Night One Hundred And Fifty Two
Age 1991
Rose City....
Hero let out a loud groan as he heard a tiny click. He looked up seeing the face of Kitsune. The Fox Noble had a serious look on his face as he stared down at Hero.
"Eins is Bright."
"'...Sorry to interrupt but I'm still learning all the characters... Which one is he?'"
'Kitsune Nine.'
"'Ahh! A Nine! Yes I remember the Nine family. Much like the Storm family, or the Aka family, they were one of the twenty families that stood against me during the first Age, gaining their title, as well as the ability to pass Equations down to their kids. Every member of the Twenty Sacred Branches has an Equation, unlike every Noble, or other human.'"
"Oh my God will you two shut up!" Hero yelled flailing his arms around.
"What?" Kitsune asked taken aback by Hero's sudden flailing.
"Not you Fox!"
"Hero I'm the only one here?"
"I'm talking to God."
"Oh... Okay... Sure... I see Ken talked you into her religion. And yet you still refuse to pick up anime- Why am I even talking about this?" Kitsune shook his head for a second as he gained a serious look. "Eins is Bright! I think."
"Yeah I already put that together." Hero sighed folding his arms. "I was waiting on the rest of the group to get back so we could look for 100% proof on the matter."
"'That's lame. Charge in there now! I wanna see some action!'"
'Yes. We can take Eins.'
"I hate both of you with a passion."
Kitsune frowned as he watched Hero continue to go off the deep end and Droney kept filming everything slowly flying over and landing in the Fox teens hair, since Hero was currently acting like an insane person. Kitsune let out a sigh folding his arms as he stared at Hero. "I'm gonna be honest... You're starting to scare me. Look... I wanna be certain that Eins is Bright so while he and the others are away I'm gonna use this as a chance to look through his stuff. I was gonna ask you to come along but uh... I see you have your own stuff to deal with right now..."
"I can keep this under control..." Hero sighed.
"'So Row is it true that your only friend is a Dog? Ha. You've got to be the lamest attempt at cloning me!'"
'You son of a Bit-'
Hero's eye twitched as the two voice once again broke out into a yelling match. "Yep... I can keep this under control..." Hero shook his head. "I don't think your plan is that bad. We should look for absolute solid evidence to see if they really are Bright... For all we know we could be wrong on the matter."
"Right. That's why I managed to trick Eins, Max, and Shiki, into staying in the infirmary and I snuck away." Kitsune announced. Now that he mentioned it, he still didn't seem to be in that good of a shape. Bandages were covering most of his body, and he likely still had some eternal bleeding. Honestly it was a miracle he was even walking around. He walked with a limp though, using his sword as some kind of cane to keep himself up right. Despite all of that though, his serious look never once left. "I'll never forgive anyone who turns another person into a Bestia Macht no matter how noble their goals were. They must be stopped."
"Right..." Hero slowly picked himself up off the floor since he had still be laying down as he nodded his head. "I'm ready when you are then... Are you Eins, Max, and Shiki, are distracted?"
"Oh yeah... I hid so many pillows under the covers of my bed, those three are gonna think I'm super asleep."
"Your an idiot..."
"'Dear Me, is this what the Enforcers have become? They are nothing like the group I made.'"
'I know... After I kill you and become God, there will be some serious changes.'
"'Oh? Do you think you can-'"
"If you two start fighting again, I swear to God, I'm gonna throw myself in front of a moving train, in the hopes of taking you both out with me."
'...'
"'...'"
"Good... Carry on Kitsune."
"Hero you need help..."
"Later. Mission comes first."
The two moved through the hallways of Squad One at a slow pace mostly due to the fact Kitsune could barley move. Finally they stopped in front of a door as Kitsune eyed it up with an annoyed look. "Squad One gets their own rooms and don't have to share? Talk about unfair... How are we gonna get in?"
"No clue..."
"'Just use the Dreamer Crest to make a key?'"
'...We can do that?'
"I'm with Row? We can do that?"
"'Do you two seriously not know how my Crests work?'"
'I mean... I know I can make copies of dead people to fight for me.'
"And I can heal sometimes? Oh yeah! I can heal!" Hero placed his hand on Kitsune's head as his chest lit up the 'D' shaped scar lighting up as Kitsune's body glowed and all the damage left him. "Can't heal myself like Shelly, and Ken, and this takes a lot out of me, and exhausts me, but something tells me, if Eins is North, I'm gonna need you in a fighting shape."
"Alright! Way to go Devil Arm, I'm back to 100%" Kitsune smirked.
"'I'd be careful using that Crest power Hero. After all each time does speed up Row's awakening... I think it was smart to heal Kitsune for the coming battle. Though it is interesting. Nightmare, and Yume, never had the powers to heal or bring back the dead. Nightmare was able to use the Dreamer Crest to travel through the Void, connecting to the dreams of others, while Yume, could create items with his Crest. Row seems to have a weird mix, but for people, even making personalities and you Hero, seem to be able to reverse others... You aren't actually healing them, rather you're reversing them to a state of being...'"
'Nightmare? Have there been others who have had the Dreamer Crest?'
"'Yes. Not just the Dreamer Crest. Every Crest but the A Crest has been passed through several children of the Dragon Clan.'"
'Why not the A Crest?'
"'The A Crest is the strongest. It stands for the Alpha, ad is owned by me of course. With it I can use the powers of any of the twenty five other Crests hence how I am resting in the same void as you both and able to exist in this bodies mind.'"
"So any idea how we get through the door?" A now fully healed Kitsune asked.
"Normally I'd be able to think of some plan to get us in there, but my head is literally a war ground for arguments, and filled with so many debates, and I'm so tired after healing you that I'm going with the screw it option..."
"What's the screw it option-"
Hero's right arm morphed into the clawed arm as he ripped the entire door off the hinges and crushed it into a fine powder. "Screw It."
"Boy... I really hope Eins is the bad guy other wise we're gonna be in huge trouble."
Both teens entered the room looking around. It was a fairly simple room with a bed, a dresser, and a few other random things. Nothing really stood out, and it seemed like Eins didn't care to much about possessions judging from the lack of stuff. Only thing that really stood out and caught them both off guard, was a magazine on Male snow suit models.
Hero slowly held his arm above the trashcan in the room and let go allowing the fine powder that was once the door to trickle into it, filling it up to the brim.
'Man he's gonna pissed when he sees you going through his stuff.'
"Nah... Eins is a good guy."
"'Than why do you think he's the bad guy?'" God asked.
Hero stopped at that as he frowned. "That's... That's a good question... Why do I think he's the bad guy... He always seemed so nice to everyone around him... Could he have really done all of this?"
"'I know the feeling... I to was betrayed by a trusted team mate... Someone I called a friend... No... It went more than that. He was my brother. We fought so hard to get to the top, and I even had him be my Sacred Beast when I created the Enforcers. He was strong that Storm. But when we learned the truth of the Founder, as well as the Darkness that rested out there we had two different ideas on how to stop it. He never liked that mine worked. My plan covering the world in an endless cloud of smog, freezing it over, and creating the Bestia Macht... He hated it so much he even tore out my heart, forming the first Equation with it. Oh well... Now I see he was right in a way. His plan would have been smarter. And when I can, I will do that plan. I will save the human race- Are you two even listening?'"
"Nope..."
'Me either...'
"Well..." Kitsune said drawing his sword. "Since we already left behind enough proof that we've been here, might as well go all in." He slashed his sword out severing the top of a desk in two and splitting it clean open...
Inside they saw it... A small yellow gem...
The pure formula for creating a Seraphin. One that had to be used on a child.
"S... So... Then... Eins really is..." Hero said with a frown.
'This all seems a little easy...'
Kitsune frowned as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a glove which he slipped onto his hand. He reached down picking up the gem and holding it up looking at it as he frowned. "No doubt about it... This is... I'm certain..." He said nodding his head. "It's what we think it is... The Corruption."
"The Corruption. Is that what its called?" Hero and Kitsune's eyes both went wide and both boys tried to turn but were to late as a hard light spear stabbed through both of them, not actually hitting their skin, but rather their clothing and pinning them to the wall in the back. Standing in the broken doorway Eins stood, Max, and Shiki both behind him.
"W... Why are you guys here?" Kitsune asked with wide eyes.
"You hid a bunch of pillows under a cover and pretended like we wouldn't notice..." Max said flatly as Shiki grunted.
"Wait! Kitsune you were serious about that plan? You idiot!"
"I thought it would work! It works in anime?"
"You killed us! You actually killed us!"
"Whoa slow down!" Eins said waving his hands and giving a large goofy smile. "No need to start talking about killing. I'm not here to harm you guys."
"Oh good he's gonna turn us into Bestia Macht!" Hero paniced.
"Wow you went dark real fast!" Eins said with wide eyes. "No. I'm not gonna do anything to you guys. Listen... Am I right in assuming that thing is what turns people into Bestia Macht?"
"What? This gem?" Max asked reaching down and carefully picking it up. "This is what's been doing it..."
Hero frowned as he stared at Eins wondering what his game was. "It is..."
"I see..." Eins nodded his head for a moment. "So then whoever had that would be the culprit right?"
"That's right..." Hero nodded.
Eins's frown only grew. "And you're certain on this matter..."
"That's right..."
Eins's head slowly dropped as he let out a sigh. The hard light around Hero and Kitsune vanished and dropped them both to the floor. "North was friends with Key. After the events of yesterday, I stayed with him to try and talk to him. That was where I found that stone, though I didn't know what it was, I had a pretty good idea."
"Wait!" Max's eyes went wide as he looked up at Eins. "You're saying North is... No way!"
"Y... Yeah!" Kitsune said. "North is the sibling to Irene. I refuse to believe he'd ever do anything like this!"
"Row... What do you think..." Hero whispered.
'You want me to tell you what I think?'
"You said you can spot a liar... Is Eins telling the truth..."
Row seemed to let out a small chuckle. 'Alright Hero... I'll tell you. But you owe me.'
"F... Fine... Whatever... But I won't be giving up my body."
'I figured as much is why I won't ask for it. What I want is something else.'
"Uh... What?"
'I wanna see Hero! After this whole crappy plot line is over with take me to see my dog!'
"That's what you want?"
'Yes!'
"Sure... Fine whatever? Is he lying?"
'No... He's telling the truth. North Glacious... Is Bright...'
***
The Catacombs...
Shelly let out a gasp of pain as the icicle stabbed through her leg making her hiss out as tears rolled down her cheeks for a second.
"S... Sorry!" North said. "I'm not trying to hurt you to bad! It's just when you said 'no' and I figured out that Squad Six was onto me, it was only a matter of time, before the others would realize what was going on! I swear I won't kill you Shelly, but it can't be helped if you force me to hurt you! I'm a hero of justice. A superhero! I'm doing all of this for the greater good. You'll see!"
Currently they rested down in the catacombs... Eins stood dressed in his Bright gear minus the helmet. He also had his Enforcer badge placed proudly over his heart. Shelly was on the ground badly injured, and covered in puncture wounds which were slowly healing, taking up more of her power. Each time she was back in a fighting position though North would just once again run her through with his ice. Behind them was the thing that was trying to make her fight...
Several kids all covered in ice, and bound to the wall... The oldest being ten, and the youngest being three... There was at least twelve of them and they all looked so scared...
"Alright!" North announced speaking in much the same manner as Eins. He had a crazed look in his eyes as he held up a small glass jar filled with a small yellow gem. "It's time to save this world! I'm doing this for all of you! Eins, Irene, even you Hero! I'll solve all your problems for you because I care about you all! I'll make a Seraphin, even if I have to kill a billion kids!"