Arc 41 - The Unexpected

Berlin, Germany:

Anna Schmidt just left her ex-boyfriend’s house. She killed her ex-boyfriend, his new partner and his new-born child. And she was happy.

She was flying in the sky of Berlin with a smile on her face. While she was moving in a good mood, she sensed something. Something she did not know a few days ago. Another psychic nearby.

“Oh?” She smiled.

She was flying north, but then changed her destination and started to fly towards the west instead.

001 was also in the same city. He came here to deal with another problem that happened a few hours ago.

He went to the crime scene and as soon as he entered the place, he started to vomit. The crime scene was in an alleyway. It was right behind a small convenient shop.

“What the…?”

He walked around and saw dead bodies. There were about 10 different people in here. You could not tell them apart because all their organs were separated from their bodies. Their organs were spread across the room.

As 001 placed his hand on his mouth, he saw a writing. ‘Crimson Sword was here’. It is the same writing they have seen in many other crime scenes.

He walked around and saw a CCTV camera. A spark of hope could be seen in his eyes.

He searched around for a while and did not see a single thing that could help him use the footage from CCTV cameras.

001 took out his communicator.

“004, if you are free, can you come to my location.” 001 said.

“Why?”

“I have found a CCTV camera, so I thought---”

Before he could finish his sentence,e he stopped. Someone spoke and it was not 004.

“Your new suit should do the job.”

The voice belonged to Nazar.

“The new suits are similar to mine. They are made of nanites. It should allow you to tap into any kind of technological device and also it has other features as well. I will tell you about them later.” Nazar paused. “For now, just tap your left or your right palm 5 times and a small device will appear. It is connected to Solace, so it can help you. Solace will take care of all the security and show you what you are looking for.”

001 and the others who were listening to this transmission could not do anything but be surprised and amused by this.

“Wow!” 001 said. “Do you even need us?”

“No, but as I said, the world might need you.” Nazar paused. “Of course, if you don’t want to be here, I can remove your powers and then you can live your rainbow-and-sunshine life.”

The transmission was cut off after that.

001 tapped his left palm 5 times and a small screen appeared. It was accompanied by Solace.

- What do you require, 001? -

“Uh, um… there is a CCTV camera, so---”

- Got it. -

As the AI said, 001 did not do anything. He just watched.

After a minute, Solace had tapped into the CCTV camera and copied its files.

- I will play the video now. Don’t worry, I will only play the part which shows the crime scene. -

Solace said that, the CCTV recording started to play.

When the video started, it showed about 10 people. Each one had bikes with them and they looked like they were part of a small gang. They came to the back of the convenient shop and were drinking.

After a few minutes, a blonde woman showed up. She was wearing blue jeans and a white shirt. She walked towards them with a smile on her face.

The recording showed that the people embraced her. She started drinking with them and after a while, out of nowhere, she moved her fingers and a few of them were sliced in half.

She then continued killing everyone with the movement of her fingers. After they were dead, she cut off their limbs and left them there.

As 001 watching this video, he held his hand tight to his mouth. He felt like vomiting a few times. He has not really seen anyone gets murdered in front of him.

It took him a few minutes to recover from that.

He was about to leave the alleyway and start asking some questions, but he was hit from behind.

He opened his eyes after a little while.

“What..?” 001 muttered. “Why am… faced down… on the ground?”

“If it is not 001.”

He heard a voice behind him.

He turned around quickly and saw a blonde woman. The same woman he saw in the video. It was Anna Schmidt.

“When we stole some of the Internal Order files, they suggested that you were the most powerful psychic on the face of the planet behind Nazar,” Anna said. “They also suggested that you might be able to develop other psychic powers beside telepathy and telekinesis.”

“Other psychic… powers?” 001 said as he slowly got up.

While he was getting up, he struggled quite a bit.

“Yes. I am not sure if you can tell, but I also use psychic energy.” Anna sounded disinterested. “However, I have only been able to develop telekinesis so far.”

A smile then ripped her face in half.

“So, I am here to fight the strongest psychic of Internal Order.”

As soon as she said that, she did not waste a single second.

She rocketed towards 001 at unimaginable speed.

Earlier today she was travelling at subsonic speed because she was happy, but now in real battle, she easily broke the sound barrier.

“Ngh...”

001 was not sure what happened. He found himself thrown a few meters into the main road.

Cars were moving, so he needed to get off the road immediately.

However, he did not get the chance. He was hit by the psychic again before and was thrown into another alley.

(Come on. Use the tricks Nazar inserted into your mind.) 001 thought.

Before he could recover, he was hit with psychic energy.

(“Seriously? You are struggling against someone who only has telekinesis?”)

(“Nazar?”)

(“Don’t sound so surprised. This is a telepathic conversation.”)

001 got up.

(“Create a shield. Make it as strong as possible.”)

Nazar had already inserted the tricks in his mind, so he just needs to follow it.

(“Focus your psychic energy and give it a shape. Of course, you cannot see the shape, but just make an invisible shield.”)

(“Focus my psychic energies?”)

He closed his eyes and once he opened, it was lit up with yellow energy.

“Oh? Finally deciding to use your power?”

The woman said as she walked towards him slowly.

She then clenched her fist.

(“Focus on the energy. Think about a shield and unleash your power. Don’t hold back.”)

(Shield.) 001 thought.

Anna placed a telekinetic armour around herself and shot towards 001 once more.

“Get ready you weakling.” She spat these words as she was in the air.

She moved so fast that human could not see her, but 001 did not need to see her.

He just needed to place a shield around his body so she cannot hit him.

He closed his eyes and tried putting up the shield around himself. For the first time, he felt the psychic energy around him and he could give it form. He used it to create a strong shield.

In the past, he has used his telekinesis to fly just a few meters above ground and could not do anything else with it.

She moved her clenched fist and tried to punch 001 in the face, but something happened.

Her fist stopped a few centimetres away from his face.

“Oh?”

(“Now, use that energy to create a weapon. Hmm...collect all the psychic energy around you in one place and then throw it straight to her.”)

A smile appeared on 001’s face.

He then waved his hand and the blonde woman was thrown away.

She found herself a few meters away from 001 and she was no longer smiling.

(“Focus that energy in your right hand and create another weapon. Create a solid invisible sword.”) Nazar paused. (“Then stab her.”)

(“What?”)

For most of the conversation, Nazar was just talking and 001 was listening, but for the first time in a while, he talked back.

(“Just stab her in the leg. I need answers.”)

001 then gathered all the psychic energy around him and created an invisible sword. While doing that, he created a thin armour around him to increase his speed.

He then went closer to Anna at subsonic speed and stabbed her in the leg with an invisible sword.

“Arghh!”

She cried out in pain, but 001 did not care. She was subdued.

“Now, then.”

001 heard a voice behind him.

“Time to torture her.”

He looked around and saw Nazar smiling.

“When did you get here?”

“Just now. You needed help with her, so I came here and helped.”

001 was not the one who stopped Anna in her tracks, it was Nazar. However, 001 was the one who stabbed her with an invisible sword made of psychic energy.

As soon as the woman saw him, she forgot about the physical pain and started to run away. Her eyes looked like they were about to burst out due to fear.

“No.” She shouted as Nazar went closer towards her. “Stay away, you monster.”

“Are you not taking this too far?”

(“Come on, 001. Can you not tell when I am intimidating someone and when I am actually serious?”) Nazar paused. (“I am going to ask her questions and if she does not answer, I will enter her mind and then take it from there.”)

Even though 001 asked the question in person, Nazar answered him using his telepathy.

Nazar then went even closer to the woman and held her by the collar. He then picked up her up, which led to some of her buttons on the shirt becoming undone. However, no one cared. Nazar never really cared about something like this and the woman was too scared to even notice it.

He then slashed his hand and the dimension was ripped in half. The sunny day had a small dark door in it now. Nazar and the woman walked through it.

001 then teleported back to the moon.

Another dimension:

It was a dark dimension created by Nazar. This place has no solid ground. It has no light. It has nothing beside darkness. He created this place when he was torturing 625 a few weeks ago.

“Who are you?”

“I am Anna Schmidt.”

She said that but then noticed something. Her wounds were healed.

“Don’t be surprised. I can heal others. I can bring people back from the dead, too.”

(This should intimidate her enough.) Nazar thought.

“Now, then.” Nazar’s face was ripped in half with a smile. “Tell me everything you know.”

“Eek.” The woman shrieked in horror. “I-I don’t know anything.”

“Oh?” Nazar raised his right hand to his chin and started scratching it slowly. “I guess I won’t get answers from you like that.”

Nazar walked towards the woman who was trapped into nothing. She could not move because of the darkness around her. To her, it felt like she was being held down by something.

“Last time I brought someone here, I killed him a few times,” Nazar said as his hand lit up with yellow energy. “Let’s see how long you can last.”

“N-no. No. Please, no.” The woman shouted in horror. “I will tell you everything I know.”

The woman took a long pause. She collected herself a little.

“About a weeks ago, a video was sent to me. The voice in the video told us if we wanted power. We answered ‘yes’ and the next thing we knew, we could feel the power around us. And it also felt like we could use the power perfectly. We did not need training or anything like that.”

“How were you guys selected?”

“It said that we were selected randomly. We did not know each other. We only met others when we started doing our own thing.”

“What’s your mission?”

“The voice said that the power is ours so we can do whatever we can with it. However, there is one objective: to keep you busy.”

“Keep me busy?”

Nazar did not get an answer. So, instead, he asked another question.

“What do you know about me?”

“She or he gave us information about you that they have stolen from Internal Order. I don’t know how, but we have information about your family and friends.” She paused. “Not just you, but every superhuman on Earth.”

Nazar’s eyes widened with shock.

(Damn it. The past is coming to haunt me again.) Nazar thought.

When Nazar created Internal Order, he gave them all the information about himself. He did not leave anything behind. At that time, he couldn’t care less about anyone, but now he regrets it.

“However, we were given specific information to stay away from your family.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know but that person’s objective is to keep you busy.”

Nazar sighed.

He crouched down and touched the blonde woman. She was on Earth once more.

Nazar went back to the moon.

“What happened?”

Nazar told all of them what he found out. All superhumans were back from their missions. Unlike 001, none of them had faced anyone else.

“So, that’s everything she told--”

His sentence was cut off.

- Master, there is a problem at the Jones residence and your house, too. -

“What?”

“What?”

Both 001 and Nazar shouted at once.

“Go,” Nazar said to 001.

As soon as he did, 001 teleported out. And Nazar followed soon.

Nazar found himself in his house, where Emma and Aria were talking.

As he appeared in the living room, Aria and Emma looked at him in confusion.

Nazar looked around and nothing looked out of the ordinary.

“Solace, there is nothing wrong--”

Before Nazar could finish, the door was broken.

Someone entered the house at high speed.

Before the speedster could do anything, he found himself in another dimension.

Nazar then moved his hand slightly and a powerful barrier was created around it.

“Stay here. Don’t leave.” Nazar shouted towards confused Aria and Emma and then teleported out.

He then appeared in Emily’s house.

Things were different.

Nazar found 001 lying bloodied in the middle of the living room but he was not dead. He was just injured. His mother and father were still alive, but they were heavily injured and were lying on the couch they were sitting on.

Nazar waved his hand and three energy balls were created.

It took him less than a second to heal all three of them.

“...??”

“...??”

“...??”

All three of them were confused now. They were wounded a few seconds ago but now there was nothing.

“What happened here?”

“I--”

Nazar moved before he could get his answer. He went upstairs faster than a human could think.

He opened the door of Emily’s bedroom and she was lying on the floor too. However, she was not bleeding.

“Emily?”

As soon as he saw her, he shouted her name.

He went closer to her and touched her. He was healing her… but it did not work.

He then used his x-ray vision and saw something… she was dead. Her heart had stopped. Her brain had stopped working completely. The blood in her body was stopped. It seemed there was more than 1 person who came here because the other wounds were different.

The other wounds seemed like they were cut off by knife or force, but Emily did not have any wounds on her.

“No no no no no,” Nazar said this over and over again.

Before he knew it, he had created a white energy ball. The same one he used to revive Aria and 625 not long ago.

The energy ball touched her.

1 second passed.

2 seconds passed.

3 seconds passed.

4 Seconds passed.

5 seconds passed.

At that time, 001 and his parents found themselves in her bedroom too.

“What happened…?”

Mikasa said as she noticed something. Her daughter was not moving.

10 seconds passed.

She was not being resurrected. Why is not working on her?

Nazar created many energy balls and it touched her, but she was not coming back.

1 minute passed.

2 minutes passed.

“Why… why is not working?” Nazar muttered under his breath.

“Heal her.” 001 shouted.

“She… she is dead,” Nazar said in a tone that should he could not believe it himself.

“What…?” 001 shouted. “Then, resurrect her.”

“I… I am trying.”

Nazar’s eyes started to tear up.

“It’s not working...”

“What…?”

001 and his parents could not believe what they saw before their eyes. They were completely frozen in their place. They could not move even if they wanted to. Their eyes were teary.

A few more minutes passed.

(Why is it not working?)

He has been able to resurrect others before, so why is not working on her?

“Hey, don’t leave me alone,” Nazar said in trembling voice to his only friend that was lying down dead in front of him.

He then raised his voice.

“Damn it, don’t leave me alone,” Nazar said as he held Emily’s dead body as close as possible.

Nazar then created another energy ball and it was still ineffective.

For the first time in his life, he was actually crying.

Nazar had shed tears before, but for the very first time in his life, he actually unleashed all of his emotions and let it out. He did not keep it back.

“Arghhhhh” Nazar shouted.

As he shouted, the whole place started to crumble around him. It was disintegrating atom by atom.

He held Emily tight and could not believe what was in front of him.

“Who did this?”

There was no answer.

He did not get an answer, but he can get it from somewhere else. Their minds.

In their mind, he saw a speedster. A different speedster trying to kill them.

As Nazar saw that, he stopped crying. He laughed.

“Now, you have done it.”

He then stood up slowly and he was laughing slowly.

“I am going to kill every single one you,” Nazar said with trembling lips. He was still laughing like a maniac, but at the same time, he was crying. “I will kill every one of you thousands of times over and over.”

As he said that, he rocketed towards the sky, breaking through the roof of the house.

While the house was crumbling around them, the Jones family could not believe what was happening. They were frozen in their place.

And Nazar moved faster than light speed collecting everyone with superpowers. He knew that Internal Order’s superhumans were on the moon, besides 001. So, he did not need to worry if his own allies got caught in it.

All the thousands of superhumans heard was a laugh. A terrifying laugh before they found themselves in the middle of nowhere.

They were gathered in one place once more. They were in the middle of a desert.

THUD!!

Something landed. No, someone landed in front of them.

It was Nazar. His eyes were red and it was not because of his heat vision or another form of energy, but because he was angry and sad.

He looked at them and forced a smile with his trembling lips.

The Crimson Sword members did not know what was going on, but Nazar did not care.

“Who did it?” Nazar said with a voice that sounded like a half cry and half laugh.

The new superhumans who mysteriously got powers had no idea what was going on.

“...??”

Their faces showed confusion.

“If you don’t tell me, I will kill each and every one of you thousands of times.”

As Nazar said, most of them started to tremble.

Anna, who was the first new superhuman to meet with Nazar, was shaking in her boots.

As no one answered, Nazar, shot towards them like a rocket.

USA:

“Well, now they went and did it.”

A woman muttered to herself.

“I told them specifically to not touch his family and they went and did it anyway.”

There was no one else in the room with her. She was now in a 5-star hotel room in Las Vegas.

“I told them to keep him busy.”

She was sitting in an armchair.

“Why can't humans understand simple things?”

She was talking to herself. Her plans came to stop but she did not care because she did not sound angry.

“You give them powers and they think they are gods.”

She then stood up.

“What should I do now?”

She then walked closer to the glass wall of the room.

She sighed.

“If he really goes berserk, it is still possible my plan can come together.”

She then took a long pause.

“What is he really capable of?”

There was something weird about her face. She did not have a nose. She did not have eyes. She did not have a mouth but a voice was being produced.

“Oh, well. Whatever.”

She then vanished into thin air.

----------------------------------------------------

Vanaha Empire:

Kiet just landed in one of the battleships. He was in the same battleship as his father, Iket Xehz, the divine ruler of Vanaha Empire.

Kiet did not go to greet his father or tell anyone anything, he just went into an empty lab.

Once he entered the lab, there were so many weapons and computers. Those were the experimental weapons the Vanaha Empire had created for the war.

Right now, most of the fleet is on standby. They don’t want to attack Dulurian fleet because they have limited intel on their new battleships.

These weapons in the labs are created to fight the new and unknown threats.

Vanaha Empire can no longer use Angel Fall. The only advantage Iket have right now is his divine power.

“” Kiet muttered. “”

He picked up one of them. It looked like a rifle. However, when he checked the specs on the computer it showed that it can pierce a moon.

He picked up another one and it looked like a hand grenade. When he checked the specs, it said that it can manipulate gravity. Apparently, it can even rival Graviti, one of the Death 100 if a large amount of the weapons are used.

Another weapon that looked like a wristband was a portal gun.

Another weapon that looked like a small cannon launcher is able to produce enough destructive sonic power that it can destroy a mountain.

Another looked like a handgun. It had the ability to manipulate one’s emotions.

There were so many other weapons. Some of them have enough destructive power to allow one person to fight against an army all by themselves.

Kiet then tried to see if he could stop them from using the weapons. He wanted to miss something in the weapons, but he was teleported out.

He was now standing in front of his father, Iket.

“” Iket said as he looked at the monitor in front of him. He was monitoring the situation.

“”

Kiet was confused. He was confused about why his father not executed him straight away. He knows that his father is aware that Kiet is trying to betray him.

“”

Iket said that and the whole star system was now full of battleships. Battleships that belonged to Duluria Empire.

And just like that, the long awaited war between the two empires started. They have been waiting for this moment for thousands of years. They forced themselves into a false alliance, but now it is over.