Chapter 14

Chapter 14

[Ryu Mitsukai - 20 years old]
[Skylar Lawrence - 24 years old]
[Tezuka Kejinto - 20 years old]

It takes Tezuka about a minute before he gets over the shock, which then turns into anger. “W-what the hell?! You’re joking, right? It’s not even funny!”

“I’m sorry,” Zack says softly.

Tezuka’s scowl becomes even deeper. Although he and his father never got along very well since his mother died, he still cares deeply about him. After all, he is his only family. But they hadn’t spoken to each other since Tezuka joined the U.S. Army. If his father dies today, then that will be Tezuka’s biggest regret for not speaking to him at all. “You’re sorry?! That’s all you can say?!”

“Easy, there. My mother was killed as well,” Ryu says softly. “My brother found her dead.”

“Tezuka…” Sky glances sadly at his lavender-haired partner. “I think they are telling the truth. They saved our lives, didn’t they?”

Tezuka turns away from them, taking a good look at how much damage Hakai’s destruction energy had caused to the town. Hundreds of good civilians must have been killed today.

Normally, he wouldn’t really care about them because they were the enemy of the United States… but…

Why is he feeling sad and angry at the same time? He feels something touching his face cheek, so he puts up his hand to wipe it away.

Only to realize that it is a tear from one of his icy blue eyes.

“A-Akane…” He mumbles, unable to finish his question as he turns to Zack and the others.

“She is alive.” Ryu flashes a big grin at him. “We managed to get her out of the United States with Rosa.”

“Which is a good thing,” Zack adds. “They completely destroyed your house just a few hours after Akane left.”

Tezuka gives a sigh of relief. He glances at the hovering helicopter before he gives Ryu and Zack a determined stare. “I’m going with you then.”

~*~

Tezuka has been staring at the blue ocean below for the past fifteen minutes. He is trying to figure out the reason why Akane would be a target. Unless she is Chinese, there is no other reason to kill her. He can understand why his father would be targeted, but his wife? She may be snappy sometimes, but that cannot be enough to make any enemy.

And also… his father, Starke Kejinto, is the General. How is it even possible that he would get killed if he were not on the battlefield? In his own office?

“Hiya, Tezuka! My name is Clear!” The blonde-haired female pilot of the helicopter says cheerfully. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Gloomy! And… Sky… it’s nice to see you again.”

“What’s with the change in your tone?!” Sky nearly whines.

“You know each other?” Ryu asks in surprise.

“We will talk about it later when we get to the destination.” Zack interrupts them. “And, please do not say your real name at all…” He turns to Clear, “I thought you were supposed to know that?”

Clear shrugs her shoulders carelessly. “We are way out of the enemy range anyway.”

“Midnight will kick your ass if he ever finds out.” Sky warns her, only making her giggle.

Ignoring the argument between Clear and Sky, Ryu is more concerned with Tezuka than anything else. After all, hundreds of innocent citizens died today. With that much damage to a Japanese town, another country may get dragged into this senseless war against the United States. Also, they recently found out that Starke Kejinto is dead.

For some reason, Tezuka has not broken down or at least shed a tear at all. Instead, he looks like a zombie.

“Umm… I’m here if you need to talk,” Ryu places his hand on Tezuka’s shoulder, trying to comfort him. 

Even so, Tezuka hasn’t said a single word for the entire trip.

~*~

LOCATION OF 5-U
15 KILOMETERS SOUTHEAST OF
UBEDA, SPAIN

Tezuka raises an eyebrow at a lonely two-story building that looks to be abandoned. There is nothing here except some 10- or 12-feet tall trees. “That’s where your whole organization is?”

“We try to keep the number low, you know!” Zack places his fists on his hips, taking a good look at the building that looks about to collapse anytime soon. “We can’t have anybody telling someone on us!”

“Is it safe to go in?” Ryu asks almost nervously.

“Of course yes!” Clear jumps off the helicopter after turning it off and making sure that nothing is running anymore. She places her hand on Tezuka’s shoulder. “Just follow us! You know, pretty boy, Midnight is dying to meet you!”

“Who is Midnight?” Tezuka asks.

“Just follow us.” Zack smiles at them, as he opens the door to the nearly wrecked building. They are walking for a few feet until Zack stops suddenly. “Here we are. Nova?”

“Yes, sir!” Clear yells, quickly responding to her codename, as she gets down on her knees. She hastily locks her blonde hair up into a ponytail. She then presses on the floor lightly, which tiny part of it opens immediately to reveal a keypad. She enters a few digits until two digital words, ACCESS GRANTED, appear on the top of the keypad.

Suddenly, a secret door on the floor slides open immediately revealing clean and fancy green-glowing stairs. It reminds Tezuka and Ryu of some kind of trapdoor, only it functions differently.

When they get to the bottom of the stairs, they are standing in front of a see-through elevator. It looks like a glass elevator, but nothing can pierce through it. Not even a magnum’s bullet.

“What the hell is underneath that building…?” Tezuka asks.

“I built the whole thing, pretty boy! Amazing, isn’t it?!” Clear winks one of her hazel eyes. “I am the pilot and engineer of the 5-U!”

“We have a spaceship down there. We are on the way,” Zack says. He answers after he receives a puzzled look from Sky. “We have a problem trying to get out of Earth. The chains are in the way.”

“Wait, spaceship?” Ryu asks.

“Yes. We tried to leave the planet but we’re trapped because of the chains in the sky.” Zack chuckles lightly, scratching the back of his head. 

“Explain now, Sergeant,” Tezuka demands. “Now that Sky and I are deserters, thanks to you.”

“I am not Sergeant anymore. Not since…” Zack frowns, which is pretty unusual for him. At least that’s what Tezuka thinks.

“Since Forgotten was killed.” Clear finishes for him.

“W-what? Forgotten who?” Ryu asks.

“Danielle Medina. Your Lieutenant Colonel.” Clear crosses her arms with a light sigh. “She was the one who led you for your missions, wasn’t she? She was our spy for the Sunny Wing Squad.”

Tezuka and Ryu are completely speechless. Who would ever know a strong woman like Lt. Colonel Medina would get killed? What the hell is going on with the S.W.S?

How many more would get killed because of them?

“I-I had no idea,” Sky mutters quietly. “She… She was born on Planet Earth… I would never have thought that she would die on her own home planet…”

Before Tezuka and Ryu can ask any more questions, they jump startled at a loud beep, signaling them that they have arrived at their requested floor.

“Yo,” a man with messy blonde hair in Hawaiian shirt and blue jean shorts says, standing right in front of the elevator. “Welcome back -- I see that you brought three new guys --”

“I am not new, Atom!” Sky yells angrily. “I’m Starry! Remember?!”

“Oh, that’s correct.” ‘Atom’ rubs his rough chin in wonder. “It’s been almost three years, isn’t it?”

“His real name is Johnny Shiba. Atom is his codename,” Clear says. She turns to Johnny, “Where is Midnight?”

~*~

“You’re Midnight?!” Ryu exclaims in surprise.

Johnny brought Ryu and Tezuka to the bridge and then left them alone saying that he has some plumbing to do or something like that. Sky and Zack take off to a different room saying that they have stuff to do. 

Ryu is more than shocked to recognize a certain person whom he has known for his entire life.

Knapp laughs lightheartedly. “It’s nice to see you again, little brother!”

“That’s your brother?” Tezuka asks.

Ryu rubs his throbbing forehead. “You’re the leader? You never told me! You… you just told me to follow what Midnight said, according to the tablet you gave me!”

“Midnight and I are the same person. I just wanted to make sure that nobody was eavesdropping on us. So... Surprise!” Knapp smiles at him before he glances at Tezuka. He excitedly gets up and reaches out his hand. “Hello there, Tezuka Kejinto, the grandson of Kowareta Kejinto. I heard so much about you! I’m so happy to have finally met you!”

Tezuka glances at Ryu who shrugs his shoulders. He awkwardly shakes Knapp’s hand, “I-it’s nice to meet you, I guess.”

“Cut the crap.” Ryu snaps before he calms down. “What’s going on? What is it that we do not know?”

“I suppose we go back to the beginning, now that we are in my own spaceship,” Knapp jerks his head toward Tezuka. “We are a secret organization called 5-U. My name is Knapp Mitsukai, known as Midnight. I am the Universe Warrior, chosen by the Fifth Universe. That makes me the leader of 5-U. Our job is to hunt down aliens who harm the universe and send them back to their original universes… But something is happening to Planet Earth, so we came back here to help Earth.”

“Fifth Universe?” Tezuka asks. “It… It can speak to you? How is it possible?”

“Long time ago, there were two Gods who created an universe together, which is now called the Fifth Universe. But then they died a thousand years ago, so we don’t really have anybody to watch over the universe since then, so sometimes it reaches out for our help when it feels threatened. That’s why we are here in the first place. See what is happening to Planet Earth?” Knapp inputs several digits on the control panel, making a hologram of Planet Earth. “You may not see the chains from the sky but they are really there…”

Suddenly, large and thick chains appear, wrapping around the Earth completely. “When we first heard about the chains, we would never have thought that there would be one survivor from Planet Lock, really far away in a different galaxy. We, including Double God, thought that the Lockers were wiped out hundreds of years ago. Somehow, he managed to survive and sneak into Planet Earth.”

“Wait, Breakers?” Tezuka frowns in confusion.

“Your grandfather Kowareta was one of the Breakers.” Knapp sits back down on his chair. “Gotsu Mitsukai, our grandfather, was another Breaker as well. What a fate, isn’t it… seeing how Mitsukai and Kejinto met once again?”

“I… My father never told me…” Tezuka mumbles softly before a realization hits him. “Of course not… I would never believe that.” Because I was a little stupid punk who refused to listen to his father back then.

Ryu places his hand on Tezuka’s stumped shoulder with a small smile. “I didn’t know that either. I was told that my grandfather died for as long as I could remember. I would never believe it either even if they told me..”

“So we know for sure that the Locker is here somewhere on this planet. We have to find him at any cost,” Knapp says.

“B-but what about the Breakers? Shouldn’t they be coming here? If they defeated the Lockers before, then they could do it again!” Tezuka asks.

Knapp looks away from Tezuka sadly. “They are dead. They’ve been dead for the last twenty years. When they defeated the Lockers in 2021, they sacrificed their lives to save the universe.”

“Wait a minute.” Ryu blinks in surprise at the new information. “2021? That means… The Nuclear War started a year later.”

“Correct.” Knapp gets up from his chair, moving a little closer to Ryu and Tezuka. “That is the reason why we are all here together. That’s what Double God and Fifth Universe want. The Locker sneaked into the United States and managed to fire a missile at the west coast. Not only did he do that but also he gained allies from other countries, claiming that one day the Fall of the Moon would occur if the wars were not to be over. That’s how he created a new terrorist organization called Big Five.”

And so, Knapp was explaining to Tezuka about the Big Five. 

~*~

“Wow, you took forever!” Sky exclaims, as he leans backward into a comfortable large chair. “How was -- Ack!”

He quickly ducks down just before a knife stabs him but ends up stabbing the chair instead. “Wah! What did I do?!”

“That’s for not telling us that you are already in the 5-U way before you joined S.W.S!” Tezuka snaps at him. “You had been serving the country with us for a few years just so you could keep an eye on us?!”

“Knapp said that you’re also not from this planet,” Ryu says softly. “What else did you lie to us about?”

Sky scratches the back of his head nervously. “W-well… The truth is… I didn’t grow up in Mexico, Maine… I’m from Planet Lune.”

“So, Planet Lune, eh? Full of healers, isn’t it?” Tezuka rubs his chin with closed eyes thoughtfully. “Didn’t you say that Double God granted you the power of healing?”

“A-actually, yes! He granted every single person in this universe with at least one power! Your own energies had been sleeping inside you until you were touched by Double God, who then awakened your powers.”

Tezuka scoffs at him. “Why would he want to --”

“Double God knows everything in the universe!” Sky exclaims both nervously and excitedly. “He saved your lives, didn’t he?! You were supposed to be dead, but now that he decided to delay your death, everything changed both in the past and future!”

“We were supposed to be dead?” Ryu asks softly.

“Tezuka was supposed to die in China! And you.” Sky points his shaking finger at Ryu, “You were supposed to die in France! You were both shot in the heads!”

“Slow down!” Tezuka quickly grabs Sky’s shoulders, trying to calm him down. “Ok, fine. We believe you. We were just… upset that you didn’t trust us in the first place.”

“Knapp asked us to keep everything from you,” Sky says softly, looking down at the floor and trying to avoid any eye contact. “He said it was for the Fifth Universe’s sake.”

“W...Who are you exactly?” Ryu asks.

“That’s enough for today,” Zack laughs lightly, as he enters the cabin room. “It’s getting late. You better hit the shower and go to bed as soon as possible. We are getting up early tomorrow for training for our next mission!”

Tezuka lets go of Sky, who rubs his sore shoulders. As he walks past Zack, he whispers but loud enough for Sky to hear him, “Skylar, I don’t really care about Double God, 5-U, and Big Five… All I really needed was a comrade.”

“I --” Sky is interrupted.

“But you were never there for us,” Tezuka steps out of the cabin room, followed by Ryu.