Soul Spark

13 - Anticorpo

[OCTOBER 1ST, 2024. WASHINGTON D.C., 10:00 AM]

“Good morning D.C.! Amidst these unfortunate and unpredictable times, it is only right that I, your favorite morning radio host, make sure to do my damn job as well as I can! I’m Mitch, and welcome to Dusk Life Radio! Opening up today’s news feed of events that might just make your day a little bit less miserable...or more...”

“First up, the elections seem to be hitting a point of stagnation. Dyeman and Sheller are both evenly matched, be it with their votes, and their questionable political decisions. Some rumors say that the involvement of large corporations such as the BSBM has influenced a chunk of Dyemanists to change sides, but hey, you didn’t hear that from me.”

“Next up, the weather! It looks like it’ll be adding to the misery. Cloudy skies are expected later today but surprisingly enough it is expected that rain will only start in the evening. What, as if bad weather wasn’t enough? As if we have to wait for it, as if we have to bury its inevitability in our heads and live?!”

“And...wait, hold on...what the fuck is happening right now? Are you...are you serious? Well, it looks like I’ll be getting cut off by emergency transmissions soon because what the-”

...

The two soulfuls stood in front of the tall glass and cement office building, wielding their weapons. The entrance had a sign framed next to it, spelling “Bernard Stanley Business Management.”

“The Bernard Stanley Business Management corporation, the corporation that is effectively in charge of the Bernard Stanley Healthcare Corporation, and many more shady conglomerates...”

“It originated from Night Ocean. Once it was attacked and weakened, the BSBM branch took control and somehow made an almighty dystopian mega-corporation even more dystopian.”

“Supporting the killings of soulfuls, buying their way out of everything, controlling everything just to enforce a system that empowers them...”

“How soulless...”

“Ready?” Sakuto asked.

“Sure ready.” Oskar replied, taking a deep breath.

“Alright then, no regrets.” Sakuto said, summoning his weapon and entering the building. “Do the thing.”

Oskar clasped his hands, focusing as hard as he could. He crouched down and sat up on the ground. At the same time, Sakuto entered the building. A tremendously powerful EMP blast was their way of ensuring that no camera tracks them down, and that the headquarters’ electronics take a good hit.

The reception area looked bland and soulless, much like the faces of the people working there. The floor was standard white, there were minimal plants scattered around in minimalistic vases, and the air felt strangely cold.

“They’ve got armed guards here, makes sense...”

“Hah...it’s hilarious to think that they assume a few layers of kevlar would protect them against soul prowess.”

Seeing the weapons, the pair of heavily armed guards quickly aimed their assault rifles at the two. But Sakuto made quick work of them by launching slashes in their direction, destroying both their bodies and the columns that separated the two elevators.

More guards swarmed the area, and Sakuto charged at them one by one - the gunfire was mostly inefficient not only due to Sakuto’s own toughness, but also the guards themselves being genuinely fearful. Oskar, at the same time, picked them off with long-range electricity bolts.

“You!” Oskar yelled, approaching the receptionist. “Where the hell are they?”

“P-p-please d-don’t kill m-me...” The woman pleaded, trying to step back but inevitably falling down.

“Where’s the main office? Where is the board of executives?” Oskar shouted. “Where’s Bernard Stanley?!”

“I don’t know!”

“Oskar!” Sakuto yelled, after finishing off one of the guards by brutal decapitation. “Hurry up, they might evac!”

“Bullshit, we fried all their tech.” Oskar replied. “One more time, where are they?” Oskar asked, summoning his weapon and pointing it at the woman. “You’re married.”

“How did you-”

“You have your ring on, idiot.” Oskar said. “Tell us the info, and your kids will get to see their mommy again. Come on, don’t try playing the hero.”

“They’re on the t-top floor...50th floor...” The woman started sobbing. “But I don’t think t-the elevator is w-working... p-please just let me l-live.”

“Good.” Oskar said. He turned around and ran towards Sakuto, who was just done dealing with another batch of walking meat. “Come on, top floor, let’s go.”

“And how do you imagine that? We fried the elevator.” Sakuto said.

“The shaft is still there. We’ll figure something out.” Oskar said. “We get-”

His speech was interrupted by a loud ringing of alarms throughout the room. A robotic female voice started relaying the message that everyone hoped would never have to be heard.

“Warning. Code red has been initiated throughout the BSBM headquarters. The area is to be placed on complete lockdown. Please remain in your offices and, if possible, shelter yourselves. Avoid any direct confrontation with the threat. Help is on the way.”

“God damn it!” Oskar yelled.

“This is why stealth would’ve been better.” Sakuto said. “When I of all people tell that stealth is the best option, you fucking listen!”

An arrangement of combat vehicles arrived by the entrance. Many men in military attires quickly hopped out of them and stormed the building. While Sakuto was knocking the elevator’s doors down, Oskar had to stand his ground against the soulless threat.

He quickly clasped his hands and fired off a few electricity bolts at some of the soldiers. Realizing that there were way more targets on the way, he opted to summon his blade and retreat towards his ally. He blocked and deflected most of the bullets sent his way.

“Two unidentified soulfuls are active in the area.” The alarm said again, this time, its voice sounded more shaky and human. “They’re h-heading for the elevator...for the top floors...”

“That bitch receptionist!” Oskar yelled.

“Oskar, not now!” Sakuto said. While Oskar was fending off the shower of lead, his friend carved out a hole in the elevator’s ceiling. He was on top of the elevator, and he helped his friend get up to him. The sound of the ammunition torching up the elevator’s walls was akin to a rainstorm.

“Now everyone knows we’re going for the top.” Oskar said. “They might try and evac the important people.”

“Tell me how we’re gonna climb up 50 floors.” Sakuto said. “Do we just jump and use our weapons as makeshift platforms?”

“Nah, got a cooler idea.” Oskar said. He crouched down and closed his eyes. A few of the soldiers went inside the elevator, trying to shoot into the exit hole. Sakuto cut them down with remote slashes, shaking the elevator up a little. But in a moment, that didn’t even matter anymore. The elevator started moving up - much faster than it normally would.

“Right... I forgot you can do that.” Sakuto said. He took a deep breath and laughed to himself. “Starting to think everything’s going according to plan.”

“What plan? We have no plan.” Oskar said. “Our whole plan is limited to finding and killing the bad guys. That’s not a plan, that’s a goal.”

“I saw only 48 buttons inside the elevator. Means that we’re gonna have to clear two floors on our feet.” Sakuto said. He pat Oskar on the back. “They’ll set up an ambush there, no doubt.”

“Anything we can do against that?” Oskar asked.

“We just focus.” Sakuto said. “We’re soulfuls. We’re better than them.”

As the elevator closed in towards the upper end of the shaft, Sakuto and Oskar quickly jumped out of the collision’s way and found themselves in boiling water. Dozens of agents surrounded them, all of them ready to unleash a hellfire.

Sakuto preemptively prepared a large flying slash, and it saved him a lot of trouble. It cut most of the agents and soldiers clean. Oskar, on the other hand, rushed forwards, manually cutting down any of the survivors.

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“What the hell is this?! Who is this?!” One of the soldiers yelled out, raising his firearm. “Get the special protection units here, stat!”

“Requesting special units, stat.” Another one relayed on the radio, before it was broken apart. Oskar shoved his fist into the soldier’s face, breaking it open and leaving burn marks on the parts of the skin the electricity affected.

“Wonder what that could mean.” Sakuto asked, dashing towards the other officer and piercing his stomach with his blade, then leading the blade to the side and ripping his body open. “Ya think they got soulfuls?”

“They might.” Sakuto said.

“Right then. Let’s find the way up.” Oskar said, walking around, trying to find any clue on how to reach the floor above. He noticed that Sakuto was zoned out. “Hey, you there? Not the best time, you know.”

“They do.” Sakuto said with a smirk. “They’ve got a soulful up there, three of them, in fact.”

“To think such a rotten soul would exist...willing to abide by this soulless devil for a payroll.”

“It’s so utterly...”

“Soulless.”

“”We don’t need a way to get up there.” Sakuto said, throwing a flying slash at the ceiling and breaking it open. He jumped through the opening, it looks like he had appeared right behind the soldiers. So he just let himself go and massacred them. It wasn’t difficult at all.

Oskar climbed up too, and Sakuto repeated the slashing tactic. While he was climbing up, a smaller group of soldiers ambushed the two, with Oskar having to handle the incoming stream of ammunition once more. Instead of blocking with his weapon, he quickly went around the corner and charged up a bolt of electricity, and an instant later peeked and launched it at the group, killing them instantly.

“They’re preparing to evac!” Sakuto said, seeing the trails of some men in suits frantically running towards a staircase.

Oskar quickly jumped up. But now, their opponents wouldn’t be soulless armed guards who just got unlucky. They came face-to-face with three soulfuls, all of them with the corporation’s suits on, all of them seemingly ready to die for the cause.

“How can you be a soulful and lick corporate asses?” Sakuto asked, launching a powerful slash at the one on the left. He rushed at him, frantically slashing around with his sword. A few strike combinations later, the soulful was already almost on death’s bed.

Oskar, at the same time, had to manage a two-on-one. While his body reacted accordingly, halting their advances and punishing them with electricity-imbued punches. But his mind was elsewhere.

“Can’t fucking believe I’m doing this. These guys probably get paid millions and train all the time, yet here I am. And Sakuto...”

Sakuto was still beating his opponent down, who seemed to be surprisingly durable. The first spark of adaptation took place, and the tide of the battle shifted from a brutal beating to a death sentence. He kicked the poor soulful across the conference room where the fight was taking place.

“Yeah, there’s no way I wouldn’t bring him along. If there’s anyone in the world I’d trust on a mission like this, it’s him.”

Oskar grabbed a hold of one of the soulfuls who was shorter and tossed him aside. The bigger one managed to land a few punches on him, but Oskar quickly replied by delivering a combination that knocked him back, right into the water cooler. The shorter soulful tried to swing his pocket knife at Oskar, but the latter blocked it and slashed him back with his blade. He pierced his stomach a moment later, just how a thought pierced his mind.

“Isn’t this...what Ausra thought too?”

He stopped for a moment.

“I thought I never cared about this type of stuff.”

“And here I am, doing something I'd only do if Ausra herself asked me to.”

“And I feel this nice sensation in my heart...”

“I thought I’d never get to feel this way either.”

His weapon broke apart, and a tremendous soul presence momentarily engulfed the area. His old katana had evolved into something different, something much more potent and powerful.

It had now transformed into a dual blade - with a thinner black handle in the middle.

“God damn, was that you?!” Sakuto said, surprised and fascinated. He finally caught the sturdy soulful off guard and stuck his blade in the latter’s chest, right after the second spark of adaptation took place.

Oskar used the dual blades to finish the wounded soulful off. And finally, the last threat remaining, approached him. His presence was elevated, and he had an enraged appearance.

Sakuto quickly flanked behind him and stabbed him in the back. With no time to waste, he tried to finish the job, but noticed that the opponent was recovering faster than usual. He took a few steps back and evaded the soulful’s counterattacks.

“Clear the way!” Oskar relayed. Sakuto quickly jumped to the side.

The dual blade transformed into something magnificent. A string of electricity formed, connecting its two edges. Oskar pulled on it, conjuring a powerful electric arrow. The bowman aimed at his prey without an ounce of hesitation.

The soulful tried dodging, but Sakuto launched a slash that cut his foot off. Immobilized, he stared at his own demise at the hands of the freshly awakened soulful. The arrow not only ripped a hole through the soulful who was notorious for his superb regeneration, but also destroyed a good chunk of whatever else it flew through, eventually carving a tunnel leading outside.

“Talk about putting on a show.” Sakuto smiled.

“The execs!” Oskar yelled. He opened up another hole in the ceiling and climbed up, only to see a helicopter flying away from the terrorized building. Sakuto followed suit and seemed disheartened, but then remembered what his friend just acquired.

Oskar calmly conjured another arrow, this one, much more powerful and imbued with much more soul prowess. He aimed at the helicopter.

“I’m often pretty bad when it comes to showing gratitude for feelings.”

“But I have no excuse to not give you something in return for your trust.”

“This one’s for you, Ausra.”

He launched the arrow, and a few seconds later, the helicopter was completely destroyed.

“There ya go. Ah...fuck, man. We actually did it.” Sakuto sighed in relief. “Quite the adrenaline pumper.”

Oskar took his time and launched another EMP blast. He took his and Sakuto’s phones out of his pocket, and gave Sakuto his phone. Looks like it was receiving a call.

“You’re lucky my EMP blasts don’t affect me.” Oskar said. “You wouldn’t wanna miss this one.”

“Mr. Kamiki? Ah, shit, I might get cursed for this...” Sakuto said in a worrisome tone, and picked up the call. “Hey, Mr. Kamiki! Uhh...great weather today, hm?”

“Were you identified?”

“Pretty sure we weren’t.” Sakuto said. “We fried all their electronics before entering and we did that again just now.”

“Good.”

“He hung up...safe to say he’s not too mad at us.” Sakuto said.

“Guessed as much.” Oskar said. “He only cared about what others saw, not what happened. Makes sense.”

“So, what happened?” Sakuto quickly asked, almost interrupting his friend. “What made you go through an awakening?”

“Just some thoughts.”

“Some thoughts about what? Or who exactly, may I ask?”

“Where are you going with this?”

“I just want you to be honest with me. Cause when I awakened, you know exactly what type of thought it was.” Sakuto said, sitting down.

“Quit this.”

“Do you like Ausra?”

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“Do you?”

“I don’t know. Let’s focus now-”

“And there it is. The fact that you said “I don’t know” instead of “no” already tells me enough.” Sakuto said. “Can’t lie, being into someone is fun. It feels like there’s this one big and warm reason to live. Don’t feel like calling quits now.”

“I’m glad that you feel that way.” Oskar said. “It took a girl to snap you out of those types of thoughts.”

“Not snapped out, more like, just suppressed.” Sakuto said. A pause later, he added. “Relax, I don’t plan on jumping off anytime soon.”

“You’re talking about all of that so casually, you don’t realize that you’re making people worry.” Oskar said. “Kinda hurts, you know?”

He didn’t hear a response.

“Hey, Sakuto?”

Sakuto raised his head and looked up into the cloudy sky. He seemed completely out of it, like he was in a different realm, one only he could comprehend.

“The dream...”

“Ever since that moment, I started seeing the colors in gray...”

“And I found them to be profoundly beautiful.”

A moment later, a powerful soul presence blinded them. But the presence wasn’t from Sakuto. It was from a different, more reckless and more destructive entity, one that was waiting for his meeting with Sakuto with great curiosity.

“There he is.” Sakuto said.

“Jackal?”

“Yeah. Looks like he wants to settle the score.” Sakuto said.

“You’re going? Now?” Oskar said. “Get yourself patched up first.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do.” Sakuto said. “Looks like it’s time. About fucking time, really. Can’t believe he managed to escape the last time.”

“Then let’s get back to the hotel.” Oskar said. “Get some rest, get warmed up.”

“There’s a good chance I’ll die.” Sakuto said. “Even if I have my adaptation...this soul prowess, something’s off with it. It feels stronger. He went through some shit in these few days.” He stood up. “But I gotta ask you one thing, Oskar.”

“What?”

“If I die, don’t tell Ichika that I loved her.” Sakuto said. “It’ll push her to unfortunate things.”

“You won’t die.” Oskar said. “You’ll be fine. Come on, you’re strong now. You’re his worst matchup, you just adapt to one thing and he’s as good as dead.”

“There’s always a chance.” Sakuto said. “But hey, even if I do, I’ll get one thing done on my bucket list of things-I-never-think-I’ll-get-to-experience-but-would-be-nice. I always wanted to love someone.”

“Come on, let’s go.” Oskar said.

“Right.” Sakuto nodded, following him. “Won’t forget this day, even if it’s my last.”