Susanoo, Shakujin

Six gods that embodied the essence of The Great Akuma, an ancient spectral entity who was created by those who suffered long ago. Who prayed for fairness in the world. For a time, The Great Akuma brought humanity to its knees. Hierarchy and social class was shattered, and man was equal. No man was greater than another. Humanity saw one another as comrades.

But when the Great Akuma was killed by the Spirit of Hope, Vala, humanity returned to its original, corrupt state.

Famine.

Poverty.

Homelessness.

Those who were ill, physically and mentally, not given the same love as others.

When the Great Akuma was destroyed, so was the fairness in this world.

The Contingency Initiative aims to restore the Great Akuma. To return the world to that where man united as one force. A truly ideal world.

They call me a terrorist. A murderer. A monster.

I am everything you say I am

From the very start, I was never meant for this world of peace

And just as this world took from me

So shall I take from you

As the Hinokami, I will use my flames

To burn this world to ash

And grow a fair one anew

I am Tidalflame

Mom's hands crumbled to dust in mine.

I was sprawled on the floor, staring at the ashes of my parents and sister, who had been burnt to a crisp. Blue flames all around me. Despite the scorching heat of the hellfire I was surrounded by, my tears glistened across my face.

"Mama... baba..." I whimpered, the scary lines that had scratched themselves into my left arm were pulsating blue. The same colour as the fire that had killed my family.

Rise. Yeling Mah.

The voice in my head boomed with superiority, forcing me to stand to my feet.

"You never said my family would be killed like this! You never said that! You liar! Liar! Give them back! Please give them back!"

I screamed, trying to claw at my forearm, blood trickling all over the ground.

Your family for the Hinokami. That was the exchange. That was the pact. An eye for an eye. A leg for a leg. For your family, the price to pay, I have granted you, with the power of Hinokami. The flames of the Great Akuma.

I stumbled out of the house, which was burning down as well.

"You killed them! You did!"

I gazed at the distance, then at my arm.

"I killed them..." I sobbed, falling to my knees.

For days I stumbled across the streets of New Ulysses. No one paid me attention. Most of them avoided me. At some point, I collapsed from hunger and exhaustion.

And that was when a man stood before me. In a black trench coat, shadows concealing his face.

"Little one, I sense loneliness from you."

I didn't answer, as the man knelt in front of me, pointing at my arm.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" I screeched, shuffling back and concealing my hand away from the man.

"I kill everybody I see. I killed the only people I had left. I kill kill kill kill kill!" I sobbed, my body shaking in a trance.

"You are a Dogma holder." The man said.

I stared at him from within the bangs of my hair.

The man smiled as he folded up his sleeve, revealing lines that looked all too similar to mine. But his were... even more intricate. Like it was a combination of multiple patterns.

"Hinokami. Is it wrong to want to kill? You wanted to kill even before you received the Akuma's Flames. You wanted everybody to die. Am I wrong?"

"Wha... what?"

The man held out his hand.

"Now. Your family, all that you held on to some semblance of value to this world, has been burnt to ash. By this world. You have nothing holding you back."

"Nothing holding me back..." I recited.

"Do you want to destroy the world?"

My heart began beating faster, until I could feel and hear my own pulse.

"Yes, sir. I want to destroy the world. But it isn't right. This world's laws make it not right. I cannot hurt..."

The man smiled.

"Then join me, Taras Pax. Join the Contingency Initiative. I will let you use your powers however you want. Unbounded by this world's rules. For we shall create another. One for people who deserve it. One for people like you to deserve to be happy. And those who this world has favoured, those who don't deserve the riches they flaunt so carelessly before your face. Those people. I will give you the opportunity."

"What opportunity..." I asked, knowing full well what the answer was.

Taras smiled sinisterly.

"The opportunity to eliminate them from the world. Yeling Mah. Join me, and you will become one to engulf this world in flames. Like a tsunami. Like an unstoppable torrent of vengeance. Like a tide."

I shook his hand.

Like a Tidalflame.

Elimination Op Code: CAMPUS

"Hey, why don't you leave your problems to yourself?"

Danny shouted at me.

"Are you saying my mental health doesn't matter?!"

"Everybody is suffering here. It's school. You're not the only one with problems. So stop acting like you're special. I don't care if you feel like you're dying. That's your own business. Now go and help out with this project."

My problems didn't matter.

That was what I was forced to believe.

Here.

I glared at the campus from the top of the highest building, my Contingency Initiative Darkwear cloak fluttering in the wind. The mask that covered half of my ruined face concealing the hatred I had for these people.

Did you like downplaying my situation?

All of you?

Did you enjoy it when you told me my suicidal thoughts meant nothing?

Did you enjoy telling me my physical health didn't matter?

Did you enjoy attacking me every time I messed up because I didn't get enough sleep. From overwork. From the endless thought of being ostracized?

"Student card, please." The man held out his hand with empty eyes.

I handed it to him, as he took it and inspected the sheet.

Squad Leader Matt had me arranged to take an exam at the scheduled time for this class. It was all part of the plan to get me to fit in and conceal myself, until my mission began.

When this mission was offered to our team at Squad Four, I was immediately the first one to accept.

After all, I held a huge grudge against this academic institution.

Correction.

I held a huge grudge against the people there.

No one showed me any sympathy that day, when I accidentally killed my entire family from my Dogma power. From when I initiated a Dogma Exchange for my first Level. My whole family died. My whole house was gone.

But the people at my institution didn't care.

The people in my class didn't care.

They didn't care at all.

No chocolates were sent to me.

I spent my days wandering the streets, then I would show up to class, in rags. And I would be avoided by everyone.

I was just expected to just show up to class and act like everything was okay. I was expected to show up to team meetings for my project classes.

And bottle it all up inside.

Because everybody was struggling.

My problems didn't matter.

I began writing as a couple of students kept giving me looks.

My wig covered half of my face. The face that was ruined from my Level 2 Dogma Bargain.

By the time I wrote the exam, which of course was a bunch of bullshit because I had no idea what this stuff was, I made my way to the front of the class to hand in my paper.

"Finished." I said.

The professor took the paper. I recognized him instantly. That scumbag.

"S- Sir?" The professor asked.

"Is something the matter?"

"No." I replied.

"You are smiling... very unsettlingly."

I was.

I was smiling sinisterly. The biggest smile ever. Because I was the last person to show up to the exam. And I used Hinokami to weld the doors shut.

These people in this exam hall were all my classmates from when I was still in college. These were all people who should have recognized me as the guy who had lost his entire family.

But I was forgotten.

And now, they would remember.

"I am just very grateful to you, prof." I said, my voice low.

"Excuse me?"

I took his hand, and shook it.

"Thank you, prof. For those two hours which you spent rereading pointless slides that had nothing to do with the exam. For throwing me endless assignments without any regard of our workload. For not responding to our emails. You know, it's strange."

I turned to everybody in the exam hall, who were all staring at me.

"Hey!" I shouted, waving my hand.

"Who here finds this exam easy?"

Everybody was silent. No one dared say a word. Until one person slowly raised his hand.

My smile widened even more. Not from humor. But from pure rage.

It was Danny.

The people around Danny looked at him, then more and more people slowly raised their hand.

Of course they found it easy.

They were all so smart.

And I was just far too stupid to be here.

That was how it always was.

I turned to the professor.

"Yes. It's so easy to everybody here. Isn't that great. Well, come to think of it. It was never easy for me. After all, how could it? Since I watched my whole family burn down along with my house."

The professor's eyes widened.

"You... you are the boy who's family-"

I tightened my grip my hand began to glow blue, the tattoos on my left arm illuminated with a devilish blue light.

The professor yelled in agony as everybody screamed, rushing towards the exit, which was welded shut.

I brought my face closer to the man.

"Hey. Don't feel so bad. I know you didn't mean it. You probably put your family first right? It takes too much time to make my lectures better. So you decided, hey. These students are smart enough. Fuck the ones who actually have to work hard and study to do well. I just won't give them anything. So they can fail this class and retake it for the fifth time in the row! Their financial situation doesn't matter. Their sleep doesn't matter. It's none of my business!"

The professor screamed as he became engulfed in the Akuma's flames, his body crumbling to dust before me as I turned to everybody, who was banging at the doors.

"My name, is Yeling Mah. I'm sure you've all seen me at least once. Well, most of you probably forgot about me. But that's okay. You will remember."

I held out my hand, as blue flame began to aggregate.

"Yeling! Don't. Don't do this, please." Danny begged as he fell to his knees, prostrating himself before me.

"Hey Danny." I muttered.

"Y- Yeah?"

"Do you remember when I used to tell you about my problems? About how I felt like killing myself back then. And my inferiority complex?"

Danny nodded violently.

"Y- Yes. Of course I do. I reassured you that it was okay. We were friends, right? You wouldn't do this to me. Or our friends here. We're going to graduate together. Right?"

"Yeah." I murmured, as Danny continued nodding, his breathing hysterical.

"I remember. Of course I do, Danny."

The flames became more violent as Danny looked at me frantically.

"Wha- Why? Why are you doing-"

"I remember you telling me my problems didn't matter. I remember you constantly bringing up the fact that I couldn't show up to class. I remember it all. I remember you ostracizing me away from everybody else with Duncan. Oh Duncan. Blessed with so many smarts. Man. A girlfriend too! Amazing!"

I threw my head back and laughed.

"Duncan actually thought about destroying this world too. But why? Why, tell me."

Danny blinked.

"B- Because he didn't like this. He was always pessimistic. He loved-"

"No." I snarled, causing Danny to cower.

"Duncan didn't deserve to have the same wishes as me. The audacity of that guy. COME OUT." I roared, as a shorter man stumbled from the crowd, reluctantly.

"H- Hey... Yeling..."

I tilted my head, as the wig melted off, causing my old classmates to scream even more as they stared at the scarred tissue on the right side of my face, the look of horror and fear consuming their eyes.

"Answer me. Duncan. Do you want to see the world burn?"

"I... You..."

I smiled.

"Look at my face. My scarred and destroyed face. And answer me, Duncan."

"I do?"

I aimed my hand, as Duncan became consumed with flame, releasing a massive fresh wave of screams as I heard banging. The people were trying to free my classmates from the outside of the exam hall.

I glared at Danny.

"I killed your best friend. How does that make you feel?"

Danny began heaving as I fired two massive torrents of flame at the horde of scum before me.

Level 1 Hinokami: 5% Double Inverse Tsunami Release

The screams cut off abruptly, as the bodies were replaced with char and ash. I went up to Danny, who had indirectly suffered burns from the sheer temperatures of my blasts, and dragged him up the steps.

"Y... Ye..."

A voice croaked as I turned around. I knelt down.

"Oh my god. Is that you, Sherry?" I cackled at the balding, decaying charred body of the girl who had made my love life as miserable as possible.

"I'm.... so sorry..."

"Aw, Sherry. I'm sorry too." I replied, sarcastically.

"I'm sorry I didn't humor you back. When you pretended to be nice to me and then ghost me. When you and your girlfriends all ganged up to make me look like a total freak in class. I'm so sorry. I'll put you out of your misery."

I took our my Contingency Initiative Combat Mask, which was designed for me, as I plucked at her skull, causing her to begin falling apart.

I put the mask on.

"Have fun in the afterlife. Bitch."

I dragged Danny, who was sobbing uncontrollably, and put on my cloak, approaching the doors, where numerous people were trying to break through. They all stopped upon seeing me, jumping back.

Level 2 Intangibility: Hellfire Embrace.

My body instantly turned into a wisp of flame, causing Danny to disintegrate, his screams passing through my ears, which no longer perceived sound.

I walked through the doors, and regained shape, my hands bursting into flame, as a fresh wave of screams erupted.

I smiled maniacally.

"My name is Tidalflame. I serve Squad Four of the Contingency Initiative. And I'm here to begin work."

Level 1 Hinokami: 100% Inverse Tsunami Release

"Contingency Initiative's Tidalflame destroys entire campus. Thousands dead. No survivors reported in the vicinity."

Whitney read the news highlight, with a sick grin on her face.

"I like it. Mmm... that gets me going. Say, don't you think, Matty?"

Squad Leader Matt glanced up from his paperwork, which he was filling out at an impressive pace. For someone who claimed he hated doing admin tasks, he was damn good at it.

"I don't give a shit if that mission gave Yeling a hard-on. As long as the mission is completed, then that's all that matters to me."

Classic Matt.

Matt was the leader of our Squad. As part of the Contingency Initiative. We were assigned as Squad Four, under his command.

Well, "command" wasn't really the right term. He really didn't give a shit about us at all, letting us do whatever we wanted.

As long as we go the job done, that was what mattered in his eyes.

From what the rumors said about Matt, he apparently never wanted to be a Squad Leader. But Taras threw him the role after he had Lewis recruited.

Squad Four. An elimination squad of the Contingency Initiative. One of six squads.

Our mission? Was to advance the resurrection of The Great Akuma. An ancient demon that had terrorized the world a long time ago for the purpose of remaking it in the image of one where each person who deserved life, and those who had too much wealth and riches to be wiped from the world.

But of course, that was a lot easier said than done. Because when The Great Akuma terrorized the world, another force stepped in to stop him. Vala, the Spirit of Hope, who reasoned that to kill humanity was wrong. The world was the way it was for a reason, or some bullshit like that. The two spectral beings battled, along with their followers, leading to the events of The First Great War.

Just as we were trying to resurrect The Great Akuma, there were those who were trying to resurrect Vala.

Our greatest adversary.

The Realmwatch Collective.

My mission was to destroy the entire campus, to eliminate any potential meta humans that could be scouted by Realmwatch.

After all, according to one operative in Squad Two, who was a mentalist, she had predicted that the candidates of meta human ability would definitely turn down CI's offer, and accept Realmwatch's.

Of course they would.

This campus was full of fake, toxic, scum.

And it was my pleasure to eliminate them off the face of the planet. After all, this mission was important to me.

It was personal.

Suddenly, I paused.

But...

Was it really right? To kill them all like that.

I knew it was too late. What was done was done.

But if I was suffering in this campus... so long ago... I couldn't have been alone.

I had wiped them out along with-

"It never would have worked out for them." Matt said, as he filed the last of the paperwork.

I was shunted back into reality, to see Matt critically regarding me with that one eye of his that was not in an eyepatch.

"Squad Leader...?"

"That face. It reeks of hesitation." Matt stood up as I began to sweat.

"Everybody there deserved to die. You said it yourself. So why are you having second thoughts?"

"I... the ones who were suffering..."

"Deserved to die. Don't you remember what your old friend Danny said? He was also suffering. But everybody was. He just chose to stuff it all down and act like it was natural. If someone feeds into that, they don't deserve a place in New Ulysses once The Great Akuma reawakens."

Matt stopped at the door, as red lines appeared across the right side of his face, his missing arm forming a shadow tendril which wrapped around my throat.

"Just so you know, I don't tolerate weakness in my squad. You either serve the CI with all you got. Or you don't. And if you don't, you're no use to me. I will kill you."

"Yes sir." I replied, quickly, as Matt removed the tendril.

"Good. See you after lunch for briefing."

Elimination Op Code: ANTI-CAPITAL

Whitney was all over Matt as Matt tried to concentrate on getting his paper work done.

"Matty.... want to come try out this new restaurant with me that opened up down the block?"

"No."

"Aww, don't be such a buzzkill. Come get a drink with me." Whitney purred into his ear, as Matt's eye twitched in annoyance.

"We both know our definition of drinks are completely different."

"We can still enjoy them together. While I feast on everybody's souls."

"Dammit Whitney! I'm trying to work! Get the hell off of me!" Matt growled, throwing Whitney off as she yelped in surprise.

Lewis rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Thot." He grumbled.

Whitney shot to her feet and went up to Lewis.

"Well excuuuuse me, Mister Incel, but not everyone shares your distorted views on women."

"I'm not an incel. I just happen to think that women fall in love with the wrong type of guy. Then complain about it. The whole idea of it is stupid. If you're gonna like someone toxic, expect it to be toxic."

"Sounds like someone's never kissed a girl before."

"The hell are you trying to say you thot?! Want me to burn you up?!" Lewis shouted, his eyes glowing a deadly purple.

"Oh my god! Shut the hell up!" Matt roared, as the two of them sat down in their chairs.

Matt got up from his chair and put the papers away.

"Where the hell are the rest of you idiots."

Lewis shrugged his shoulders.

"Maika said she was going to the new store. Flint went off to the casino to blow his paycheque. And the others all went out to go help the other Squads on their missions. It's just us three."

Matt put his hand behind his neck as he took a deep breath.

"Doesn't matter. You, Whitney, and Yeling will be enough for this mission."

Matt placed a piece of paper on the table, as we huddled in front of it.

"This is the CAPITAL headquarters. I'm sure you recognize it, Lew."

Lewis' eyes went wide with rage.

"Yeah. I do."

Matt nodded.

"The mission will be an elimination mission. The target is the board of directors, who have scheduled a meeting at the top floor at exactly 9:00pm. Doesn't matter how you kill them. Just get the job done, and bring back a proof of kill for me to file."

Whitney licked her lips.

"Can I suck them dry?"

Matt gave Whitney an exasperated look. "Do I even want to know what you mean by that?"

"I don't mind telling you, Matt."

Matt got up from his table.

"Do whatever the hell you want."

"What if I... torture them, then kill them."

"I just said do whatever you wan-"

"Or I kill half of them instantly... then... wait no. That would make it too easy... unless..."

"Dammit Whitney! Just kill them!" Matt shouted, as he left the planning room, muttering something about useless subordinates and being a parent.

Matt was feeling real nice today and decided to drive us to the location.

All the while, Whitney spent the whole ride trying to guess what Matt's type for women.

Spoiler alert. All her guesses were her.

I glanced at Lewis, who noticed.

"What? Is it that surprising that I'm outside for once?"

"No." I said quickly.

"Just didn't expect you to react the way you did is all."

Lewis gripped the car door handle until his knuckles turned white.

"The CAPITAL is home to the biggest corporate giants in New Ulysses. In other words, the greediest of the bunch. It's no surprise that this world is messed up beyond repair. Everybody knows it. Almost every joke out there on the media points out how stupid this system is. And I'm sure these billionaires know how scummy they are. But they do it anyway."

Lewis' eyes glowed purple.

"All this attention. All the messages in the media. It should be so obvious by now that they should change. But they don't. This shit is still here. They're aware. Yet they still screw over the poor. They still turn down the people who need money. That's why I want them dead. Which is why I'm gonna have to ask you to keep your flames down for this mission. I want the chance to incinerate them with my eye beams myself."

We arrived at the location, as we parked outside in the darkness.

Matt rolled down the window as we made our way outside, in our robes and masks.

"Remember you three. Doesn't matter how you do it. Kill all the board members. Don't let a single one escape."

Whitney smiled at Matt.

"Aww Matty, you're so concerned about me. That's so sweet."

Matt made a face that was between a look of disgust and a look of annoyance, before rolling the windows up and driving off.

"How are we gonna do this?" I asked.

Lewis put his hand under his chin.

"I'm thinking we find a way to do it stealthily. If they manage to escape, it's a mission fail. So we'll-"

THUMP

Lewis and I stared at the entrance, as we watched Whitney pin the two guards to the floor, their life force leaving their body and entering her mouth as she sucked the life out of them.

"What?" Whitney asked putting a hand to her hip.

We decided to massacre everybody we saw.

Whitney skipped around the office as Lewis and I took cover.

"That idiot!" Lewis growled, as we heard the sounds of gunshots and Whitney giggling, leaping around, killing guards left and right as yelling filled the air.

I summoned flame, but Lewis put his hand on my wrist.

"I'll handle this. Your flames are too destructive, it'll get us too."

Lewis stood up as he concentrated, firing a bright beam of purple light, incinerating a guard into ashes.

"Those robes. Their those CI terrorists! Call Realmwatch!" One of the guards shouted at the other, before being incinerated by Lewis's eye blasts.

I watched as Whitney continued sucking up the guards, while Lewis fired beams left and right, reducing them to smithereens.

Suddenly, I noticed one guard in the corner. He was hiding, with a phone to his ear, speaking to it in a frantic voice.

He was calling reinforcements.

"Lewis! We got one over there!"

Lewis turned around.

"God dammit!" He growled, as one guard emerged from his cover, taking aim, but Whitney leapt on top of him, dodging his bullets as she opened her mouth, revealing several fangs.

"Bon appetite!" Whitney cackled, as she dug her teeth into his neck, causing the guard to scream in agony.

Lewis fired another optic beam, as the guard hid back behind cover, but I watched as the beam changed directions midway, like a zig zag, across the numerous barricades. Lewis' precision was ridiculous.

But it wasn't enough as everything went into slow motion.

I caught the guard make eye contact with me, as he lowered the phone. We were too late.

The beam made contact with the guard as he disintegrated before me.

"Tsk. I was too slow." Lewis muttered, as Whitney joined us.

"It's okay, Lewey. You did great. Besides, I'm dying to sink my teeth into some Realmwatch boys." Whitney licked her lips.

"What now? The rich boys probably already know we're here. The whole building's on lockdown." I said.

Lewis clenched his fists.

"I know. But I'm not gonna stop until every one of those corporate giants are dead."

Lewis' eyes illuminated with purple once more as a different light emitted from his pupils, almost like a scanner.

Lewis looked upwards, as he narrowed his eyes and inspected the building layout. In terms of reliability, out of everybody in Squad Four, Lewis was the best. Because of his vision evo, he was given the codename Pinpoint. As for Whitney, she was given the codename Wendigo, partly because she had First Nations background, as well as the fact that... well... her evo basically consisted of her eating people and sucking their life force.

Lewis closed his eyes, shutting off the purple light.

"Helicopters are on their way. Right now, they have a ton of guards protecting them, hoping to buy time before an evacuation vehicle arrives. Meaning it's a race against the clock."

I glanced at the elevator doors.

"The elevator doesn't work. Stairs are probably guarded."

Lewis grunted in frustration, as he put his hands to his head.

Out of all of us, Lewis was the smartest. I didn't know if it was because he was in his room all the time, never going to missions, playing video games and coding. If he couldn't come up with a strategy, there was nothing we could do. Since I was stupid. And Whitney was... batshit insane.

"I won't let them get away. Not again." Lewis muttered.

"Not again...?"

I decided not to pry.

"I might be able to propel us upwards with my evo. To the top. But I don't know if the temperature is too much for you guys."

Lewis examined the tattoos on my left arm.

"No. It'll probably fry us. How much do you need to go to get propulsion?"

"Minimum 3%. But at 3% it was still enough to set people in the vicinity on fire."

Lewis assessed the surroundings with his vision evo.

"So we need something that can insulate the heat. At least long enough for us to get to the top. There we go."

Lewis went up to a piece of wall, and burnt it with a eye beam.

"What.. are you doing?" Whitney asked, as Lewis tied the pieces of rubber to my forearms.

"This material is used to withstand fire evo attacks. CAPITAL has been around even before the Pax Incident. When the Pax Incident gave a bunch of people meta powers, people tried to use it to loot and rob. So CAPITAL, being the greedy fucks, decided to cut down the salaries of its workers to invest in protective equipment against these attacks. This rubber is one example of it."

Whitney tilted her head in curiosity.

"But it's against regular fire evo attacks. Yelly's evo is godly fire from the Hinokami."

Lewis gritted his teeth.

"The molecular structure should provide some degree of protection. I'd give it a few seconds."

I was nodding my head, until it hit me.

"Wait. That means you guys are going to-"

"Yup." Lewis said.

"Absolutely not! I'm not going to let you guys cling onto me like that!"

WOOSH

Hinokami's flames completely filled the parking lot as everything incinerated, despite being at 3% output.

I shot to the air, with Lewis and Whitney clinging onto my back. It felt like my shoulders were about to fall off.

"This is awesome!" Whitney shouted in the air.

"You idiot! Keep your hands on Yeling unless you wanna fall off twenty stories in the air!"

I looked stupid. The rubber sleeves covered not only my hands, but extended to my feet. But we were making our way to the top.

"Keep it up, TF." Lewis shouted at me, as I watched the sleeves begin to crumble, breaking apart from the sheer temperature of Hinokami.

We were almost there.

"Alright! That's enough. Hover, TF! Hover!"

I lowered the output to 1%, as Lewis glared at the numerous millionaires who were staring at us in horror. The guards all took aim and were about to fire, but Lewis roared in rage.

"You're finished. This is for my Mom, you money greedy fucks!!!"

Super Move: Wide Optic Blast

A massive wave of energy exited Lewis' eyes as a wide beam of light incinerated all the bullets, killing the guards in the process and melting the windows. I propelled us through to the top floor as we crashed onto the floor.

Lewis rolled as a few of the giants tried to rush to the door, but Lewis widened his eyes, firing a massive beam of light which broke apart into three branches, each branch catching the three millionaires as they screamed in agony.

"I ain't gonna make this fast." Lewis snarled, as the beams continued exiting his eyes. Lewis got to his feet.

"You're going to suffer slowly. Watch as your body melts before your eyes. That pain you're feeling. That's the same feeling all the people who worked under you. All the people who worked under your so called work-life synergy felt. All the people who died from overwork. While you didn't give a flying fuck about their lives. Sending those copy and paste apology letters and continue killing your workers so you could earn more and more."

The other millionaires began to cower, but one guard stood before them.

"I will protect you from these terrorists." He muttered, as he drew his gun, but I stood between him and Lewis.

The tattoos on my left arm began to glow blue as my body caught fire.

"No you won't." I hissed.

The guard gritted his teeth.

"Tidalflame. Do you enjoy watching another human suffer until they die?"

"Of course. It's... liberating." I said, as I spread my hand, causing a wall of blue flame to surround the group, causing them to all howl in pain from the temperature.

I was at less than 1% of Hinokami's power. I couldn't kill them. Lewis had to do it.

This was Lewis' elimination contract.

"Y- You won't get what you want." One of the millionaires managed to spit at Lewis' face.

"I'm going to die knowing I was successful. I've already won." The man said, his voice nearing death.

Lewis' face was full of rage, but Whitney went up to the man.

"Sure you did. But you're going to die knowing you had no balls."

The man managed a weak smirk.

"Who needs a man's honour when I had the world in my hands..."

Whitney smiled maniacally.

"I wasn't talking about those kinds of balls."

Whitney stomped her foot right on his crotch as the man's eyes went wide, screaming in pain.

"AAAH! You twisted.... BITCH!" He screamed, as Lewis stopped the beam. The other two had disintegrated into dust, as the last guy was clutching his midsection, slowly dying.

Whitney raised a fist.

Lewis fist bumped her.

"Thanks. Wendigo."

Whitney smiled.

"Always. Pinny."

Lewis then turned to the group of millionaires.

"Thanks, TF. I'll take it from here."

I snapped my fingers, as the flames died down. The guard collapsed, as did the rest of the millionaires.

Lewis regarded the guard.

"I don't care about you."

I took his signal and grabbed the man.

"Game over for you, bud."

The guard regarded me.

"You are... still young. A kid like you shouldn't be killing..."

"What do you know about me? Huh? Don't even try to pretend you know what it's like."

"No." The guard coughed.

"But... you're young. Your life isn't finished yet. There's still so much your life has to unfold. But you gave up early. A guy your age... should find a girl to love you. To... to find a career you like... to..."

My eyes widened.

"No. I'm going to kill you here. Of all the people I hate in this world, I hate YOUR KIND the most. Your kind. Someone who already has it. Probably a wife and kids. A career. Somewhere to fit in. Somewhere to go home to. You of all people should not be lecturing me about how to live my life. There is no future for those of the Dogma. I know I will never live a life as a main character. I am always forever going to be a side in this stupid world's plot. Which is why I will destroy this world. Starting with the garbage who pollute it. Starting with you, and these millionaires over there. And I'm not going to stop. I will not stop, until everything has burnt to the ground."

Level 2 Intangibility: Hellfire Embrace

My body combusted into fire as I became intangible, the sheer body heat setting the guard on fire, but he didn't flinch, as he eyed me with that disgusting sympathy.

"It will. You will see. And you will remember what I say."

I let go as I regained form, watching the body of the guard crumble to ash.

I watched as Lewis fired another branched eye beam, melting the millionaires before him. The corporate giants, until only one remained alive.

"You are all just terrorists. You will all be stopped." The giant glared at us, barely clinging onto life.

Lewis clenched his fists.

"Do you even remember her name?" Lewis muttered.

"What?"

"Her name. The employee that you took advantage of. She was a single mother. She had to raise me along with my sisters. But you refused to give her a raise no matter how much she would dedicate her life to the job. To the point where we had no choice but to sell off my siblings to pay off the rent."

The giant managed a small smirk.

"That was her fault. Why do I care? It's none of my business."

Lewis' eyes widened.

"The fuck did you just say?"

The man lifted his burnt hand, which was completely charcoal black, as he flipped Pinpoint off.

"I know that woman. She didn't even deserve to be in my company in the first place. I don't need people to come up with sob stories when they don't make me money. Natalie Greer was just a waste of wages considering all the mistakes she made for my company."

"She couldn't afford to eat! She couldn't afford to sleep! No other places would take her in because of her bleeding condition YOU guys gave her. If you had just given her a raise, if you had just paid her more than minimum wage, she would-"

"If an employee doesn't serve my company, she is useless. That's the harsh reality of it, Pinpoint of the Contingency Initiative. If your mom had whored out, she would be more worth."

"Hey!" I growled, but Lewis held out his hand, stopping me.

"Nah. Fuck this. You're going to die. I'm going to cut off all your limbs with my beams. Then you will die from infection. That is how you will die. A limbless, thing. My mom lost three fingers because of the poor working conditions you put her through. You're gonna lose four limbs."

"No, you won't."

A voice appeared behind us.

"Wha-"

A massive blur intercepted Whitney and I as I felt a sharp blow on my stomach, slamming me back into the wall as Whitney flew out of the window.

"Whitney!" I yelled, but Whitney caught on to the ledge and flipped up.

"Well, what is this?!" Whitney cackled, as Lewis turned around.

"No... not now!" Lewis growled.

"You old geezer!" I roared, as I powered up my flames, and fired a lance of fire at the man, who dodged with incredible agility, and before I could react, he had instantly closed the distance.

I yelped as I activated my Intangibility, before the man could launch a devastating uppercut which would have knocked me out unconscious.

Whitney leapt into the air, but the man back kicked her into the roof, as Whitney's body smashed into the ceiling.

Lewis turned around.

"DAMMIT!"

Lewis fired a beam at the man, who acrobatically darted around. Lewis gritted his teeth as the beam changed trajectory, zig zagging all around the room, but the beam not managing to catch up to the man due to the sheer direction changes he was making. The man landed a punch at Lewis' stomach, as Pinpoint collapsed.

I regained my form as I shot forward.

Level 1 Hinokami: Devil's Comet

I tried to launch a fiery punch at the man, but he dodged.

"If even Pinpoint's beams couldn't catch me, what makes you think your slow attack could connect? Mirage has been slacking with training you lackeys. If at all."

I whipped around, aiming my palm. I was probably going to incinerate the ceiling, but fuck it.

Level 1 Hinokami: 8% Inverse Tsunami Release

The man dodged again, as the torrent created a massive hole through the top of the building.

"What the-"

A blow landed across my legs as I was sent sideways, then several blows landed on my chest, arms, shoulders, and legs as I smashed into the wall, cracking it, and hitting the ground. My whole body went numb.

The man regarded all three of us. He had defeated us so easily. That skill. That agility.

His white eyes illuminated the darkness of the building in lockdown.

Vala's Eyes. The Spirit of Hope's eyes. A parallel to the Akuma's Flames.

I knew him right away.

He was the mentor to a Realmwatch squad. And not any squad.

The strongest brigade in the Realmwatch Collective.

I was standing before Logan Woodley. Codename Metron of the Stormwatch Brigade.

"I am here to rescue you, Mister Sand. You are safe now with the Realmwatch Collective." Metron said, as he picked up the man. I heard a helicopter outside, as the man loaded him on board.

Several people were inside. All wearing the same uniform as the man. Black with silver trim. A lightning bolt along the side.

"Tough luck, Contingency Initiative." A boy gave us the stink eye.

Lewis tried to reach out his hand. His eyes were bloodshot from overusing his evo.

"Sand... you... I'm going to kill you... don't... don't go..."

Sand smiled sinisterly from behind the helicopter window, while a woman was healing his wounds, undoing all the damage Lewis had done to him, as he mouthed the words

"Sure you will."

I tried to aim my hand, but my arm wouldn't move.

"You... asshole!" I growled, as Lewis did the same thing, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Mom... mom... I'm so sorry... I... I'm so sorry..." Lewis began to sob, when suddenly, Sand's disappeared.

"What?" I gasped, as Sand appeared in front of me.

"What the?!" Voices appeared from within the helicopter. The silhouette of a man in the helicopter dissipated into black mist.

Only one man had this ability.

Switch Teleportation.

"Well guys. You failed your mission. Nice try. But I figured you idiots wouldn't be able to pull it off." A familiar voice said, as a man walked up to Sand. A mask that covered one of his eyes where an eyepatch would normally cover it. A dark CI robe.

Sand backed away, his eyes wide.

"You-"

The people in the helicopter also stared at the man, dumbfounded.

"Dammit!" Metron growled, as he opened the helicopter door to rush forward, but the man smiled, as he let Metron charge, then before anyone could react, the two switched places.

Metron grimaced.

"Switch teleport... I see right through-"

"No. You don't, old man." The man replied, as another red flash from his eye swapped their places once again, Metron, this time, disoriented from two switch teleports, hurtling at the man with the same momentum that he had before.

The man held out two fingers and formed another clone, who clutched Metron's arm, using his momentum to redirect his motion in a circular motion. Hurtling the older fighter into the air.

The man generated another clone in the air behind Metron, who clutched the old man, and hurling him the same way, sending him to the ground as the man brought his foot back.

Level 3 Senkaku: Slingshot Backbreaker

A fist sprouted from Logan's back as he coughed in pain, the man smiling maniacally as he launched Metron away.

Metron slid across the ground, clutching his back and groaning in agony.

"METRON!" The people in the helicopter shouted, but the man glanced at the vehicle with no emotion.

"Thanks for taking care of my squad, old man. But this mission was just for Pinpoint. And as Squad Leader, I can't let you go about messing it up for my subordinates."

A black arm manifested, as the tendrils clutched onto the helicopter rotor, jamming it as the entire vehicle veered off course, slashing against the side of the building.

The man turned to us.

"What do you have to say for yourselves?"

I was dumbfounded, as Lewis gritted his teeth, closing his eyes.

"We... failed... we're sorry. Squad Leader Mirage."

Matt regarded Lewis.

"Don't be sorry. Be better. Finish the job."

Lewis got to his feet, as he approached Sand and pinned him against the ground, as he began to beg for mercy.

"This is for my mom. Natalie Greer. Who you took in, giving her the worst possible working conditions at less than minimum wage. Who sexually harassed her and ruined her reputation, to the point where she had no other place to go. Who gave her inhumanely demanding tasks, to the point where she died from overwork and emotional exhaustion. This is for all the people who you ruined. Because of your corporate entertainment. It's too late for you, Sand. You were scum. And I admit, that I am not much better. But now you're gonna die knowing you got yourself killed by something you made. So cherish it."

Lewis' eyes glowed purple as two beams of light went right through Sand's skull, as Sand screamed in agony, trying his best to resist, but his body went slack.

"You monsters!" Metron yelled.

"Don't!" The boy shouted at Metron from within the helicopter, which was now retreating.

"Patcher is still injured. We can't heal you! The mission is over. Come back to us!"

Metron glared at Matt.

"Have you no shame... taking advantage of this boy's trauma?"

"Taking advantage?" Mirage asked, as he pointed at Metron.

"I'm giving him a chance to get vengeance. Something YOU will never understand, old man. Something nobody in Realmwatch will ever understand. And he won't be the last. The next time I see you Stormwatch bitches again, I will single handedly destroy you all."

We watched as Stormwatch retreated, as Whitney managed to regain consciousness an hour later, digging herself out of the debris and comforting Lewis, who sobbed and cried.

"It's okay now, Lewey. Your mom's avenged. You did it." Whitney stroked his head as Lewis buried his head in her neck, for once, not complaining that Whitney was touching him.

Sabotage Op Code: DIARY

Lewis holed himself up back in his room.

"What the hell? After everything we went to today, you're going back to being a NEET?" I banged on Lewis' door.

"Go away! There's a championship game going on. I'm not gonna miss it."

"We have a new mission!"

"I'll look at it later!"

How does that make any sense?

I went down the stairs of our Squad residence.

"Well, it looks like Lewis is back to not leaving his room again." I told Matt, who was doing more paperwork.

"So it's just you in briefing."

"Yes..." I muttered.

Matt picked up his pen and for a second I thought he was going to throw it against a wall.

"So the one guy in my squad who actually consistently shows up to briefings, is the guy who has the most second thoughts."

"What are you talking about? I killed those guys! It was easy. I didn't flinch at all."

Matt rested his hand on the table.

"You're a holder of the Dogma, Yeling. It's not that I'm saying it's wrong to feel this way. But what's wrong is to feel this way, and at the same time, force yourself into doing what the Contingency Initiative requires you to do. You can't do these two things at the same time because at some point, you're going to break."

I gazed at the table.

I hated this world. That was why I was here.

That hate.

I needed to use that hate. No more second thoughts. Those died when I torched my house down that day. Those second thoughts should have died a long time ago.

"Yeling."

I was a killer. I am. A terrorist. A murderer. A destroyer.

I am all of these things.

"Hey. Yeling."

Leave your humanity behind. That is what I was born to do. I was chosen by the Dogma because I was born unlucky. I was worthless in this world, which was why I was perfect for the new world.

WHACK.

I fell on my ass as I heard the clatter of a pen on the ground.

"Ow! The hell, Matt?!"

Matt gave me an annoyed look.

"You done with your weird ass fantasies?"

"Oh. Sorry." I muttered.

"This mission is a sabotage. So ordinarily I would get Lewis to do it. But since Lewis is useless, I'm going to have to get you to do it. Maika will be assisting you since your ability to maintain stealth is practically non existent."

"What about Whitney? You would think her powers would be-"

I stopped myself, remembering how Lewis and I were plotting to do a stealth takedown of the board members, while Whitney went behind our backs and decided to kill everybody in cold blood out of impulse.

There was no way Whitney could do stealth.

If we were talking stealth, technically, Matt would have been the perfect fit for the job. His third level of the Dogma was Senkaku. Shadows. He could just shadow travel and do the sabotage, and shadow travel back. His whole fighting style was about deception and sabotage.

Come to think of it, Matt was a perfect fit for any job. After all, out of all the people in the Contingency Initiative, Taras Pax saw him as his best soldier. I remembered when Taras placed me in his squad, he spoke highly of Matt.

This is Matthew Lam. The Mirage. Of all my operatives, Mirage is the best. For he wins a battle, not just from sheer strength, but from intelligence. From strategy. He can defeat his enemies from both power and wits. He is the most complete operative in this organization. Learn from him, Tidalflame, and you will see yourself grow in ways unimaginable.

But then I glanced at the huge stack of papers that he had to fill out from our last mission.

Someone had to do it.

And none of us really wanted to do it.

Matt finished another sheet as he stacked it on another pile neatly.

But... how could a crazy pyrokinetic like me go and do something this stealthy? I really didn't want to fail another mission and let Matt down.

"I'm coming with you as well."

I looked at Matt. Huh? Did I hear him right?

"What is that stupid face you're giving me? Did you really think I was going to let some screw loose arsonist do something so precise all on his own? We need you to destroy the target. But I will coordinate the plan. Now that it's confirmed that Stormwatch is involved, I'm itching to break their limbs."

"I... okay." I said, as Matt finished his paperwork and got up.

"Where the hell is Maika." He muttered, as the doors flung open, revealing a tall woman with swept dyed blue hair and punk clothes.

"I'm HOOOMMEEE" Maika sung, as she took something out of her purse, then flung it at Matt.

Matt stood in the centre of the living room, covered in confetti as Maika danced around him.

"That party was so lit. I smoked so much that my eyes were like, popping out of my skull. You should try it out, Yeling. You're one step away from becoming a shut-in like Lewis."

"Uh... I'll have to pass." I said. Mama would have been disappointed if she found out her son was doing drugs.

Maika went up to me as I began to sweat.

"What a good boy. Your mom must be so proud of you."

"She's dead, Maika. You know this."

Maika's eyes widened.

"OH shit. My bad. Sorry. So what was the mission again Squad Leader?"

Matt gave Maika a murderous grin, as a piece of confetti fell off the top of his head and landed on his shirt.

Uh oh.

"This sabotage mission will involve us destroying an artifact that the RWC has been using against us for a long time." Matt explained, as he flipped through the pages.

Maika nodded obediently, as the numerous dark tendrils of Senkaku borderline strangled her, hanging her upside down.

"Is it a weapon?" I asked.

"Not exactly."

Matt showed me the photo. The artifact was housed in a massive glass and steel case, with numerous security all around it. The image itself was confidential, marked by the confidential text at the bottom, exclusive only to those of the RWC.

"A... book."

Matt nodded.

"This book is more than just a book. It is a diary."

"A... diary?"

Matt held the photo out to Maika to see.

"Hey! I can't see the photo upside down!" Maika protested.

"I don't care." Matt replied.

I read the project file.

"I don't... wait."

Matt noticed my surprised expression.

"Yes. This diary belongs to a Realmwatch Operative who died in action. This operative possessed an extremely unique evo. One that could enable him to see into the future. Even though he died, he left behind a ton of cryptic diary entries of the future in the form of dreams. Even in death, Realmwatch has been using his diary to plot against our moves. This was how Realmwatch was able to get to Lewis, Whitney and your location so quickly. It was almost like they knew what we were going to do before we did it. As long as this diary exists, The Realmwatch Collective will be at an advantage against the Contingency Initiative. Which is why we have been tasked to destroy it."

I put a hand on my chin.

"Can't I just blast the whole building housing the artifact down with an ITR?"

Matt scowled.

"Not everything can be solved with torching the shit out of the place, Yeling. We need to make sure the diary is destroyed. 100%."

Matt pointed at Maika, as he dropped her to the floor.

"Which is why Refractor here is coming with us. With Maika's stealth powers to create illusions, we can infiltrate the building and have the whole thing destroyed."

We hid behind the bushes, some distance from the facility. The whole thing looked like a maximum security prison. Which kinda made sense. Since it housed one of RWC's biggest trump cards against us.

"You're up, Refractor." Matt whispered at Maika, who brought her hands up, as white sparkles emitted from her palms and engulfed us, creating an illusion of invisibility.

From the top of the building, a man gazed down at us.

Matt's Senkaku Clone.

Level 3 Senkaku: Multi-Switch Teleport

Matt's eye glowed red as my surroundings elongated, regaining shape as I stumbled. We were now on the roof of the facility, instantly.

"Keep the illusion up."

Matt commanded Maika, as I knelt in front of the transparent casing, putting my hands on it as it began to heat up, melting the roof and creating a hole.

But to the security cameras, the casing was intact. In fact, according to the world outside just the three of us, it was as if no one was ever here.

That was power of Maika Nagumo.

The Refractor. The master of illusion.

We lowered ourselves into a hallway, as we made our way to the location of the artifact, when suddenly, Matt stopped.

"What gives?" Maika said, as Matt put a finger to his lips.

I peeked, and caught side of someone standing in the hallway.

He looked about 17. And had tattoos on his arms which looked a lot like mine, and Matt's.

"He's a Dogma holder!" I whispered, making eye contact with Matt.

"Why's a Dogma holder helping the Realmwatch Collective? He should be on our side!"

Matt eyed the boy with no sympathy.

"Ignorant fool." He muttered, as he stood up.

"Yeling, take care of him. Maika and I will deal with the artifact."

"But... that would alert us."

"Doesn't matter. Look at his tattoos."

"What about them?"

Matt pointed.

"There's two. One of them arcs his arms. There is a smaller one, around his temples. The kid's got a Dogma Level that influences his vision. I'm guessing he's unlocked Hachi, the power of sight. If we tried to sneak past, there's no way we won't be found out. We're already close to the target anyway. The kid's probably stupid enough to go on a bravado hero trip as he tries to face the Tidalflame. Draw his attention away."

"Alright." I said, as I got to my feet, turning to Maika and Matt.

"Good luck."

Matt smirked.

"Worry about yourself first. Idiot."

I slowly emerged from the shadows, as the kid called out to me.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

I stepped into the light of the room.

"Hi." I replied, as the kid's face contorted in surprise.

"You! Tidalflame. Now why would CI send their most destructive operative to perform such a stealthy robbery. Sounds stupid of them. Maybe they're slacking."

I slid my arm out from within my robes, revealing the numerous tattoos on it.

"Oooh. Dogma of Equivalent Exchange. Scarryyyy." The boy said, as he showed off his arms.

"I have it too. You ain't nothing special."

My hands burst into flame.

"Yeah. Except I'm much better with mine."

I fired two streams of flame at the boy, who's tattoos glowed red.

Level 1 Amplification: Full Frontal Tackle

The boy darted forward with surprising speed, as I went Intangible, shooting into the air and regaining my form as I fired another stream. But the boy spun at me.

"I have amplification, you idiot. All of my senses are amplified."

The kid launched a back kick which caught me in the shoulder as I slammed into the wall. But I dissolved into flames as I hit the ground, snaking to the kid, and rematerializing behind him.

Level 1 Hinokami: 10% Inverse Tsunami Re-

I was cut off, as the kid went low and tackled me head on. The two of us hitting the ground.

I went Intangible again, and tried to catch him in his blind spots, but it was like he had none.

"Buddy, you won't ever be able to catch me like that. I have no blind spots. I have 360 degree vision. Hachi, baby."

"You damn cringe lord." I growled, as I fired bolt after bolt of fire at the kid, but he was moving around so much, dodging. The sheer temperatures of my flames were not enough to faze him. His uniform must have been designed to withstand the collateral of Hinokami's flames.

I landed on the ground, but not before the kid closed the distance and launched an axe kick, which split my mask wide open, causing me to fall back.

"Damn!" The kid said, as I fell flat on my ass, my entire face exposed.

"That's one grisly face you have. The hell happened? Burnt your right side while you were out there doing your mass terrorist killings?"

I clenched my teeth.

How dare you make fun of my face.

This was what happened to me when I made my deal with the Dogma.

To unlock Intangibility.

The deal was to prove that I was loyal to the Contingency Initiative.

To not betray them.

I knew I was self conscious about my appearance, even before I knew about the Dogma of Equivalent Exchange. So when I was greeted with this deal to unlock Level 2, it was one of the hardest decisions to ever make.

I was so scared to talk to girls, because I was always self conscious about my appearance.

So to prove that I was loyal, the deal was just that.

You will be loyal to me. Yeling Mah. For in exchange of the gift of invincibility, I shall take from you. Half of your face. No man shall see you for who you are, and no woman will ever wish to kiss upon your ruined flesh. That will be your fate.

When I initiated the bargain, half of my face caught on fire. The fire wouldn't go away. No matter how much water I would douse myself with, no matter how hard I would aim the fire extinguisher at my face, no matter what I did, the fire kept burning my skin. Melting the skin and flesh, as the pain was unbearable.

I screamed and screamed in agony, and by the time the flames died out, I was never the same again.

When I staggered to the mirror that day, exhausted from the pain, I saw my reflection. And it was as if all the energy left in my body manifested itself in a blood curdling scream.

What the hell was that thing in the mirror.

Was that me?

I ran my hand over the right side of my face. The hair was completely gone. Bald. The skin... wasn't even skin. Darkened, tissue replaced everything. Tissue that was full of wrinkles, cracks, and my right eye, was permanently bloodshot. It didn't matter how much lotion I put on my skin. No matter how much eye drops I would apply to my right side.

It was just that. As if my entire right side of my head was dipped into a pool of acid and blanched out.

I spent the whole day and night curled up in the bathroom corner, crying my heart out.

There was no one I could turn to.

What kind of woman would want this.. thing?

They could say appearances don't matter all they want. But let's be honest. No girl would want to touch me. Much less kiss me.

It was only until I had finally made the realization, that I stopped crying, wiped my tears, and stood up in front of the mirror.

My life was dedicated to the Contingency Initiative. This was my life.

I will never be loyal to another. I will not betray these people for others. Because these were the only people who would accept me.

I closed my eyes, as the kid continued bashing me left and right with his amplified punches.

I caught his wrists, as my eyes glowed a murderous blue.

"What are you-"

"Yes..." I muttered, as my tattoos began to glow.

"I sure am ugly, aren't I, kid. Take a good look at my face."

The kid tried to struggle, but I wouldn't let go.

"Let go, you creep!"

"It's ugly. Isn't it. What a sight for sore eyes, right? This. This is what makes me different from you. This is what makes us different from you. Sure, we are both Dogma holders. But I've truly, truly sacrificed more. And with a greater sacrifice, does one become entitled to more."

Level 1 Hinokami and Intangibility: Super Hellfire Embrace

My body exploded into flame as the kid yelled in agony.

"You are NOTHING, kid. How DARE you put on that stupid, ANNOYING smile, knowing full well that you were cursed by the world. The Dogma only ever chooses those who were cheated on by this world. Yet how can you smile so carefree. How can you serve the Realmwatch Collective. HOW CAN YOU BETRAY THE GREAT AKUMA WHO GAVE YOU POWER."

I stomped on the ground, my body now a giant blue flaming avatar, melting everything in its vicinity. The lights sparked and the walls began to glow a bright blue and orange, as it liquified. The boy scurried away.

"Shit!" He gasped, as he stumbled back and tried to run, but I held out my hand.

"You're not getting away."

Level 1 Hinokami: 20% Inverse Tsunami Release

I blasted the kid with flame as he yelled in pain, his charred body flying away and smashing into the other side of the room. But I continued the stream of hellfire.

I breathed heavily as I exited my form, watching as the flames subsided... to reveal nobody there.

"What?" I said, frantically, as I looked around.

"Lucas! Oh god. I'm here. I'm here. I won't let you die." A woman's voice said, as I saw a green glow from the corner.

"Oh god. Patchy patch. Sorry for making you worry. I... I thought I could take him."

Patcher helped Lucas to his feet as she gave me a death stare.

"Get out of here. Tidalflame is too much for you."

"I'll notify Guardian as soon as I can."

"Do so. But also check the area for any other intruders. I doubt Tidalflame is here alone. The rest of Squad Four are probably in this building as well."

My mind flashed to Lewis playing CoD in his room. Whitney probably hooking up with random guys. Flint gambling his life savings away. And everybody else who were probably doing something completely unrelated to the mission while Matt probably didn't even care.

Yeah right.

Patcher's face was a look of pure anger. I had never seen her look so mad before. From the couple of times I've seen her and the Stormwatch Brigade, she always seemed so friendly and level headed.

But this look was like I had just set her grandmother's wheelchair on fire or something.

"You people... you kill and kill and kill. Almost like it's a hobby. Do you have no semblance of sanity left?"

My hands went ablaze, lighting the whole place with a blue glow.

"It left when this world took away my right to be happy. But what would you know. You're just another happy naive bitch serving a naive company living a happy life that you don't deserve. Trying to stop the real work from happening."

"Happy? How can you even just make that assumption?"

I aimed my hand at the Stormwatch Operative.

"I don't need to. I KNOW it."

Level 1 Hinokami: 40% Inverse Tsunami Release

I watched as Patcher's body became flooded with the flames of the Great Akuma. But suddenly, a green glow outshone my fire, as Patcher walked right through it, grabbing my face and slamming me to the ground.

"Tch." I growled, as I went Intangible, strafing to the other side and firing another lance of flame at her, but again, it was like she was invincible.

Her healing ability was out healing my flames.

Patcher continued pressuring me as I tried to evade and shoot. None of my flames were working.

"Just because you're in a bad spot, doesn't mean everybody else isn't. Everyone's problems are valid to them. To their eyes. No hardship is absolute. It's relative."

Patcher socked me in the jaw before I could go Intangible, then I felt a sharp pain as a bat hit me across the head.

Patcher tried to swing again, but I blasted the weapon into smithereens as Patcher winced in pain, her hand completely in ashes, but the same green glow instantly restored it.

I launched as punch at her, as I sent her flying, but Patcher regenerated as well, picking up a shard of the wall and hurling it at me, cutting my face.

Patcher pressured me once more.

"You not only killed these people, but you're trying to desecrate the one thing he had left behind for us. The last thing we had left to remember him by. How could you do this?!"

She screamed, as I found myself overwhelmed by Patcher's attacks. I was running out of stamina to use Intangibility, and Hinokami wasn't working on her.

Patcher pinned me to the ground, as she held out her hand, the bat that had previously disintegrated fully restored as she lifted it into the air.

"Leave. Vision's diary. Alone. Leave this memorial. Leave this place." She whispered fiercely, tears streaming down her face, as her hands shook in rage.

"I can't do that." I said, as I blasted her away with another torrent of flame, getting to my feet as my other hand burst into flame, launching a second stream at her body.

Level 1 Hinokami: 75% Double Inverse Tsunami Release

Patcher tried to heal, but my flames were starting to overwhelm her, as she fell back to one knee.

"As long as that diary is still here, you guys are at an advantage. And as long as you are at an advantage, you will use it against us. Like hell I'm gonna let that happen. I'm just out of room to care about anyone else."

From within the tears, Patcher sobbed.

"I won't fail him again. I won't fail Vision again. If I had just been there for him... we wouldn't have... lost such a precious friend..."

"Leave Rui alone!" A man's voice shouted at me, as I stumbled back in surprise, a blue supersonic flash appeared before me, cutting the flames off.

"Joe!" Patcher gasped, as Stormwatch's strongest member faced me off.

"I'm here now, Rui. I'm here. I won't let this Contingency prick hurt my Squad members. I won't let this guy disrespect Vision's legacy like this."

I scowled.

"Joseph Greziak. The Guardian. Squad Leader of the Stormwatch Brigade."

Joe clenched his fists.

"If your mission was to piss me off, I'd say mission success, Tidalflame. The nerve. The fact that you would do something is beyond low. The level of disrespect you have to the dead is unthinkable. Only Taras Pax would recruit scum like you."

I fired a bolt of flame at Guardian, but Joe instantly closed in and kicked me in the side, sending me back before I could even register his movements.

This guy was beyond fast.

It was inconceivable.

The strongest of the strongest Brigade in the Realmwatch Collective. He was no joke.

There was no way I could stand a chance against someone like that. Or any first generation member of Stormwatch. But I had to do it.

I summoned more power, as I laughed maniacally.

"Yeah. Absolutely. You mad, Guardian? Then come at me, you FOOLS."

Level 1 Hinokami and Intangibility: Devil's Meteorite

I blasted forward, launching a punch, but to my disbelief, Guardian caught my fist, his body glowing blue.

The power of Vala was reinforcing his entire body!

"Go to hell, Tidalscum." Joe growled, as he launched a strike at me, but I went Intangible and flew out of the way.

Patcher got to her feet and tried to rush me from the other direction.

I had no choice.

Level 1 Hinokami: Devil's Typhoon

My body superheated as a massive torrent of blue flame escaped me like a tornado, destroying large parts of the building.

But both Patcher and Guardian stepped through, grabbing me by the shoulder, from side to side, and slammed me into the ground.

"I'm going to beat some decency into you, Tidalflame." Guardian snarled.

"Dammit." I muttered.

I was out of stamina. And these guys were going to capture me.

I was gonna...

"You would go to such extents to protect that guy's stupid diary? That's some cliche lovey dovey garbage if I've ever seen one." Matt said, as he held a book in his hands.

"Vision's diary!" Rui cried out, but Matt stopped her.

"You two sound so desperate." Matt chuckled, as he threw the book in the air, catching it, then tossing it again.

I could see the look of rage in both Rui and Joe's eyes as they watched Matt play around with Vision's book.

"You're in no position to make any demands, Stormwatch trash. I have this diary in my hands. Who knows what I'll do with it."

Joseph grabbed me by the throat.

"And you're in no position either, Mirage. I have your Squad member by the throat. You destroy my Squad Member's diary. I will destroy your Squad Member's neck."

Guardian's squad member? Was Vision, the guy who owned this diary, a part of Stormwatch? No wonder they were so mad.

Mirage regarded me, as he dropped the book to the ground, kicking it to Guardian, as Guardian let me go, hurling me to Matt.

Patcher was still glaring at us, from the bangs of her hair.

"Don't ever come here again. I don't ever want to see you Contingency Initiative people ever again."

Matt smiled.

"Oh. You will."

Guardian picked up the book, when suddenly, his hand passed through it.

"Wha- what?" Joe whispered, as Rui put her hands to her mouth, horrified.

"What is-"

Maika stepped out of the corner, wiggling her fingers, as the illusion of the diary disappeared.

Matt threw his head back and laughed crazily.

"Guardian. For a Squad Leader, you sure are STUPID. Why would I just give you the one thing that we came here to destroy? Are you insane? Why would I trade in a mission objective for some stupid squad member?"

Joe trembled, tears trickling down his cheeks as he looked at Matt.

"How could you... say these things? Aren't you a Squad Leader yourself?"

Matt gave Joe a crazed expression.

"So what? It's a meaningless title."

Rui wrapped her arms around Joe.

"Joe... just... stop. Please stop..."

Joe continued clawing the ground. Trying to pick up the diary of his deceased Squad Member that was never there.

"How could you. How could you do this Mirage. How could you."

Mirage nodded at me, as I turned around and used the rest of Hinokami's flames to melt an exit.

"Mission complete. Let's head back you two."

"But what about Stormwatch?"

Matt turned around, to see Joe and Rui glaring at him.

"They're in no condition to fight."

We walked away, but not before Joe called us out.

"Mirage."

Mirage stopped walking.

Joe got to his feet.

"The next time we meet, I'm going to defeat you. Stormwatch will stop you. No matter how many times it takes. Patcher, Metron, and I will arrest you for what you did to Vision's diary, and the countless lives you've ruined. And then we'll stop Taras from awakening the Great Akuma. For his sake. For Vision's sake."

Matt smiled.

"Go ahead and try. You will fail every time."

We left the building, as I held out my hand.

Level 1 Hinokami: 100% Inverse Tsunami Release

I fired a gargantuan explosion of blue flame as the entire facility was engulfed with Hinokami's fires. The advanced, extreme durability of the buildings defences burning down from the sheer temperatures of The Great Akuma.

Unloveable Pawn

Today was a break.

As usual, everybody in Squad Four went off to do their own thing.

"What about you, Matt?"

Matt closed the door to his room

"Work."

"Huh? Are you serious? It's the weekend. You've been working nonstop. Going to missions, then doing paperwork right after. Missions again. Paperwork. You need a rest."

I felt something at my foot as a wave of darkness erupted from under the door, until a big claw latched onto my throat.

"Are you telling your Squad Leader how to live his life?"

"No!" I responded quickly.

I took a walk outside.

The sun was bright, but it didn't matter how bright it was.

I put my hands in my pockets as my wig covered half of my face like some angsty emo teen. Which wasn't too far off from my predicament.

I walked by two girls who gave me a disgusted look.

"Ugh. How much will I pay you to talk to him."

"Oh my god, Kinsey. You're so mean."

"Incels will be incels!"

The girls laughed as they walked past me.

Maybe I should have taken Lewis' advice and just went on another rampage. But I honestly felt like taking a break today from the destruction. I had seen enough action this past week.

I sat on a bench and overlooked the ocean.

For a place that was so toxic, it did have some peaceful scenery. Would the Great Akuma preserve this part of the world when he destroys this current one?

I watched as a couple walked by me, holding hands and laughing.

My heart hurt, as I remembered what Sherry had told me.

I don't want to be that person, but you're just too negative. No one wants to be around someone like that. You should get that checked out.

Did you really think I could just turn this off?

Right now, people are lying in their hospital beds, wishing they were in your position. You shouldn't even think about being depressed. Be grateful.

Depression isn't a choice. It's an illness, Danny.

No woman will ever wish to kiss upon your ruined flesh. That will be your fate

I inspected my right hand, slowly taking off the glove, revealing the numerous tattoo lines of my first Dogma bargain.

"Tch."

I remembered being here once before. With Mama and Baba.

It was during the sun leen.

Chinese New Year.

My mother, the one person who loved me for who I was, had told me so long ago.

My precious son, Mah Yeling. If you ever feel like you need a break from this world. Come here.

I remembered asking her why.

Because when you gaze upon the sunset, you will block the bad thoughts. It really is a peaceful world. But because of all the bad thoughts, sometimes, you will forget about the good. When I was little, my mama and baba took me here, and it was so free. So peaceful. So beautiful.

A sudden wave of emotion smashed into me, synchronized with the waves of the ocean.

Mama. Baba. I miss you.

I instinctively climbed on the ledge, feeling the breeze against my face, as the bangs of my wig began to fly back.

"Don't do it!" A voice screamed, as I yelped, nearly falling off.

A girl caught my arm and pulled me back.

"Life can get bad, but you can't end it! No matter what!"

I stared at her. Black flowing medium long hair. Desperate eyes.

"Ma...?"

"What?"

I blinked. No. It can't be. My mother died in that fire. This was...

"I'm Anna. Listen, I've been in your place before. And I've been out of it. You need to remember the good in your life. You can't just end it so early."

"I wasn't trying to off myself." I explained, as Anna stepped back, embarrassed.

"Oh."

The sunset was making pretty colours in the sky, and it illuminated her hair.

My heart began to beat faster. Great. Just what I needed.

"Well, I'll see you then." I waved her goodbye, but Anna called out to me.

"Wait! You were... here to check out the view right?"

"What about it?"

Anna took out a pair of binoculars.

"Sometimes, I come here too, when life gets tough. When I look at the distance with the binoculars, you can sometimes catch the marine wildlife there."

Anna walked to the ledge and aimed the tool around.

"Look! See! Here, take a look!"

Anna spun at me, until we were very close. Instinct crept up in me.

Level 2 Intangibili-

Wait. No. This was just...

"Oh... sorry, didn't mean to startle you. But... look."

Anna handed me the binoculars as I took a look. Something was emerging from the water.

"What the hell, are those seals?"

"Yes! Oh my god, they're so cute!"

"Whoa! Check out its tail!"

We took turns checking the view, as we spent the next few minutes laughing.

After a few more minutes, we sat on the bench.

"I'm Anna, what's your name?"

"Yeling."

"Yee... ling? Are you not from around here?"

"Yeah. I kept my Chinese name when my parents immigrated here a few years ago from China."

"Oh that's cool. I have some Chinese background, but my parents immigrated here almost fifteen years ago. I practically grew up in New Ulysses. I guess you can say I'm whitewashed."

"I can tell, Anna doesn't sound Chinese at all."

Anna laughed.

"So, Yeling. What brings you here?"

"Oh, I kind of just wanted time to myself. From work and all."

"I see."

"You mentioned you come here whenever your life felt tough...?"

Anna rubbed her arm.

"Yeah. The truth is, I've been facing some discrimination at my college campus. And you know. In New Ulysses, some races aren't particularly represented well."

I knew that all too well.

When I was in high school, I was still new to the culture of New Ulysses. I was still learning English. And it was a perfect opportunity for bullying.

People made fun of my "Chinglish", and my small eyes. The boys loved to verbally abuse me, but it wasn't the boys that were the most lethal.

It was the judgemental looks from the girls, and side comments I would always get for being a foreigner.

And of course, the teachers never really did anything about it. And whenever I got into fights, I was always the one to blame.

What really angered me the most, was that in school, all the teachers would advocate racial equality. For the Arcantians. Who were Middle Eastern in background, who constantly faced racial discrimination. There would be Arcantian equality posters all over the school. The people would constantly post Arcantian violence on their social media to promote the representation and acceptance of their race, and would bash the law enforcement for racially targeting the Arcantians.

Even I would post these awareness videos on my feed (of only 1 follower, my mama).

But at the same time, there was no racial awareness for my race.

After all, the Chinese were always bullied in New Ulysses. It was a norm.

Was this a double standard? Absolutely.

Did anybody do anything about it? Absolutely not.

Anna smiled at the sunset.

"Sometimes, you just need to learn to let go. But I guess today was just especially bad. Because it was the day of my exam, and I ended up missing it because I was attacked by a couple of my bullies' boyfriends. I tried to file an appeal to have a reschedule, but they denied it, claiming that it was probably another Chinese trickery. So now I've failed the class, and I need to retake it with what little savings I have left."

My eyes widened, and Anna noticed.

"Hey. It's okay, Yeling. It's just how it is, you know? That's just how it is."

"But... your savings..."

Anna smiled. But it looked forced.

"It's okay. I'll apply for another loan. It'll be okay."

Anna looked at her phone, which looked like a thousand years old.

"Ah. Well, I have to go. It was nice talking to you, Yeling. Do you, by any chance, have a phone?"

"Yeah."

We exchanged numbers, as I watched Anna leave.

It was only once Anna left, did my body suddenly felt fatigued.

My heart was on overdrive the entire time. A girl had talked to me without being scared of my aura.

Was this...

"Matt's gonna flip, by the way."

I nearly fell off my bench, as someone was in front of me.

"You- Flint!" I gasped, as a man with blonde hair regarded me from above.

"It's never going to work, Yeling. You and that girl. What you are, she will never accept it."

"How long have you been spying on me?!"

"Long enough to hear you two exchange numbers."

Flint was a member of Squad Four. His codename was Conjunction. He had the ability to form portals practically anywhere. Which enabled him to do a bunch of recon.

As for why he wasn't just thrown into a recon squad, like Squad Five, it was because Conjunction used his powers... in a really non conventional way.

He used his power of portals to kill and fight.

Which was why Matt didn't even consider Flint when he was choosing people for the mission to destroy Vision's diary.

"Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be in the casino?"

"I got kicked out. I lost so much money that I was practically urged to leave!" Flint said, proudly.

"You shouldn't be proud of that!"

Flint put a foot on the bench.

"Yeling. Do you like her?"

"Is that even a question. I get attracted to every girl I see. It's terrible."

"At least you're aware of that part of your life. But I'll be the one to tell you this since Squad Leader Matt isn't around. But you need to break contact with her. Nothing good comes out of having a relationship as a member of the CI. Trust me on this."

I looked at Flint's eyes.

Flint Monroe. The Conjunction. He was about 23 years old.

According to his biography, he had a girlfriend. But after being in the Contingency Initiative for Squad Four, several members of the Realmwatch Collective, the Lightwatch Brigade, discovered that he had a girlfriend, and used her as bait to lure him off. Going against Squad Leader Matt's orders, Flint tried to rescue his girlfriend, in exchange for his capture.

But upon showing up, Flint offered himself, pleading with Lightwatch to let his girlfriend go. But the moment Flint was chained, Lightwatch killed his girlfriend before his very eyes, claiming that this was to avenge all the other members of Realmwatch he had killed.

When me, Matt, Maika, Whitney, and Lewis broke into the warehouse, we released his shackles, and Flint went apeshit. He killed 50% of the Lightwatch's squad before we could even react, but they eventually escaped.

Flint refused every mission that came our way since then. But the only mission he would join in, would be an Elimination Op. And it had to involve Lightwatch.

"I... get it." I muttered, remembering the surge of happiness I felt. I wanted to be happy.

Flint didn't look convinced.

"Whatever man. I'm not here to tell you how to live your life. It's just gonna be a shame that Squad Four will lose Tidalflame just because he got horny for a girl and ended up getting his head ripped off by Matt."

"Wait, please don't tell Matt. I'm begging you."

Flint laughed.

"Nah. I ain't no snitch. But you figure it out. I'm just here to tell you, that if you try this route, don't expect it to be easy."

I watched as Flint snapped his fingers, creating a orange portal, as he stepped through and teleported away.