章 2: Paths Diverged, The Decision of Destiny
"The security officers finally succeeded in apprehending five suspects involved in the Melodistria Bank robbery. Prior to the robbery, the five perpetrators had shot the bank manager and two bank guards. They held fifty-eight bank employees and hundreds of visitors hostage for three hours," a female reporter's voice could be heard reporting.
"Two of the five robbers were superhuman. The Melodistria police were helpless and unable to take any action against the robbers until the BtP special unit from Luminescia arrived at the scene..." A flat-screen television hanging on the cafe wall was broadcasting the midday news at maximum volume, captivating all cafe visitors.
On the television screen, a recording showed a burly man stepping out of a patrol car. He swiftly walked past the police line and stormed through the bank's main door, bravely facing the gunfire from inside the bank. His body emitted sparks of fire, but his face remained calm and determined. He disarmed the closest gunman with a swift move, rendering the robber helpless. Chaos ensued as he entered the bank, with hostages attempting to escape in panic.
The female reporter on television continued with enthusiasm, "A BtP member, Daniel Shaw, played a key role in this rescue..." The camera then shifted to a beautiful girl interviewing Daniel, who wore a tattered old blue uniform, presumably from taking gunfire during the rescue.
Suddenly, a chorus of voices filled the cafe.
"Congratulations, Daniel..."
"Well done, Mr. Daniel..."
Cheers and praises for Daniel resonated throughout the cafe, drowning out the volume of the television and deafening anyone who didn't appreciate the noise. However, one person there seemed to grow in stature, his chest swelling with happiness. This was evident from his raised chin and a smile that showed all his teeth.
Daniel was a muscular man whose impressive physique would make any bodybuilder envious. He stood over 190 cm tall, making him tower over others as he accepted the applause, laughing proudly. His face appeared fierce, with a strong square chin and wide eyes framed by thick eyebrows. Some might find his face amusing or endearing due to its innocence or slight air of foolishness.
"Thank you, thank you, it's all thanks to the help of my colleagues too..." Daniel replied, trying to be humble as he glanced at his fellow BtP members. Two men and a woman, all dressed in the same navy blue uniforms with gold BtP badges, complete with their respective firearms and intimidating leather boots. However, Daniel's gaze seemed to be fixed on a man sitting to his right. This man looked visibly annoyed and returned Daniel's gaze with a very unfriendly stare. He shook his head disapprovingly, his smaller frame contrasting with Daniel's, but his shiny eyes radiating danger. His thin fingers tapped the table surface like a cunning robber whose money had just been stolen, thinking of ways to seek revenge.
"You dare call us colleagues after you single-handedly stormed the bank and took down the robbers from the front. Meanwhile, we..." his high-pitched voice paused for a moment, his eyes shifting to a woman and another man at the same table, "Have to clean the mess inside the bank because of you whose not following the plan! The super human almost kill the hostage if Hana did not stop her! You idiot!"
***
Few hours before the events unfold
In a tense standoff, a ruthless robber held a terrified hostage, his finger trembling on the trigger. "Back off or I'll shoot!" he barked at Daniel, who was quickly closing in.
But Daniel simply exchanged amused glances. "Oh, go ahead, we could use a good laugh today." The daring response caught the criminal off guard, and confusion flickered across his face. "Remember to shoot one or two more. The more the merrier."
However, Daniel's lighthearted tone belied his unwavering determination. With a calm yet resolute expression, he continued to approach, undeterred by the threat. He focused on the situation at hand and cared little for the hostages' safety.
Whisper, a woman with the unnatural power to silence all sounds around her, took advantage of the tense moment. She aimed a concealed gun at an innocent bank teller, intending to demonstrate the seriousness of her threats. The room hushed in her presence, filled with fear and tension.
However, before Whisper could act, a woman with a katana, stationed outside the bank, sprang into action. With lightning speed, she sliced through the brick wall on the back of the building, creating a path into the heart of the bank.
Unleashing her extraordinary skills, she darted through the opening, her katana leading the way. The robbers were taken aback, unprepared for such a daring intrusion.
Whisper quickly adjusted her strategy. She aimed a concealed gun at the woman and pulled the trigger, creating a shower of bullets. But the woman's swiftness was unmatched. With precise movements, she skillfully sliced through each incoming bullet, deflecting them away harmlessly.
Closing the distance between them, the woman's eyes locked with Whisper's, with a fierce battle cry, She launched herself at Whisper, her katana cutting through the air like a flash of lightning. Whisper tried to evade, but she was not quick enough. The blade of the woman's katana struck true, slicing through the gun in Whisper's hand, rendering it useless.
Cornered and defeated, Whisper could do nothing but surrender. The woman's katana remained pointed at her. The other robbers hesitated, witnessing the incredible display of skill. The tide had turned, and their fate was sealed.
"You heartless BtP dog, you've sacrificed your humanity and conscience for money, callously witnessing our kind suffer in those wretched dog laboratories! You are not human!" yelled Whisper.
"You have chosen your path, now carry the weight of its consequences, for it is you alone who must bear the burdens of your decisions." Hana answered coldly.
"The core of my humanity held strong, declining to forsake my own species for the temptation of greed." Whisper added, "Soon, you all will face eternal damnation for your actions!"
With Daniel and Jess storming inside the bank, the remaining criminals had no choice but to lay down their weapons and surrender.
***
Daniel burst into louder laughter, finding it all very amusing and joyous. "Forgive me..." he replied with a grin, showing no hint of guilt on his face, but rather mocking his colleague. "Still, mission accomplished!"
"Next time, if you try to act on your own again..." protested Jess, his temper rising. He stood up, appearing almost half a head shorter than Daniel. His thin fingers burst into flames as a manifestation of his anger.
Before he could finish his sentence, Daniel interrupted, "Sorry, Jess, next time it's still my turn to shine." Abruptly, a loud cracking sound was heard. Daniel's entire skin appeared to shimmer like steel. His hands immediately seized Jess's hands, which were now emitting flames.
Jess seemed very unhappy, and his entire body radiated fire, making the whole room gasp, suffocated by the heat. Daniel's hands holding Jess began to turn red from absorbing the heat, but he continued to smile, showing his teeth, as if it meant nothing to him.
A woman with long black hair from the same table suddenly stood up. She unsheathed a gleaming and sharp katana from its dark black scabbard. The sword was pointed right between Jess and Daniel's faces. Shortly after, the katana vibrated and let out a high-pitched scream, making all the guests in the cafe fall silent uncomfortably. Daniel and Jess locked eyes. At once, they released each other's hands and their respective powers. The fire burning Jess's body subsided, and Daniel's steel-like skin returned to normal.
"Hana, we were just kidding," they said almost simultaneously, grinning. Clearly, they were afraid of the woman. Hana, as they called her, gazed at them alternately. In the next moment, she sheathed her katana and turned away, leaving her table.
In the midst of a crowd, she stood like an enigmatic muse, an ethereal beauty that captivated all who laid eyes upon her. With delicate, curled eyelashes framing her mesmerizing gaze, her dark eyes held a depth of mystery that left those who dared to stare lost in their depths. Her lustrous, ebony hair cascaded down her back, mirroring the darkness of the night, a stark contrast to her alabaster complexion. Each strand seemed to shimmer with an enchanting allure, like moonlight dancing on the surface of a still lake.
Yet, despite her striking appearance, she was a woman of few words, her silence enveloping her like an alluring veil of intrigue. A haughty demeanor clung to her, adding an air of regal elegance that set her apart from the rest. In her presence, one could sense the brewing storm of emotions beneath her calm exterior, an untamed spirit waiting to be unleashed upon the world.
The voices of the guests returned after Hana had completely disappeared from the cafe's door. Daniel and Jess resumed their pushing and shoving, adding to the noisy atmosphere in the cafe.
"Jaime... you can clean up the back kitchen. It seems they'll keep boasting and causing a ruckus all day without ordering any more food or drinks," said the cafe owner, a man in his mid-sixties, to me from behind the bar counter.
I nodded.
"Master, I wasn't boasting," protested Daniel, offended by the cafe owner's words. He stood, holding Jess's neck under his arm, causing Jess to bend over. "Master, watch the news on TV... I defeated this loser, Jess."
"Yes, yes... you're the best," replied the cafe owner with a knowing smile. The guests often called him Master, as his real name was too difficult to pronounce. "That is, if you want to order drinks again for everyone here," he added.
Everyone immediately cheered and jeered, indicating their agreement. Master smiled as he saw Daniel, who remained silent but continued to hold Jess's neck.
"Go ahead," Master moved his head, glancing briefly at me. "Even if he dares to treat everyone here, I'm sure he won't do it too generously. Even at my age, my old bone can handle it alone."
Some people laughed, agreeing, and teasing Daniel. "Just admit it, you're not brave enough to treat drinks for all of us, Coward!" yelled Jess, who now slid his hand through Daniel's thighs from behind. His hand instantly gripped Daniel's genitals, making Daniel cry out in pain.
I quickly went to the back of the cafe, passing by rows of glass and drink bottles, leaving the loud voices that were now growing louder again. It seemed that Daniel had indeed busted his own pocket and treated everyone in the cafe. Perhaps Jess would soon challenge him to a drinking contest. They were both predictable.
I looked at a small logo with the name of this cafe on a box of matches provided for guests, Cafe Eve. The name was taken from Master's first granddaughter, Evelyn Maliszkewiczovna Cherstvennikov. The cafe was founded about three years ago. Initially, Master opened this cafe simply to pass the time after retiring from his job as a senior bartender at a famous international hotel. The cafe offered various food menus like an ordinary cafeteria, but at night, it transformed into Bar Eve. A bar that served various luxurious wines and classy drinks with various mixtures.
I walked to the back of the cafe and pushed open a small swing door that reached the waist of an adult, separating the cafe from the kitchen. Although the kitchen appeared small, one should never underestimate it because all the latest kitchen equipment could be found there. It included the latest oven, various cooking utensils recently featured on social media, bread-making machines, various shapes of toasters, and noodle-making machines in various sizes.
Cafe Eve was indeed well-equipped. Right outside the kitchen, next to the cafe building, there was also a rose garden ready to be picked and sold. If any visitor suddenly needed roses to woo their partners, they just had to ask, and a beautiful bouquet of roses would magically appear in their hands. However, in my three years of working here - since Cafe Eve first opened - only a few people had ever requested roses to woo their partners. Certainly, their numbers didn't exceed the count of one hand. The downside was that taking care of the rose garden had become my permanent job for almost three years.
"Madame, is there anything I can help with?" I asked as I spotted a large woman bending down in a corner of the kitchen. She was a plump woman with a round red face and hair that was beginning to turn white, busy unloading some cooking utensils from the lower cabinet. From any angle, Madame - Master's wife - always appeared cheerful. She couldn't sit still or stop working even for a moment. She still showed great enthusiasm in her work, doing anything with her own hands, even in her sixties. Her life motto wasn't much different from Master's, "Sitting still adds to illness."
According to Master's stories, his wife was more talented at using muscles than using her brain. Everyone who knew her would probably agree with that. Everyone liked Madame. She was open and friendly to everyone. Her attitudes and thought processes were easy to read because Madame wasn't used to hiding her feelings or thoughts. She was always outspoken. When she got angry, her voice of rage could probably be heard from afar. But the moment the anger disappeared, so did her anger.
"Ah, Jaime, perfect timing. Can you stack these plates elsewhere? Maybe in the top corner of the cabinet," she said loudly, pointing to the plates she had just taken out.
I approached the plates. As I passed the kitchen table, the corner of my eye caught a new item, next to Madame. A sophisticated fruit juicer machine with eight different functions that had just been advertised on social media two days ago. I still vividly remembered Madame's gleaming eyes as she watched the commercial.
This was the culprit.
This small kitchen was filled with so many advanced gadgets, not because they were necessary, but solely because Madame had a shopping addiction. The kitchen's ruler loved scratching her eyes and hands when she saw the fancy kitchen gadgets displayed on her smartphone. She could immediately imagine and say how great those items would be in her kitchen. How useful they would be for making better meals, and so on. This made Master scratch his head more often, and his hair continued to fall out. I was willing to bet a month's salary that this fruit juicer machine would end up buried in the cabinet for a very long time after being used once, twice, or maybe not used at all, just like some other items.
"Why does it sound noisy up front?" Madame asked, her hands busy looking for a place to store the machine.
I lifted the plates and moved them to the top of the cabinet. "They successfully solved a case earlier," I continued, arranging the plates one by one, "Daniel said that he did it all by himself," I added.
"Oh, the superhuman..." Madame's eyes widened for a moment, "Does that mean there will be..."
BOOOOMMMMMM!!!!
Something exploded with such a loud and close sound outside the cafe. The kitchen cabinets trembled from the impact of the explosion. Pots hanging on the walls rattled, and some even fell to the ground. It just a started of the symphony of destruction. The sudden bullet rain showered down, their metallic chorus drowning out all other sounds. The roar of an unleashed RPG launcher shattered the air, its concussive force rippling through the ground like thunder.
"Yup!"
-- 贈り物
が届きました 
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット