2 - Shadow Agent

[SEPTEMBER 2, 2024; CALIFORNIA]

“So anyway, I told ‘em, how are you gonna even get into this city without a passport?!” The old man yelled, slapping his hand on the cafe’s old wooden table and laughing to his heart’s content. “I called him a filthy soulful and denied him!”

“No hesitation at all, damn!” His colleague said, taking a sip of his mug of coffee. Already, the bunch were both annoying everyone in the establishment with their loud noises, but simultaneously telling stories the conclusions and narratives of which most agreed with.

“What do you think, Taker?” The man asked, finally putting an end to his corrosive laugh.

“So you’re telling me that you’re denying fleeing soulfuls passports...because they’re soulfuls?” The man named Taker, a prominent anti-soulful politician, asked. A moment later, he let out a light chuckle. “Fine job.”

“So uhh.. About that...” the old man continued, munching down on his pack of fries. “Ya think you could get me a spot?”

“A spot?” Taker asked.

“You see, Mr. Brye B. Taker, ole’ gramps here wants to work in the humanitarian resources department.” The colleague clarified. “He looks like a wrinkled bag of shit, but he’s as hateful and ruthless as can be. I think he’ll nail the job. Recommended for the position by Kid D. Toucher himself, one of the biggest business wolves of the movie industry.”

“Damn right!” He yelled, slapping the table once more. In the background, the local news station was busy broadcasting yet another political debate. “I’ll keep soulful scum in check, and eventually, get them to be homeless for good.”

“Quite ambitious.” Taker said.

“So, what do you say?” The latter asked in excitement. “Come on, I raised your nephew and turned him into a damn awesome historian. And a soulful-hating activist!”

“Excuse me, would you like me to bring more drinks?” They were approached by a man that acted as if he worked there.

“Boy, don’t you see us talking?” The ambitious passport office worker exclaimed. “Get lost.”

“That’s no way to talk to workers.” Taker sighed, disappointed, brushing some dust off of his dark blue suit. Seizing the opportunity to perform a heart-moving speech, he turned to face the young man. “You, my dear comrade. Have you felt anxious, or in danger, in the past few weeks?”

“Huh?” The worker seemed surprised.

“They say that the toxic effects of the soulfuls on society are what cause those feelings.” Taker continued, standing up and raising his voice. “Everyone! Hear the voice of reason!”

“Huh?”

“This young man is a victim of the terror imposed to us by soulfuls. Those terrorist scum that know nothing but terror and devastation, who deserve no place in our country or our world.” Taker said. “With the upcoming uncertain times, those of you that chose to coexist with soulfuls will come to solely regret it. I, Mark Taker, solemnly swear to...”

“Ah, fuck it.”

“I guess we’re going loud.”

The young man quickly summoned a katana in his hand, and used to decapitate Taker in one swift motion. The crowd screamed in terror, most of them hiding or trying to leave the shop. Taker’s motionless body fell on the ground, as his suit became engulfed in a dark shade of red.

“Y-y-you damn soulful!” The old man exclaimed, reaching for his handgun. The soulful was faster, stabbing him in the chest, and afterwards the throat. Their colleague tried to run away and grab his phone, but was also intercepted and stabbed. Amidst the terror, the soulful grabbed his phone and made a call.

“Oi, Jackal. I got Taker. Going loud.”

“Coulda told me earlier, Yuta!” Jackal replied. He himself was in turmoil, hiding behind a car that was flipped over and being shot at. But he didn’t seem to be bothered by it at all. “They caught us with Reinman.”

“Need backup?” Yuta asked.

“You’re asking me if I need backup? For real?” Jackal responded, seemingly excited. “Now that the cover’s blown, I might even get to show off a little.” He hung the phone.

“Ay, Jackal!” The guy hiding next to him exclaimed. He held his submachine gun tightly in his hands, and occasionally peeked out to fire off the entourage of police cars. “What you gon’ do?!”

“You didn’t hear?” Jackal replied, raising his right arm to his side. “Imma show off a little, Q.”

The shadow beneath his arm phased out of the ground and became a black energy-like substance, resembling ink that was flowing across a piece of paper. It transformed itself into a powerful slashing attack which broke three of the five police cars around them. He quickly clasped his hands together. The small shadow that formed in his palms would form an arrow that was fired off at the policemen.

“It’s a damn soulful!” The officer yelled, as the black arrow pierced his stomach and dropped him on the ground. “Call for backup!”

“What backup? You want more of us to get killed?!” The officer next to him said, promptly before getting headshot by another arrow.

“Hang tight!” Jackal commanded his friend with a grin. Before he could even hear an answer, he accumulated the shadows nearby and formed a giant snake that devoured both him and his friend. The beast rushed at the officers and slammed itself on their vehicles. Q seemed confused, and tried his hardest to regain his footing as he was released from the beast’s mouth. Jackal was having the time of his life, creating a pair of sables with his shadows and using them to kill the officers one by one.

“Next time let me know if you was gon’ do something this crazy!” Q yelled. The cars’ sirens were still whaling, but there was no more gunfire.

“I told you to hang tight. What else did ya want?” Jackal replied. “Find a getaway vehicle.”

“Huh?” Q asked. “Can’t you just use your shadows?”

“Come on, that’s too easy. I always wanted to be in a car chase.” Jackal responded, with Q looking both upset and disappointed. To be fair, he was already used to things like this happening. “Just find a damn vehicle. Anything with wheels works.”

“How ‘bout this one?” Q said, pointing at a rather expensive looking car in the distance.

“Why am I not surprised you picked exactly that model?” Jackal sighed. Q seemed upset at that joke.

The two quickly broke in and gained control of the vehicle. Driving it at full speed, they hopped onto the highway where they once again could hear the distant symphony of sirens.

“Q, keep your ass on the wheel.” Jackal said, leaning out of the window. “I’ll cut the tail off.”

“Right.” Q said, focusing on the road and pressing the gas pedal with even more force. The incoming wind blessed his notable dreads with a gentle dance - a stark contrast to his tense expression. He was a dark-skinned lad with brown eyes and was Jackal’s good friend.

“Bring it on!” Jackal yelled, the wind rampaging through his black hair and caressing his pale skin. His eyes were open wide with excitement, revealing to the world his red irises. The shadow on their car’s tail transformed into yet another slashing attack that destroyed one of the vehicles chasing them. The vehicle exploded, the flaming debris crashing into the other vehicle that also lost its course.

“You got ‘em off?” Q asked, barely keeping the speeding vehicle together, avoiding the traffic on the way.

“You’re doubting me?” Jackal asked, before hearing a much more dreadful sound. But danger like this only fed his excitement. Q seemed terrified.

“They sent a fuckin’ chopper after us?!” Q exclaimed. He tried to speed up further, but it was impossible to go any faster while keeping the vehicle controllable.

“The fuck are you breaking the car for?” Jackal asked, kicking Q. “Slow down, keep it steady. I’ll deal with the chopper.”

The helicopter chased after them, both recording the chase and broadcasting it, and trying to intimidate the culprits to forfeit their escape. Jackal jumped out of the car, using his own shadow to propel himself upwards.

“What’s wrong with that psycho?” Q asked himself, continuing to steadily drive.

“Let’s see.” Jackal thought, observing the predicament with a grin on his face.

“Where can I get enough from? I guess the chopper’s own shadow should provide enough.”

“Or...”

With a bloodlusted smile, Jackal leapt away from the car and kept himself in the air thanks to a pair of shadow wings. He rushed at the chopper and unleashed a pair of soul prowess releases with his sables, cutting off the chopper’s rotors. Its shadow formed itself into a giant hand which grabbed the aerial vehicle and threw it at the second second wave of incoming police cars - destroying everything. Content with his achievement, he slipped into the shadows...

...

“I didn’t get tailed after this...” Q exhaled rapidly, the adrenaline finally being extinguished in his body. He stopped his vehicle in a more remote district.

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“I can see that you didn’t.” Jackal said, emerging from the shadow of a nearby electricity pole. The sudden appearance scared Q.

“That’s...the list done, right?” Q asked.

“For today, yeah. Taker and Reinman were the two most obnoxious ones. Shoutout to Yuta for taking care of the shitbag.” Jackal sighed, stretching. “If more of them pop up, we’ll just kill them.”

“We almost fuckin’ died!” Q exclaimed.

“We? Who is ‘we’ exactly?” Jackal asked. “I didn’t even break a sweat, I was having fun. They’re all soulless. None of them pose a risk.”

“You can say that, I can’t.” Q complained. “A piece of lead that’s fast enough can put my lights out with no issue.”

“And you think I’ll let any lead come close to you?” Jackal said, playfully slapping Q at the back of his neck. “Down to grab some food?”

“All that, and you’re tryna get food?” Q sighed. “Fine. But only if you pay.”

“I always pay.” Jackal said. “Thanks to my never-ending payment method called ‘intimidation’”

“Y’know, how long are we gonna do this for?” Q asked.

“Until all of them are gone.” Jackal said. “I hate politics, but this stuff is gonna destroy our lives if it goes through. They hate soulfuls.”

“And your plan of action is to keep killing ‘em?” Q asked. “I get it, they’re assholes, but...are there any other methods maybe?”

“Nah.” Jackal said. “This is the universal language. Everybody understands you once you have a knife at their throat, all their money, their political bullshit, connections, whatever, all of that becomes irrelevant. Easiest way to remove someone as obnoxious as a politician, especially one that wants to lock you up for no reason.”

“But why even bother killing them?”

“Oh for fuck sake, I thought I explained that stuff to you already.” Jackal grunted. “I’m a soulful, Q. I don’t have the privileges that you do right now. As a matter of fact, if I don’t go around purging those cunts, I’ll lose my freedom.” Jackal sighed. “They want our blood, Q. They want to lock us up and live their happy lives. Especially now since the elemental group got wiped off. They’re not just angry, they’re angry and scared!”

“Didn’t he die fighting some soulfuls in Tokyo?” Q asked.

“Yeah. I’m surprised you know.”

“Yuta told me a few details. He ain’t told you?” Q seemed surprised.

“Nah.” Jackal said. “Did he drop any names? Who killed Diego?”

“Some guy called Sakuto Hitori, that’s the name recorded in the GSC’s database.” Q answered. “He looked like he didn't want to spill the name too. And apparently he died and came back to life.”

“Huh...” Jackal thought to himself. “Why’d Diego get into a feud anyways?”

“Yuta said it was due to personal reasons.” Q replied.

“For real?” Jackal seemed fascinated. “Coming back from the dead? Killing someone like Diego for personal reasons? Heh...”

“There’s people like that out there? Damn...”

“Abandoning the long-term thinking, and just going for it...doing as you want...”

“Just who is this Sakuto guy?”

[TOKYO]

Once it was time for the fateful meeting, Sakuto seemed exceedingly paranoid. Although words of affirmation from his friends did help him ease his stress a little, he still kept himself on high alert. Strolling through the empty streets, eventually, he made his way to the GSC’s main headquarters. The security instantly recognized him.

“You’re Sakuto Hitori?” one of the guards asked, approaching him.

“Yes.” Sakuto coldly replied. His hand was prepared to summon his blade at any moment.

“Please wait for a moment.” The guard relayed, before grabbing his radio and speaking into it. “He’s here.”

A minute or so later, a more formally dressed officer exited the large glass-and-concrete building’s main entrance. He slowly approached Sakuto.

“Greetings, I’m the head security manager of the area.” The man introduced himself. “Please follow me.”

The two went on. From the minimalistically decorated hallways to the fancy modern elevator, Sakuto felt a certain cold around him. He could, at certain parts of the building, see the unfinished repairs. Eventually, he made his way to a place that few have seen with their eyes.

“Please, do wait for Mr Kamiki to arrive.” The officer said, welcoming Sakuto into the office, and shutting the door on him. Sakuto took his time to absorb and analyze the surroundings, even preparing for scenarios where he had to fight or flee.

“Is he going to attack me for killing Diego?”

“Ah, shit...Hayk even told me that this guy’s not possible to fight.”

“Whatever, I’ll just...” A sudden realization struck him. He accepted that he should probably stop thinking that way.

“Nah, I can’t die just yet.”

He laughed at himself for a second.

“I’d never think some girl would convince me to cling onto life.”

His thoughts, however, would quickly be broken apart, shredded to pieces and abandoned for the time being. He felt slightly overwhelmed by a presence entering the room, it wasn’t the intensity of the presence that caught him off guard so badly, but more so the nature. It felt superior, complex...almost divine.

“Please forgive my late arrival.” Kaito said, entering the room and locking the doors behind him. “I could sense that you were anxious due to your soul presence.”

“It’s...fine.” Sakuto reluctantly said, taking a step back.

“He sensed my soul presence changing? I thought I’d gotten better at concealing it...”

“Now then, allow me to formally introduce myself. I’m Kaito Kamiki, the head of the GSC.” Kaito said, slowly raising his head, looking into Sakuto’s empty eyes.

“I’m curious...what are his capabilities?”

“If he was strong enough to defeat Diego after being a soulful for just a short while, he must possess great potential...”

“Let me take a look.”

His abyssal eyes sparked for a moment. But another moment later, he was taken by shock, even taking a step back. His analysis revealed to him the extent of Sakuto’s power, but even it couldn’t determine the accurate description of his potential. All he saw was a gray canvas, with vibrant colors slowly seeping through in the form of lonesome beams of lights.

“Holy...shit...”

“What in the world...?”

“Mr. Kamiki?” Sakuto asked, confused. “I’m sorry if...I did...something wrong?”

“Ah, forgive me.” Kaito hastily replied. Regaining his composure and heading for his seat. “It took me a while to correctly analyze your soul presence. It’s...quite an unusual one.”

“Others tell me it’s scary.” Sakuto said. “No idea what that is supposed to mean, though.”

“It might be scary because it is so unusual.” Kaito explained. “It’s riddled with complexities and is beautiful in its own way. Please be at ease and take a seat.” Kaito said with a smile, making himself comfortable at his desk.

“I thought this whole thing was about killing me.” Sakuto said, sitting down by Kaito’s table. “Since, you know, I’m a terrorist.”

“If I truly wanted to kill you, I would’ve done so a while ago. The same is true for all of your associates, Hayk Nakama included.” Kaito replied. “This is about us sharing a conversation, and me telling you the extent of what you did.”

“Feel free to scold me, I guess.” Sakuto sighed.

“Sakuto Hitori, you have royally fucked over every soulful there is.” Kaito said, pouring himself a glass of water, before pouring some into the glass close to Sakuto. “The elementals and their public image were absolutely important to the soulful cause.”

“I killed them in self defense.” Sakuto said.

“That doesn’t mean we are unfucked.” Kaito sharply replied. “Let me explain to you the extent of their relevance. The reason Diego and his group were useful was not to act as a peacekeeping or combat force. It was to win over the public’s opinion.”

“Huh?” Sakuto seemed confused, but slowly, he began processing the picture.

“It...kinda makes sense...”

“As you know, the overwhelming majority of the world’s population consists of the soulless.” Kaito said. “Most soulfuls are simply soulfuls by definition, and they cannot bring out their soul expressions or have them be as strong as mine or yours. That does not make them a liability, they are as soulful as every soulful there is. But it makes them susceptible to attacks. If a conflict were to break out between the soulless and the soulful, only the strongest soulfuls would survive, with the rest of civilization collapsing.”

“And Diego’s job was what exactly?” Sakuto asked.

“The soulless are easy to sway and manipulate. By having them act as a group of saviours and fuel the soulless with dopamine or adoration, there was a chance to change radical opinions into ideas of coexistence.”

“That makes sense.” Sakuto said.

“Now, Sakuto, how do you think the situation is now that you removed Diego out of the equation?” Kaito asked, taking a sip from the cold glass.

“Let me guess, the soulless hate us?”

“Have you been following the news?” Kaito asked.

“Yes. I know about the election in America. One of the parties is extremely anti-soulful.” Sakuto replied as if a teacher asked him to retell the homework text. “It makes sense considering what happened here.”

“That place is the heart of the modern globalized world. Coincidentally enough, it is also the stronghold I am responsible for.” Kaito explained. “The current government is neutral to soulfuls, but due to ill timing, the election’s date cuts short the time we could’ve used to regain the vote of the soulless.”

“So?” Sakuto asked. “You’re gonna kill the opposition? Why are you even telling me this?”

“Killing the opposition would only result in more hate, and a direct threat of war from the soulless. Keep in mind what I told you about such a conflict.” Kaito elaborated. “I’ll reveal the main information now. Sakuto Hitori, as per my agreement with Hayk Nakama, you and all of your allies are to join the Heisei as members of the secondary division.”

“H-huh?” Sakuto seemed shocked.

“Take this deal for multiple things. One, this is your atonement for placing me in such an undesirable position. Two, this is a chance for you to grow as a soulful. Three, this is an opportunity to unify our forces, and fight the soulfuls’ true enemy.”

“Four, soldiers like you come once in a millennia.”

“Right...” Sakuto sighed.

“Shit...what do I even say? Can I even say something?!”

“...”

“Enemy...?”

“Mr. Kamiki.” Sakuto said. “The soulfuls’...true enemy?”

“Do you not share the opinion that us, soulfuls, have only been troubled by the soulless?” Kaito asked, curious.

“I don’t really like them, I guess.” Sakuto said. “They seem much more bland and ignorant compared to the soulfuls. To be fair, I don’t know how much longer I would last in their environment before going insane.”

“Would you say that the two sides can coexist?” Kaito asked.

“Well-”

Sakuto paused for a moment, remembering the difference between the treatment he got from both sides.

“I think they’re too different.” Sakuto sighed.

“Right.” Kaito smiled. “I’ve taken a great interest in you, Sakuto. I believe we can work very well together.”

“You’re overly positive.” Sakuto said. Kaito smirked at that remark.

“Anyhow, you should start packing your luggage. You have around half a day to do so.” Kaito said.“We’re sending you to America.”