Difference between revisions of "The Story of Yeling Mah"

Revision as of 22:34, 1 December 2021

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.