18:30
Haydon was walking Loki when he received a call from Ava.
"Oi, you slimy cow! Get to the cinema and watch Adult Driver! It's about a basic guy who's a getaway driver for heists. Me and Tessa are here, and we asked Ethan and Kai, sooo?!"
"Wow, how lovely. On my way!" Haydon replied.
'Ugh, autocorrect. I'm not that excited.'
…
As Haydon arrived at the cinema, his phone rang again—this time, it was Ethan.
"Tatsuo's asking where you are. You've got missions," Ethan said.
"Uhhhh, yeah, about that... I might be at the cinema. Can you ask if someone else can take over the mission? Also, are you and Kai coming to the cinema or not?" Haydon asked.
"Nah, I've got a mission. Yeah, I'll see what I can do," Ethan replied.
The call ended as Haydon spotted the others and joined them inside the cinema.
…
Meanwhile, Ethan knocked on Tatsuo's office door.
"Come in," Tatsuo called.
Ethan walked in. "Haydon's a bit busy with... other things," he said, trailing off nervously.
Tatsuo frowned. "What is he doing?"
"Uhhhh, yeah, about that... he might be at the cinema with Ava and someone else," Ethan said, bracing for Tatsuo's response.
Tatsuo sighed. "I have no one else available for this mission. I was hoping Haydon could teach Kai a few things."
"I'll take Haydon's place and go with Kai," Ethan offered abruptly.
"You've got your mission today. This one is Grade 1—are you sure you'll be okay doing both?" Tatsuo asked.
"Yeah, I know, but Haydon's already at the cinema, and they haven't met up in ages outside of school. It'll be good for them. I'll do both missions," Ethan said firmly.
Tatsuo sighed again, thinking, 'A Grade 3 and a Grade 1 mission in one day? I might need to recommend him for a grade increase depending on how he handles this.'
"Fine. After your first mission, go find Kai," Tatsuo instructed.
As Ethan left, he asked Tatsuo for a ride to his first mission.
"My assistant will drive you," Tatsuo replied.
In the car, rain poured heavily as Ethan stared out the window. He thought to himself, 'Will the clown help me this time, or is it all me today?'
A few minutes later, Ethan arrived at his destination. While his necromancy ability shredded the demon to pieces, he casually scrolled on his phone. He snapped a selfie of himself posing with the chaos in the background and sent it to Kai with a message:
'I'm almost done with this mission, so be ready :)'
He then messaged Tatsuo:
'One mission down, another one to go! :)'
Pocketing his phone, Ethan returned to the car and headed back to the Agency.
Ethan walked into Tatsuo's office holding a bag of food.
"YOOOO!" he shouted.
"Any food for me?" Tatsuo asked.
"Hell nah! Anyway, Kai, let's go."
Kai stood, but Ethan groaned. "OMG, SO SLOW. TAKE YOUR TIME, WHY DON'T YOU?"
In the car, the two began to chat.
"What grade is this mission again?" Kai asked.
"Grade 1," Ethan replied, glancing at his phone.
"Good thing I've been doing a lot of low-grade missions," Kai thought to himself.
"Can I ask something?" Kai asked hesitantly.
"NO," Ethan said sarcastically.
Ignoring the comment, Kai continued, "My dad left a message before he died. He said something about finding the 'Soul Vault,' and he talked like he knew about this world."
"So what's your question?" Ethan asked.
"I don't know. I guess I'm just curious. You've lived in this side of the world your whole life—do you know anything about it?"
"You're asking the wrong person, honestly. Ask Tatsuo after this," Ethan replied.
When they arrived, Kai looked out the window at the deserted city. Tatsuo had informed the police and government about the demons, so the area had been evacuated.
They stepped out of the car. After taking a few steps, they heard the sound of knives scraping against the floor. But as time passed, they found no demons, wandering the empty streets in search.
Frustrated, Ethan called Tatsuo.
"We've been wandering for ages and can't find any demons," Ethan reported.
"Wait, what? Conrad informed me the demons in that area were already dead. I assumed you killed them," Tatsuo replied, concern in his voice.
"No, not us," Ethan said.
"Ethan, listen carefully. Leave now, but do it quietly. Someone else is there, and we don't know who or why. Get out of there imme—"
The call abruptly cut off, and Ethan's phone lost all service.
"Ethan, look," Kai said, his voice tense.
Ethan looked up to see a man with white hair, a wide smile, and knives in hand, wearing a black jacket with a fur-lined hood.
As Ethan stared, the sky went black. Everything around them disappeared, save for the floor and a few crumbling walls.
"What's your name?" Ethan asked coldly.
"Slasher," the man replied, his voice dripping with psychotic glee.
Ethan turned away, scanning the surroundings. Meanwhile, Kai gripped his katana tightly, staring down Slasher.
Facing away, Ethan muttered, "Shōkan."
The ground began to rumble as concrete cracked. Undead creatures clawed their way out of the floor, sprinting toward Slasher.
'He's laughing... He likes this,' Ethan thought as Slasher's psychotic laughter echoed through the void.