"Well..." Yuki hesitated a moment before speaking. "After getting knocked out I had a dream. I basically relived my entire life with all my memories coming back in the process."
"I see." Ed nodded. "Are you sure the stress and trauma from such an experience didn't cause your 2nd awakening or something? That seems much more likely to me."
"I don't think so." She shook her head. "I tried using my powers with no success. Besides, I've seen other spirits that look similar to me, though their eyes are lifeless and dull."
"Hmm..." He lowered his head in thought. 'If it isn't a 2nd awakening then what is it? And what's the relationship between Yuki's spirit and the mysterious golden energy in my body?'
...
Steam Work City Hospital. Mr. Sai stretched as he slowly woke up next to Yuki's bed. He had been watching over her for over a week by now. "WHAT?!" He yelled in shock as he looked at his daughter's body. "Her soul is gone?!" He closed his eyes and concentrated. A golden energy began to cover his entire body, making him look like a holy being that had descended down from the heavens.
'Her soul isn't with me.' He frowned and concentrated once more. His golden energy slowly expanded to cover the entire city. However, no people or espers seemed to notice at all. 'Not with me nor within the city. Damn... I don't have much time.' His energy expanded even further to cover the entire state. This time, a similar energy slammed into his own.
"TAMA!!!" A voice boomed in his ears. The sound had traversed through the connection between his and the other person's golden energy. "What do you think you're doing scanning my territory?! We had an agreement!"
"Apologies. This is a family matter and it's an emergency." Mr. Sai responded.
"Pay the fine we agreed upon and I'll let bygones be bygones!" The voice yelled in reply.
"Fine." He frowned and waved his hand. Nearly a hundred orbs of various colors appeared in the air. If you looked closely, you could see a small person within each one. The orbs traversed the golden energy and disappeared into what looked like a government building.
"Hehehe. Thanks for the food." The voice replied while the golden energy slowly faded away.
"Damn!" OP Baldy ground his teeth as he flew south out of the state. He decided to check the entire east coast first. He stopped briefly in each state and scanned with his golden energy. Each time he did so, one or more similar energies would slam into his own and harass him. He chose to ignore them as he kept traveling south.
Soon, he reached Florida. His energy expanded across the state. "She's here?!" He smiled broadly as he headed for her location.
...
"What was that?!" Ed screamed in panic. One moment, he was trying to think of a solution. The next, his golden thread of energy began trembling intensely. It was shaking like it was prey about to be devoured by a fierce hunter.
BOOM! A crashing sound rang out as a man in a red jumpsuit appeared in his office by breaking through the wall.
"OP Baldy?!" He yelled in shock. 'Shouldn't that bastard be locked up or kicked out of the country by now? The people of Georgia must have spread the word to most of the other states by now?'
"Humph!" Mr. Sai snorted. "So, you're still alive brat? I'm here for my daughter."
"Eh? You can see me dad?"
"Of course I can." He nodded. "Come with me. Things are going to get dangerous here soon."
"GAHAHAHA!!!" A voice laughed so loudly that the air seemed to shake. "So, this is what was so important to you that you'd invade our territory!"
"That seems to be a fairly powerful soul!" Another voice yelled. "Why not share it with your old friends!"
"FUCK OFF!" Mr. Sai screamed in rage. A golden shockwave spread out and slammed into the air, revealing nearly a dozen people floating there. Each one shone with a similar golden energy, though their own was much weaker than Mr. Sai's.
"Don't be like that! Why should you get the right to such a tasty soul!" A woman amongst them complained. "Besides, you already have more than any of us. We should play fair!"
"Eh?!" Ed's eyes widened in shock. "Isn't that the governor of Florida?"
"Oh?" A tall and skinny man narrowed his eyes. "He can see us? Looks like there's a new upstart in my state I need to squash. Haha, I should thank you OP Baldy. Who knows how long I would have missed him otherwise. I'm a busy man after all."
"DAMN!" Mr. Sai looked back-and-forth between his daughter and the flying espers. "I'll give you each a soul of equivalent value to leave. Deal?"
The flying espers whispered to each other and nearly all of them nodded in agreement. One smiled, "10 equivalent souls each!"
"BASTARDS!" He yelled in rage as he waved his hand. Ten orbs floated to each esper. There were eleven espers in total. Nine accepted the orbs and turned to leave. Two remained behind and sent the orbs back towards OP Baldy.
A malicious looking man smiled. "As if I'd turn down an opportunity like this. If I absorb your daughter's soul, then you won't dare to ever go against me again!"
The other man to stay behind was the Florida Governor. "Just let me kill the boy and I won't interfere." He grinned.
"Damnit." Mr. Sai ground his teeth in frustration. He could let the Florida Governor have his way, but the other esper was a problem. He could easily beat the malicious esper, but Yuki would get caught up in the fight. Souls were weak entities and she could easily be destroyed in the process. "Ed!" He yelled. "My daughter isn't dead yet. Dead souls hold little to no intelligence in the outside world. I'll keep these two busy. You take my daughter's soul to Steam Work City Hospital. Fix whatever's wrong with her body and her soul should be able to return."
Ed hesitated a moment before nodding. He grabbed Yuki by the hand and ran towards his office's exit. 'Normally, I'd try to negotiate some extra benefits, but...' He shivered in fear when thinking of that Florida Governor. He felt like a mouse being stared at by a hungry snake. He was more than willing to get the hell out of here as soon as possible.
BOOM! A loud sound rang out behind him and he turned to see his office building crumbling to the ground. He saw the Florida Governor covered in golden flames. The flames burned the surrounding rubble and not even ash remained.
A rumbling sound rang out as OP Baldy shoved the rubble away and climbed out from the building. A brilliant golden-white light covered his entire body. The malicious esper also climbed from the rubble. A grotesque golden-black light covered him. Anything the light touched vanished in an instant.
"Let's go!" He grabbed Yuki into a princess carry and flames blasted forth from beneath his feet. He flew straight over the city wall and kept heading north.
"I can fly myself!" She struggled to get out of his grip. Then she spun circles around him at a much faster speed. "See?"
"Mm." He nodded, but he wasn't paying close attention to her. 'OP Baldy and those other espers all had the same golden energy as me. But mine was like a drop of water in comparison to their raging oceans. Just what the hell is it?'
He continued flying towards New York. He was much slower than Yuki. It took him nearly six hours to get there. He landed into the city closest to Steam Work City. That way he could take the train through the city walls without causing any commotion.
"Hahaha!!" Yuki laughed while pointing at him. "You look ridiculous!"
Ed tried patting his hair back down. He had flown here at max speed. It ruffled his hair to the point of standing up straight. It also tore his clothes in various places. He looked like he just lost a fight. "I don't want to be told I look ridiculous by the glowing blue ghost."
"Humph!" She snorted while crossing her arms. "Such a jerk. What happened to you anyways. I liked you better before you awoke as an esper!"
"Before I awoke?" He frowned while examining her. "Did we meet before I awoke my powers?"
"How do you not even remember?!" She yelled in anger. "I was the girl you showed around on the morning of the nightmare attack!"
"Oh!" He nodded while slamming his fist into his other hand. "I remember now. Sorry, but I did that sort of thing all the time."
"Huh?" She tilted her head in confusion. "You just pulled random girls to that military factory to show off all the time?"
"No." He shook his head. "Just anyone in general that dissed technology, which I think you can imagine is quite frequently. I probably took somebody new there at least once a week. I'd hardly ever remember all of them."
"You!" She pouted in anger. "You have no tact! How do you ever expect to get a girlfriend that way?!"
He yawned and put his hands behind his head as he continued to walk towards the train station. "I'll just get Dupe to transform a clone into a girl and settle for that."
"What? Dupe can do that? Ew!!!" She backed up a few steps away from him.
"Haha!" He laughed. "I was just joking. Anyways, it's not like it was easy to recognize you after the whole nightmare attack. I'd gone through a lot of shit and your hair color changed. Plus, we were in an entire different state and I had never learned your name previously. I'd naturally not think you were the same person."
"I guess that makes sense..." She nodded in agreement while closing the distance between them again.
"Still, to think Yuki would be against me and Dupe hooking up. Shouldn't you be more open-minded? Such discrimination in this day and age." He sighed while looking at her with pitiful eyes.
"Stop messing with me!" She smacked him on the backside of the head.
"Haha, sure." He smiled while they both got on the train. He only had to pay for one ticket since it seemed like no one else could see her. A whistling sound rang out and steam flew into the air as the train traveled down the tracks. It was already night by the time they arrived at Steam Work City.
"It's still as amazing as the last time I saw it." He sighed while looking up at the large dome that enclosed the city. Advertisements flashed across the ceiling of the dome. 'It was a complete mystery to me the first time I arrived here. Now, I feel like I can see behind the smoke. Those advertisements are probably just making clever use of some mana-powder. Probably light mana-powder for the most-part.'
They got off the train and headed for the best hospital in the city. A large white building with a red cross atop it. A series of related buildings took up so much space that they likely shared their own postal code.
Ed went through the main entrance and walked towards the receptionist. "I'm here to visit Yuki Sai."
The nurse looked at a list and frowned. "Sorry. Yuki isn't allowed any visitors right now."
'Damnit. It's always something, isn't it.' He put on his best business smile. "There must be some misunderstanding. I was personally invited here by OP Baldy to take a look at his daughter. My powers are quite useful for healing injuries."
"I'm sorry, sir. But I have strict orders to not allow any visitors for her. Nor can I tell you her location."
Suddenly, an old man's voice interrupted them. "Excuse me, missy." He limped towards the counter. "I seemed to have injured my leg. I don't suppose you can schedule an appointment for me?"
"Oh my god!" She stood up in shock when she saw the leg. It was obviously broken. "You should have gone straight to the emergency room! Why would you come to the main desk to schedule an appointment!" She began to panic as she spoke into a small radio to call for assistance.
"Money's tight these days... Gotta save some for the grandkids. It ain't easy..." The old man continued to ramble on as the nurse finished making her emergency calls.
"Annoying." Ed frowned and placed his hand on the old man's shoulder. He sent a trace of mana through his body to examine the leg. He used his powers to switch off the old man's pain receptors. He no longer had to create a hole for something so simple, since his control was so much better than previously. He began to melt the old man's leg and place everything back in proper order. When he finished, he turned the pain receptors back on. "Done. Your leg is fixed, old man. Free of charge. Now scram."
"Eh?" The old man made a few small kicks with his leg and put some pressure on it. "My god! It's even better than before I broke it!" He exclaimed in shock. "Thank you so much, young man!" He forcefully grabbed Ed's hand and shook it heavily.
"HEY!" The receptionist yelled. "You can't just go treating patients without a license! Even if you are an esper, it's a violation of the law!" She began to list off the specific license and law requirements.
"Hey." Ed turned to the old man and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Do me a favor and leave, okay?"
The old man glanced between the receptionist and Ed before nodding. He slowly turned around and walked out the exit.
Ed smiled while facing the receptionist. He quickly reached across the desk and grabbed her by the collar. Then he lifted her into the air. A ball of flames appeared in his other hand. "Now listen here. You have two options. One, you tell me where Yuki's room is, and everybody is happy. Two, I burn this whole fucking building to ash and leave your body an indistinguishable mess in the middle of it! Now, what will it be?"
"You..." The receptionist clawed at his hand while struggling to speak. "You think you can threaten me?! We have hunters stationed here! You try anything and you're dead!"
"Looks like it's option 2..." He sighed while the flames in his hand grew bigger.