Morgan was climbing the hill. Sometimes he hated to live there. It was so far away, yet therefore he liked it. He finally opened the door to his home. He walked to the cabinet and poured himself a big drink of his favourite poison. Gin. He walked on to the terrace and looked at the city. It was still raining. Only some windows had lights on. This was the calmest time of the day. He sat down and took a big sip, thinking about today. This is bad. Could it be that the City is just one big lie? Even the world is just a big fat lie? He started to be angry. He took a big breath in and said, “This is not Your Problem.”
He thought about leaving all of this behind. Perhaps it was time. How long could he keep this up? Yes, he liked it, but now that he quit, there was nothing more holding him here except what he found out. However, this was for sure not his problem. He was just a visitor. Yes, he needs to go home. He was gone too long. Perhaps they are still there? He sighed. The thought of it was nice, yet it should no longer be imaginable. While thinking about all of this, his eyes closed as he was falling asleep and thinking that maybe it was possible that they were still alive.
It was snowing. He looked around and knew. The storm is coming. This was bad, or perhaps good? They would need to stop. He looked at his partner and they both knew. We push. If we cannot push, nobody can. They both laughed. They do not say a thing and yet think the same. The tracks faded in the snow. This was bad. They had to pick up the pace. Jiraiya looked at his partner and said, “Why are you so slow?”
He looked at him and laughed. They pushed harder. On the horizon, you could see a red glow. They knew what it meant. It started, and they were on the right track. They picked up their pace. Finally, they arrived at the edge of the grove on the mountain over the village. Everything was burning. They jumped down. The enemy already saw them and moved in to attack. As the enemy attacked, Jiraiya drew his sword.
Sky was kneeling, and his eyes opened as the bullet split in two on the edge of the sword he was holding in front of him. The shooter froze. What happened? This was not possible. Did he cut his ultrasonic bullet in half? The moment he pulled the trigger, he was sitting on the chair sleeping and a moment later; he was kneeling with a sword in front of him. Sky just said, “Survival Protocol One successful. Informing direct supervisor. Out of range.”
He shook his head. He hated it and shouted, “Fuck You Blacksmith! Curse You! I know you hear me! Even now you mess with me!”
The shooter did not understand. What did he mean? What Blacksmith or more like who is this Blacksmith? Now he felt the gaze of his target on him. It was terrifying. He was one kilometre away yet it felt like he would be right beside him.
“Yes! I am beside you.”
The shooter moved his eyes and saw his target beside him. This was not possible. He shouted, “get away from me,” as he started crawling away from him. Sky just laughed and said, “You pick a fight with me, you shoot at me, you shoot at me in my sleep! And now I should leave you alone? Are you fucking kidding me? Oh…, wait, I know. Maybe I should just allow you to kill me? That is an awesome idea! If you manage…”
The shooter was terrified. Who was this crazy guy? He stopped breathing as he felt the sword on his throat.
“Joking! This would be too easy. I was taught better.” The shooter saw in his eyes the fire. This was not a normal person. Who was he?
Control was watching the feed. The Sergeant shouted, “Deploy reinforcements! NOW!”
“Local P.D. has been alerted. Local Military base deploys their Alpha unit. Our support is inbound in one hour. “
“Are You joking? He will die, or worse, before we blink. Did you see this? Get me the General on the line. We need the Kill Squad dropped from orbit!”
Sky said, “Spirit Art 999,
My Saviour,
My Angel,
Find the infinite truth inside the mind of the weak as they do not know their purpose,
as they do not understand the world,
as they are ignorant of the Truth.”
You could feel the ominous forces converging around Morgan yet, the shooter was unfazed. He was ignorant of his inner feelings, or maybe was it years of training to shut them off. He looked at him and thought. “Is he dumb or what?” Then it hit him. His mind could not comprehend.
Morgan asked, “Who ordered it?
“The Chief.”
Hmm, him? Is he that deep in this shit?
“Why did he order it?”
“Protocol Sigma. World Annihilation imminent.”
What the Fuck! What World Annihilation? Especially, what do I have to do with this? This was bad. Sky never heard about this protocol, yet if they send them to kill him, it meant that maybe it was true. He looked up and saw a bright light coming from the sky in his direction.
In the command centre, nobody could understand what was happening. This was a first for them. This was everything but normal.
“Why is he talking?”
In the shadow a person said, “Because the 999 Spirit Art was invoked. Not bad with such a short incantation.”
The Sergeant looked and answered, “And? Talk about facts and not superstition, whoever you are!”
Everybody in the room heard as the person laughed, “superstition…. Hahaha.”
Morgan looked at the sniper and said, “Keep up, and perhaps you will survive.”
He looked back at his home and thought about all the pleasant moments he had there, but it was over. If he would be alone, he would die. However, the spirit of the Blacksmith was with him till the end of days. He just said under his nose, “Curse you! I would be free now!”
But would he? Would that really be freedom? The matter was not that easy to deal with, yet it only required to die. A thunder hit close by. Morgan looked in that direction. “Fuck You! You are worse than God!!!”
Everybody nearby Morgan could hear a clear, deep voice saying, “REALLY?”
The Sergeant looked at the person in the elevator and said, “No Way!”
The person in the suit and black glasses said, “Agent Harry, Alpha Department.”
It was over. They understood now that this was not a city issue, but they only thought it was a world topic, yet they were wrong. It was a universe issue. The Old Guard was terrified.
Sky walked up the hill. He did not have a family here. Morgan was the only person they could hunt, yet the last they should try. He had no more family on this world, or more precisely in this universe. Almost everybody died as it should have been with a normal life span. Yet he was no longer normal. The Blacksmith cursed him forever. He looked around and understood this was not a curse! This was an opportunity! If he was correct, they all lied for so long about it. This could mean that they live. If he could confirm his hunch, it could come out that his comrades could be alive and, of course, him. He stopped and took a deep breath in. He said to himself, “Slowly, you are making far-fetched assumptions.”
Yet if they try to kill him like this, does he need any more confirmation? He started slowly to walk again. Why did they try to kill him was the big question? The deployment pods were getting closer to his last location. He knew what needs to be done. Defeat them in the mountains and get to the city. He hoped they would not annihilate the entire city because of this.
Downtown the Captain was walking home. He finished for today. His phone rang. It was the Chief. “Ehhh, Yes Chief?”
“Run!”
After that, he heard a gunshot, and the call got disconnected. He looked around and ran dialling despatch. “Code Red. Officer under attack. Captain…”
The operator heard only a shot, and after that it was silent. “Hello?! Hello!!”
The Captain was lying on the ground hearing the operator shouting. He was looking at the sky. What was this aura? He felt light, as there would be no concern in the world anymore. Nothing was important. He felt sleepy as his eyes closed.
