บท 8: The Break

Age 1991

Zero stared over at Ken as he gave a heavy frown. 'That girl... No... Perhaps she is a time that could have been. Perhaps my baby girl could have been like her. If only... Those damn Enforcers... Making me look at the image of my daughter...' He hummed. "Boy!'

"Me?" Hero said turning to look at the man.

"Yes..." Zero let out a sigh. "What is that girl exactly?"

Hero gave a shrug. "She's a human. Not a Seraphin like me-"

"You're a Seraphin?"

"Yeah. Hero Otoko, third strongest human alive-"

"Seraphin's aren't humans anymore-"

"Screw you, yes I am. Anyways she's a Ken. She's cool but really scary. Don't know how she's so powerful?" Hero said shrugging. "She's also mean-"

'Bang!'

Ken smashed her sword into the head of Hero downing him once again.

"Big Brother appears to be dead."

"I rest my case..." Hero gasped out.

"Start explaining..." Jackson growled out raising his sword to Anga.

"You want answers?"

"Damn right I do!" Jackson yelled out. "Killer immortal monster that you apparently knew about!"

Anga went quiet as he let out a slight growl. He went quiet as he looked down at the body of James. "I can assure you... I didn't know about this..." He said quietly. He slowly took off his jacket throwing it over the body of James. "I had no idea it was alive..." He said sadly. "If I had known..." He let out a heavy sigh as he shook his head. "I would have hired a lot of those damn Samurai's." He said looking over to Zero.

"Yes. My brothers could have come in real handy right about now..." Zero said slowly as he nodded his head.

"I don't care about that!" Jackson said loudly. "I want to know everything you guys know." The Vice-Captain said in an aggressive tone. "How did you guys know about the Corruption!"

"Okay, will someone please tell me what the hell the Corruption is..." Ken questioned. "Kit! You're a smart boy, what's the Corruption?" She questioned curiously.

"I dunno..."

"Wow... Hero was right. You really are useless." Ken said causing the boy to pout. She shook her head as she threw her arms behind her back. Or at least she tried too, but Zero's hand shot out catching her wrist. "Whoa!" She said quickly. "Lay off the hands-"

"You almost broke both your wrists..." Zero said simply. Ken stayed silent as she looked away from the man. "You're body isn't strong enough to handle a move like that..." He said eyeing the girl up. "And that weapon isn't effective enough to handle such a move."

"Lay off!" Ken said pulling her arm back as she turned away from the man.

Zero let out a sigh as he crossed his arm. "Typical Enforcer..." He said slowly. "Always so stubborn... You guys never know when to quit..." He said slowly as he walked away and set down in a quiet corner by himself.

"He's got a point you know..." Hero said shrugging. "I mean me, you, and Kitsune all can use our new attacks only a handful of times before it begins to cause permanent harm to us. I mean just look at your hands!"

Ken's hands had become an almost dark shade of purple. Her hands couldn't stop shaking, and her fingernails, were cracked and bleeding.

"Then I'll just keep using it till I master it!" Ken said rolling her eyes as she shoved her hands in her pockets. "It doesn't matter..."

Hero gave a slight chuckle as he shrugged. "Have it your way. I'm gonna master mine first though."

"What!" Ken and Kitsune both said as they turned to look at Hero who held a smirk on his face.

"I'm gonna master my new super move before either of you!" Hero announced pointing up.

The three teens broke out into arguments as everyone watched them fight...

Jackson let out an annoyed sigh as his eye twitched slightly. "Okay... While they are fighting, I still want my question answered!" He stated pointing at Anga.

"I'd also like to know what exactly the Corruption is..." Cloud commented now standing next to his Vice-Captain as he nodded his head.

Jackson gave a heavy sigh. "The Corruption..." The Vice-Captain said slowly. "It is a... Well, it's a shitty invention, that some asshole scientist made!" He said in annoyance. "Some guy must have thought the Seraphin project isn't good enough, and wanted to make something better. As you can guess it backfired majorly..." He said letting out another annoyed sigh. "The thing back fired, and some crazy nutjob religious group ended up rising up and taking over."

"Why?" Cloud asked curiously.

Jackson gave a sheepish shrug. "They were nut jobs..." He said. "Also, it probably had something to do with God's blood, or something. I dunno. The main point is that the Corruption is evil... It infects a person and forces them to evolve... You see there are several different evolutions we can take as humans... The Corruption forces us to take all of them... It supercharges our Attribute, our equation of life, and our bodies. Unlocking powers and upgrades that we didn't even have an access to. Of course, the major downside is that the person becomes a mindless monster..."

"Wrong," Anga said suddenly.

"What..." Jackson said slowly.

"The crazy monster thing," Anga said letting out a laugh. "That's false. It can be cured... The scientist who were studying it found that out... When a person is infected by that they can fight it, and absorb it into themselves. They keep their humanity. If we can study it more maybe we can find out how to guarantee that a person stays themselves. Then we can use it to help everyone!"

"Are you stupid or just naive?" Jackson questioned.

"What?"

"The scientist that you are just gushing on about is currently a mindless monster wanting to kill us!" Jackson yelled. "And for some reason, it ran further into the cave?"

"Oh, it's probably getting closer to the source of the Corruption so it can draw out more power-"

"Why the hell did you not mention that sooner!" Jackson yelled out.

"Well, it didn't seem like it would matter? We didn't really have a chance to stop it?"

"Oh my God, I hate this mission!" Jackson yelled out throwing his arms up.

"Damn it Ken!" All the Enforcers yelled.

"Piss off!" The girl shouted hitting Hero over the head again.

"It's true..." Anga said in a serious tone. "We can learn how to use it, and help the world out. Suddenly life-threatening injuries are a thing of the past! Trust me. This one group has figuered out how to use it."

"Not even close," Jackson said shaking his head. "Every mission that involves the Corruption always ends poorly. Believe me... There's a reason why we don't study it..."

"Shouldn't someone had been sent to check out the mission after the Scientist didn't report back?" Cloud questioned.

"They probably would..." Jackson said nodding his head. "Of course if someone, like say, Father Darvin, made up a story about them being killed by Bestia Macht... And if they looked around and found a new Nest filled with Bestia Macht..."

"I... I don't like where this is going?" Cloud said slowly.

Jackson nodded his head. "My guess is that Father Darvin lied." The man said. "And now we have a mutant monster on our hands..." He said slowly. "God damn it, I'm gonna punch that man when I see him..."

Over with Ken, the girl was pouting slightly by herself as Kitsune, and Hero chatted amongst each other. The two boys apparently had better things to do than chat with her...

"Girl. Get up." Zero said startling Ken as she jumped slightly. She turned seeing Zero was staring at her.

"What?"

"Get up." He said once more.

"Why?"

"Because I said so," Zero said hissing slightly.

Ken's eyed the man up as she stood up slowly. "Okay..." Ken said, "Now what?"

"Pull your weapon out," Zero said nodding his head.

Ken hesitated for a few seconds but finally shrugged and grabbed her Sheathed blade as she held it up. "Alright... But why?"

"Your grip is wrong..."

"What?"

"Your grip." Zero bent down on one knee as he grabbed her hands and rearranged them on the handle of the blade. "Also that isn't how you hold a sword. You can't just swing it as if it is a bat... Lower the blade down towards your hip. When you swing step forward and put your arms, and back into the swing. This will allow you to deliver more power, while using less of your Attribute."

Ken listened swinging the sword up slowly, as she tested it out. "This does feel a little more comfortable..." She admitted slightly embarrassed.

"You should get that... 'Weapon' replaced with an actual long sword..." Zero stated. "With an actual sword, you shouldn't just swing it, rather you should allow the edge of the weapon to reach the flesh of your opponent. The blade is a part of you. It should feel like an extension of yourself..."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ken asked curiously.

Zero went silent as he looked away from the small girl. "I honestly don't know. All I know is I dislike a person wielding a Longsword, and not having a clue on how to use it..." He said giving a shrug.

Ken looked at the man in curiosity. "What?"

"Take my advice or not," Zero said turning away with slight embarrassment. Zero was silent for a few moments before turning back towards her. "Part of me is reminded of myself when I look at you." He said quietly. He glanced over to Hero who was still chatting with Kitsune. "And that boy..." Zero let out a sigh. "He reminds me of that man... Damn Master Storm."

"What?"

"Alright!" Anga said clapping his hands. "I hope everyone got a moment to rest... Because we're going in." He announced.