Ed and Mordy reached the location of the collapsed building where they had met Quake. They waited for close to an hour before he showed up.
"Yo! Glad you guys made it!" Quake smiled and waved.
Ed and Mordy waited for Quake to get close. Once he got close enough they both glanced at each other and nodded. Mordy shot a rain of acid into the air towards Quake. Quake frowned as he quickly backed up. Ed used his powers to melt the ground behind Quake, which caused him to sink into it. Ed quickly solidified the ground to trap him.
Quake now only had his head above the ground. Ed walked near him and aimed his gun at a nearby building. Boom! A lead bullet shattered a window of the building. Ed loaded another bullet and aimed at Quakes head. "Tell us what we want to know, and a bullet won't go through your brain!"
Quake panicked for a second, but quickly calmed down. "Sure. Ask away!" He smiled.
"How did your king unite all the espers here?" Ed questioned. "Also, how did he manage to prevent World Walker from picking us up?"
"I'm afraid I can't answer your first question. As for the 2nd question... I have no idea what you're talking about!" Quake grinned. "I've answered 100% honestly. Please keep your word and let me go now."
"Stop fucking around!" Mordy yelled and whacked him with the pipe he carried. "How the hell is that supposed to be an answer?!"
"Ugh!" Quake groaned as the pipe slammed into his head. Some blood poured from the side where the pipe hit him.
Ed frowned. "What do you mean when you say you can't answer us?"
"The king ordered not to say a word about it!" Quake answered. "I can't tell you even if I want to. Now then…" The ground started to shake. Large cracks appeared in the road. Ed and Mordy stumbled backwards as Quake easily climbed above ground. "Will you come with me to meet the king now?"
Ed and Mordy glanced at each other and nodded.
…
Ed and Mordy followed Quake through the city. They soon reached the former city hall. Quake led them into the mayor's office. They saw a large leather chair and expensive wooden desk. The chair wasn't facing them, but they could see a golden crown atop a pale head. An old granny was standing next to the king. Her face was covered in wrinkles and her gray hair was wrapped in a bun. The chair slowly turned around…
"Jarrod?!" Ed and Mordy yelled in shock.
"Hey guys!" Jarrod smiled. "Long time no see. It's been what, a week?"
"I thought you took a mission?" Mordy questioned. "What are you doing here? How did you become these esper's king in just a week?!"
"It only took me two days actually." Jarrod replied. "The first day was a living hell…" He glanced at the old granny standing next to him.
The granny spoke in a hoarse screechy voice, "Hello brats. You may call be Luny."
Ed glanced at Jarrod. "She is…?" He questioned.
"Right. I figured you wouldn't know." Jarrod nodded. "Allow me to explain how my life has changed over the past week. It all started when Stone knocked us out… World Walker didn't want a useless esper like me in his entourage, so he sent me to Luny. She was here in Reef city looking for new espers..." Jarrod turned to Luny and smiled, "Please explain the situation to them."
"Okay." Luny nodded and stepped forward. "I was one of the very first espers in this world. I've been in many organizations during my lifetime. I create potions and other necessary items these groups need." She smiled. "In exchange, they provide me with the research specimens I require. Jarrod here is one of my latest subjects."
"Subject?!" Ed and Mordy questioned. They glanced between Jarrod and Luny.
"Right!" Luny nodded. "World Walker sent Jarrod to me to be my test subject. I specialize in the field of 2nd awakenings."
"2nd awakenings?" Mordy questioned.
"Don't interrupt!" Luny yelled with red eyes. Then she continued as if nothing had happened. "There is a secret amongst stronger espers. It is the 2nd awakening. It is a very strange phenomenon that can drastically change an esper's powers."
"Cut to the point!" Mordy frowned.
"If you interrupt me one more time I'll kill you!" Luny threw a blue vial towards Mordy. He didn't manage to block it and it exploded in front of him. A blue goo covered his mouth and prevented him from speaking.
"Now then…" Luny continued. "2nd awakenings… I've researched them most my life. I've managed to discover two ways to instigate a 2nd awakening. The 1st method is just like when a human first becomes an esper. However, it requires a much more extreme amount of emotion. The 2nd method usually has weaker results, but is much safer. I cut open an esper's head and perform surgery on their mana-core. I grind away the six weaker elements from it. Once I've removed as much as I can, then I take mana-cores from mutants and grind them up. I take the appropriate element and patch the esper's mana-core. Nice and safe!"
Ed's eyes widened, and his body trembled in fear. He didn't dare speak, but screamed internally, 'Safe?! How the hell is that safe? This Luny is completely Loony!'
Luny placed a hand on Jarrod's shoulder. "This has been my greatest success so far!" She looked towards Jarrod with loving eyes. "I used the 2nd method and his powers changed far beyond my expectations! You must understand, the mortality rate is 99.7% using the 1st method and 70% using the 2nd! Even when I succeed, the results are usually powers that have barely improved!" Luny started laughing, "Gahahaha! This boy though! The surgery went perfectly!"
"Right." Jarrod nodded. "My power is no longer lust. I've named my new power as king."
"King?" Ed questioned. Mordy stared quietly since the goo covered his face.
"Right." Jarrod smiled and pushed up his glasses. "My mana increased tremendously after the surgery. I can't be compared to ordinary new espers like you two anymore. As for my power… I can form a king's symbol on any esper to make them my loyal subject. They're 100% loyal to me and each other. With Luny's help it was quite easy to conquer all the newly awakened espers in Reef city."
Ed glanced behind him at Quake. Upon careful examination, he saw the symbol of a crown on his left hand. Ed looked towards Luny and saw a crown on her left hand as well. His eyes widened in surprise. He turned towards Jarrod and spoke, "Isn't your power just the same as Jessica's now?"
"Hmph!" Jarrod snorted. "How can I be compared to trash like her. She brainwashes puppets that need orders to do anything. They also lose all growth potential. My subjects retain their individuality and can grow stronger. There is no comparison!"
"I see…" Ed nodded. "So, you put Luny under your control?"
"Of course." Jarrod smiled. "I can't let a valuable resource like her go to waste. As for World Walker…"
"You used Luny and somehow interfered with where World Walker sent us." Ed interrupted. "You prevented him from picking us up as well. Now you should be planning to get revenge on him, right?"
"Mm." Jarrod nodded. "I knew you were smart, Ed. World Walker! That fucker gave me a death sentence! It was only a matter of time before he betrayed you guys as well!"
"So why did you bring us here?" Ed questioned. He sent mana towards the steam core in his arm to attack if needed.
"Simple really." Jarrod grinned. "I need strong espers for my revenge plans. I've already taken control of over fifty newly awakened espers in Reef city. The others are all in hiding or have left the city already."
"I see…" Ed nodded. "So, you want us to join you in your plan for revenge?"
"Haha!" Jarrod laughed. "Close, but not quite right. I said I needed strong espers didn't I?"
"Then what do you want?" Ed frowned.
Jarrod glanced at Luny and smiled. Ed's eyes went wide, and he lifted his arm to shoot Jarrod. Bang! Ed shot the bullet, but it froze in midair. A large amount of wind had formed around the bullet and lowered it to the ground. Mordy began to create acid in his hands. Suddenly, wind covered Ed and Mordy's face. It bound their bodies from moving. Ed used his powers to melt the ground in the surrounding 2 meters, but it didn't help. Mordy couldn't aim or shoot his acid at all. They both suffocated until they passed out.
…
Ed slowly woke up and looked at his surroundings. He was in a dark room. Contrary to his expectations, there was nothing binding him. He had full use of his movements and powers. He saw Mordy lying down next to him. Ed chose to shake him awake.
"Mm?" Mordy woke up and his eyes widened. He quickly stood up and looked around.
Click. A bunch of lights turned on. Luny and Jarrod headed down some stairs towards them. It would appear that they were in a basement.
Jarrod spoke, "Ed! Mordy! No need for the tense faces. Why don't you give me a big smile?"
Ed tried to frown, but to his horror his lips lifted into a big smile. It felt completely natural, as if this was what he had wanted to do from the beginning. He glanced down at his left hand and saw a symbol of a golden crown.
"You two are to follow Luny's orders from now on. Good luck!" Jarrod turned around and left.
"Mm." Luny nodded. "Follow me."
Ed and Mordy followed behind Luny. Their feet moved whether they wanted them to or not.
"Are you going to kill us?" Mordy questioned. His mouth was no longer blocked by goo.
"No, no!" Luny smiled. "You might survive! It's an experiment after all!"
The two shivered in fear. Ed lifted his arm up towards Luny and tried to shoot, but he couldn't. He unconsciously lowered his arm back down and continued walking.
"Haha!" Luny laughed. "Nice try! The king's subjects can't attack each other without permission. Just for that I'm putting you in group A!"
"Group A?" Ed questioned.
"Right." Luny nodded. "Jarrod gave me permission to put 10 people in group A and 40 people in group B. Group A will undergo a high emotion experiment. The casualty rate is 99.7% as mentioned earlier. Group B will undergo the surgery Jarrod had. This way we should end up with 12 espers of the 2nd awakening. If someone in group A unexpectedly succeeds, then that's just a bonus."
Ed frowned. "Why is the casualty rate for group A so high? It sounds like the surgery is more dangerous to me."
"Tsk." Luny grunted. "Shows what you know. How much emotion does it take to awaken as an esper? It usually takes extreme fear, pain, or trauma. A 2nd awakening takes far more emotion. You're going to be in for a living hell soon! Mwuahahaha!"
Ed and Mordy soon entered a large lab. Almost 30 espers were here in blue gowns. "Get changed!" Luny ordered. Ed and Mordy both removed their clothes and wore the gowns.
Luny glanced at Ed and frowned, "Give me that arm to. It's in the way."
Ed grit his teeth in anger. He used his power to send the arm towards Luny. She took it and carried it out. "You're to stay here until you receive further orders!" She yelled as she left the room. The door behind her was left open. Ed and Mordy couldn't leave even if they wanted to.
"Hey newbies!" An esper walked over. "Welcome to paradise!"
Some of the espers looked at Ed and Mordy with curiosity. Others ignored them altogether. The large muscular man that walked over towards them smiled, "A lot of us aren't in the mood to talk as I'm sure you can understand."
"Mm." Ed nodded. "Has she already started yet?"
"Yes." The man nodded. "You saw Quake up above right? He and two other people succeeded so far. One controls the wind. I'm not sure about the other one.
Ed looked around the room and counted the espers. There were exactly 29 of them. He frowned, "There should be more here? The failure rate is too high if only 2 succeeded so far."
"Oh, this isn't all of us." The man shook his head. He turned around and pointed at two doors. "The door on the left is where she takes those from Group B. She takes one every day for the surgery. The door on the right is where she took all those in Group A."
Mordy frowned. "What happened to those in group A?!" He glanced at Ed with worry evident in his eyes.
"Hmm?" The man noticed and looked at Ed with pity. "None of those that have entered Group A so far have left. Most should still be alive though… I hear their screaming all night long."
Ed, Mordy, and the large man continued to converse. Late in the night they began to hear bloodcurdling screams and shrieks of horror. Loud voices begged for mercy. Unusual sounds frequently rang out. Ed listened carefully in an attempt to figure out what was happening, but he had no success. He had never heard any of these unfamiliar sounds before.
The night slowly passed. Luny showed up in the morning. She was covered in blood. She pointed at the large man Ed had chatted with and spoke. "Your turn today!" She glanced at Ed and grinned, "Ed, we'll get you started tonight. Rest well. Gahahaha!" She laughed madly as she led the large man away.