Chapter 11 "Sybil Magus"
Chapter 11
Sybil Magnus
YEAR 2045
[Knapp Mitsukai - Midnight]
[Sybil Magnus - Timeless]
[Danielle Medina - Forgotten]
[Logy Oib - Silent]
[Clear Dawn - Nova]
[Zack Kyota - Void]
[Jade Wolf - Gravity]
[Johnny Shiba - Atom]
[Skylar Lawrence - Starry]
“Wait, what? Why are they sending them to China?” Knapp frowns in confusion. “China has nothing to do with the war.”
“Midnight, I talked to Colonel Alvarez about it. He told me that it was an order from a higher rank. I’d think it was either a General or President… but… the problem is that according to the CIA's reports, they barely did anything for the war,” Danielle says through the radio.
“It sounds fishy,” Clear raises an eyebrow. “If I recall correctly, you mentioned that the Locker fought your grandfather a long time ago.”
“I hope my brother didn’t get discovered just because he shares the same last name with my grandfather,” Knapp shakes his head. “Forgotten, keep doing as they say. If they send my brother and others to China, then we can find out more over there.”
“So, who’s going to China?” Zack joins the conversation.
“I’m taking Silent with me to China. Gravity and Atom are in South Korea right now, waiting for my signal. It looks like they will wait a little longer.”
“But there are no space pods --” Clear is interrupted.
“Take the entire spaceship to Earth,” Knapp smirks. He turns back to the radio and asks, “Forgotten, can you please send a message to Nova for the destination for the spaceship to land?”
“We are going to Earth?” Sybil asks, almost in excitement.
“Yes,” Knapp says. “We’ve been staying out here long enough.”
~*~
After the spaceship lands on the empty field about fifteen kilometers southeast of Ubeda, Spain. It’s basically a desert, so it is rare that anybody comes across this area.
“Now I need to figure out how to hide this spaceship,” Clear says as she stretches out her arms after they get off the spaceship. She asks almost jokingly, “Should we dig a huge hole and put the spaceship in it?”
“Why not?” Knapp laughs lightheartedly. “Just kidding! We won’t be too long though. Logy is on the way here right now… and then we will go to China together.”
“Knapp?” Sybil asks softly. “Clear… if you want to listen too.”
“What is it?” Clear asks worriedly.
“I think I had a vision a few weeks ago, but I didn’t want to tell you until I was one hundred percent sure,” Sybil mumbles. “There… I don’t know who, but… I saw a bullet hole in someone’s forehead. I tried to figure out whose head it was, but… I saw that he had black hair.”
“Shit,” Clear says softly as she glances at Knapp. “It’s probably either Jade, Zack, Knapp, or… perhaps, Ryu?”
“It’s not only one who will probably die in the future. I… I saw three more deaths. One got hit by lightning power.”
“What?” Clear blinks in surprise.
“I don’t know if it’s your power,” Sybil shakes his head, her pink eyes filling up with tears. “It’s so hard to tell. The third person… got burned to death. It’s a woman… I don’t know… And lastly, I saw so much blood, but I don’t know whose blood it was…”
“Your visions are getting more and more vague every time,” Knapp frowns. He wraps his arms around Sybil’s trembling body. “Shh, it’s going to be ok. None of us will die, ok? You’re probably seeing the visions of our enemies’ deaths.”
“Y-yeah…” Sybil says softly. “How soon will you be back?”
“A few days.”
~*~
“What is this? Research lab?” Ryu blinks in confusion. “Are we in the right place?”
He, Tezuka, and Sky are standing in the room full of many scientists, engineers, technicians, and other employees either walking or running around, entering and leaving the room.
“Yes,” Danielle smiles at them as she approaches them. She adjusts her fake glasses as she says, “Except it is not the research lab. It is a cover-up for any unwelcome visitors. Welcome to the Arena S.W.S…”
She takes off her glasses as she continues, “I am Lieutenant Colonel Medina. Please follow me.”
She leads the new team to her own office. “Please have a seat. As you already know, the employees here are working for Colonel Alvarez. First of all, you will need double lives. Tezuka Kejinto?”
“Yes?” Tezuka asks.
“Just in case anyone asks… As your cover, you serve in the Delta Force. But here, you are called Falcon and serve the Sunny Wild Squad or S.W.S. And you, Ryu Mitsukai, are the pilot for the U.S. Army. And Skylar Lawrence, you work at the hospital as a nurse.”
“Why am I a nurse?!” Skylar whines, as two other soldiers snicker in amusement.
“Becoming a doctor requires a lot of years, and you look too young. So, I think being a nurse fits you better. Just consider it as ‘training’ to become the future doctor,” Lt. Colonel Medina smiles at him.
“So, the fake jobs will be our covers, right?” Ryu asks.
“Correct,” Danielle takes the files out of a filing cabinet behind her table. “Colonel Alvarez instructed me to provide you with the evidence. Please take a look at the purchase list from one of the weapon stores.”
~*~
“Why long face?” Zack asks worriedly after he takes a sip of a lager beer. “Are you worried about sending them to China?”
“There has to be something… that’s going on…” Danielle mumbles and places her head on her hand, supported by her elbow on the table. She whirls a red straw around in her marginatas glass.
“It will be ok. That’s why Midnight and Silent are heading over there as well,” Zack places his hand on Danielle’s. “Besides, it will be a perfect opportunity to catch someone if they are spying on Sky and others.”
“Hey, Danielle? Is that you?” A man comes up to their table. “Don’t you remember me? I’m Bob from high school! I can’t believe that you’re here!”
Danielle sighs lightly as she gets up. “Yes, it’s me. Do you want to see my magic trick?”
“Sure!”
She places her hand on the man’s head. She says, “Forget.”
“...Huh? Who are you? Why is your hand on my head?” The man blinks in confusion. “You look familiar… Do I know you?”
“No, you freaked out and asked me if there was a spider in your hair,” Danielle says cheerfully. “But there’s no spider.”
“Really? Oh, okay, then…” The man scratches the back of his head, still confused. “Thank you…”
“Sometimes I wonder if you ever made me forget something… That’s a little scary,” Zack chuckles softly after the confused man leaves.
“No…” Danielle says softly. “But ever since I started working for the CIA, I had no choice but to make my entire family forget that I existed. I… I took all the pictures and all the belongings that I gave them growing up... and I burned them.”
“I’m so sorry…”
“It’s ok. Sometimes I check on them.” She shakes his head and smiles at him. “I’m just glad to work with you and the Dark Team. You’re like a family to me.”
~*~
“Can you read their minds this far?” Knapp asks in sign language. He and Logy are sitting on the thick branch of a large tree, facing a small warrior village. He holds up his binoscope, trying to find something unusual but all he finds are Chinese soldiers sitting around and countless cargos.
Logy shrugs his shoulders. “They are thinking in Chinese. So, I don’t know.”
“Dammit!” Knapp gets up and then leans against the bark of the tree. He furrows his eyebrows in concentration. Should we get into the base? To see if we can find something worth investigating?
“Oh wait. I hear someone thinking in English,” Logy says.
“What?!” Knapp exclaims in relief. “Who is it?!”
“Never mind. That’s Starry screaming that he wants his banana back." The deaf warrior sweatdrops. “He should be coming… this way. No… wait…”
He quickly turns around and says, “Someone else is coming this way too! And she… she is coming to kill the American soldiers!”
Knapp scowls deeper. “So, that’s why they sent them here. There is at least one traitor in the Sunny Wild Squad. That’s why… my father died… It’s because of them! And now, my brother could have met his fate!”
They quickly leap off the branch and start running through the dark forest. Logy manages to keep up with Knapp’s nearly superhuman speed. Clear suspects that it’s because of Logy being Fantasian. She has read somewhere that Fantasian can go way beyond their limit if they want to. Logy is the living proof of that.
Knapp senses a fast approaching presence and then waves furiously at Logy. He points his finger at the sky and says in sign language, “She’s flying!”
He quickly jumps into the air until he is hovering in the sky. A woman with short brown hair and dark brown eyes quickly stops flying in front of him with a confused look on her face because he suddenly comes up out of nowhere.
“Who the hell are you?” She asks.
“Midnight,” Knapp smirks as he crosses his arms. “We knew you were coming to kill the American soldiers. Why?”
The woman scowls. “What…? How the hell did you know?”
The Universe Warrior grins widely at the question. “We are here to stop you… and your friends… including the Locker.”
She flinches at the mention of the Locker.
“Do you know where the Locker is right now?” Knapp asks as he briefly shifts his eyes toward Logy who is still hiding in the shadows of the forest. Now’s your chance to read her mind…! Once we know where he is… it’s all over for him!
“Ow, ow, ow!” Sky cries as he is trying to get a monkey off him. The monkey keeps clawing at him. “All I want is my banana back!”
“It’s him!” The woman laughs loudly as she launches himself toward Sky.
“Sky!” Knapp cries and then quickly goes after her.
Logy quickly tackles Sky to the ground. The woman barely misses him and quickly stops herself sliding across the field.
“T-thanks,” Sky mutters with sign language.
Knapp sighs in relief as he lands his feet safely on the ground. He turns to the female foe and asks, “Now… who is the Locker?”
She chuckles lightly as she says, “Sorry, I don’t know where he is right now. He is basically everywhere. Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you either!” She points a forefinger at Sky as she continues, “Besides… that’s the guy I am supposed to kill.”
“Why me?!” Sky cries.
“Even if you’re just a medical specialist… you’re a huge aid to Tezuka and Ryu in the future. At least that’s what I was told.”
Knapp narrows his dark brown eyes at the remark. “Future, huh? Do you have a fortune teller or a time traveller?”
“Time traveller,” Logy tells him right away.
“What?” The woman asks in surprise. “How did he know?”
“And her name is Rin,” the deaf guy continues after reading her mind.
“What about the Locker?” Knapp asks.
Logy shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head. “She was telling the truth. She doesn’t know where he is. Not even she knows his name… or rather, she does not know which one is the Locker.”
“Shit…” Knapp mumbles. He looks back at Rin and says, “You’re coming with us. You are going to tell us… information about the S.W.S.”
“Over my dead body!” Rin yells as she swings her arm, sending a strong gust of wind at Knapp. The Universe Warrior is standing there, expecting to take it all without feeling the pain.
Instead, he suddenly gets impacted and then sent flying through the air. What…?
“Midnight!” Logy cries.
“H-how… How did she hit him?” Sky asks in shock. “Isn’t he… you know!”
After he hits the ground, Knapp coughs out blood. His shirt feels very soaked. He blinks in surprise when he realizes that his stomach is bleeding. But why? Ain’t I supposed to be the Universe Warrior?
“Heal him! I’m going to take care of her!” Logy shouts.
“Y-yes!” Sky runs toward Knapp and places his hand on his stomach, starting the healing process. “Are you ok?”
“Y-yeah… It’s been a long time since I experienced pain like this,” Knapp chuckles lightly. “But… What is happening to me? Why… Why did it hit me? Isn’t my universe energy supposed to protect --”
It hits him hard. He realizes that Kawaii has been getting weaker and weaker because of the chains all over the blue planet. The fact that his universe energy is completely gone means…
“Oh shit!” He cries.
“D-don’t move!” Sky exclaims, startled by Knapp’s sudden outburst.
“What am I supposed to do?! Am I… Am I… powerless now?”
“No, you are not! You’re just panicking only because she managed to hit you. You’re fine right now. See? Your wound is closed, and you stopped bleeding,” Sky tries to give him a smile. “Let’s help Logy, should we?”
“Y-yeah,” Knapp says as he proceeds to get up. Only to stumble over suddenly but get caught by Sky.
“Are you ok?” Sky asks worriedly.
“Yeah…” Knapp frowns. His body feels so heavy all of sudden. He gives him a nod and then Sky lets go of him carefully. He manages to stand still and then makes a few steps without falling.
He looks up at the battle between Logy and Rin only to flinch. He cannot even see their movements at all. It is as if Logy and Rin are constantly vanishing to a different place every time.
“Knapp?” Sky asks.
Knapp grabs his own head as his breathing starts to speed up every second. He is breathing hysterically as if he is having a panic attack. Has Earth been completely locked up? Is he no longer the Universe Warrior? If he loses the power of the universe, how is he supposed to fight and save the Earth? Can he come and see Kawaii? Is… Is Kawaii even ok?
The old memories of being a lonely child who does not know who he is and does not have any friends suddenly come rushing back into his head. The only one who has always kept him going is…
“Ryu…” Knapp says softly as he puts down his hands, which turn into fists.
“Shit!” Rin curses loudly as she and Logy land safely on their feet just a few feet away from each other. She lifts herself into the air as a gust of wind carries her higher and higher. She suddenly throws a slash of wind not at Logy but towards Knapp.
“Knapp!” Sky cries as he jumps in front of the leader of the Dark Team. He gets blasted by a powerful gust of wind and then crashes into Knapp.
“Sky!” Logy shouts in concern as he turns around. Just a few seconds later, he looks back up only to realize that Rin is completely gone.
“Sky? Please wake up!” Knapp starts shaking the unconscious healer’s shoulder. Sky’s head is bleeding. He clenches his jaw in frustration. “It… It’s my fault.”
“N-no…” Sky groans as he opens his eyes. “You need to leave Earth right now. You’re losing universe energy. I’m hoping that Earth is not completely locked yet. I will be fine. I can always heal myself.”
“But…” Knapp gets interrupted when Logy grabs his arm, pulling him back to his feet. “You got injured. What about Tezuka and Ryu --”
“I will tell them that it was the Chinese soldiers who hurt me. Just go!” Sky shouts.
~*~
Knapp’s legs are burning so badly. He recalls the last time he had them was when his gym teacher was forcing him and other students to run a mile on the school’s track. His breaths are completely out of rhythm and are getting shorter and shorter every second.
“Knapp? We can take a break if you need it,” Logy says softly when he stops running.
“N-no. I am fine,” Knapp snaps before he realizes that he forgets to use sign language. Dammit. Logy is natural when it comes to speaking.
He says almost breathlessly with sign language, “Please don’t treat me like I’m some kind of a weak person…”
Logy looks away from him nervously. “K-Knapp…”
“What?”
“I can read your mind. You’ve been running hundreds of thoughts ever since we left Sky.”
“You… What?!”
“I’m so sorry!” Logy closes his hazel eyes tightly. “I was just curious… but I was wrong. I just stopped using my mind energy.”
“What did you see?” Knapp demands. Did he… Did he find out that I like him? Oh shit! Please don’t think… Don’t think…
“Mostly about Ryu,” Logy mumbles. “I had no idea that you were so close back then.”
Knapp softens his dark brown eyes at the deaf warrior’s recent remark. He collapses to his knees out of exhaustion and takes a few deep breaths. “I need a break.”
~*~
THREE DAYS LATER
“It’s about time you got back here!” Clear crosses her arms. “Sybil and I have been so worried about you! You got here three days later than scheduled!”
“Sorry!” Knapp laughs lightheartedly as he scratches the back of his head.
“I just told Jade and Johnny to go ahead with their mission, so hopefully you don’t mind. You will never guess how much information I got when they hacked into the computer system at one of the bases in South Korea!”
“Great! Did they send their report?”
“Yes, here you go.” Clear hands a tablet to Knapp. “Danielle also sent us her summary report about the mission in China.”
“Thanks!”
“Are you ok? You… You don’t look energetic as you usually were,” Clear asks worriedly.
“I am fine.” Knapp shakes his head. Before he turns to leave the bridge room, he says, “Thank you again!”
He stops when he notices Logy leaning against the wall. He waves his hand and then receives another wave from Logy. He smiles as he says in sign language, “I’m sorry for making you come all the way here with me…”
“No, it’s ok. We are friends, aren’t we?” Logy returns the smile. “I am hoping that the missions in China and South Korea went very well.”
“Do you want to read the reports with me?” Knapp asks.
“Sure.”
They are heading straight for the lobby and then take their seats at the table next to each other. Their shoulders are barely touching each other.
In the summary report for Tezuka, Ryu, and Sky’s mission in China, Sky was chasing a monkey because it stole his banana but then he managed to get injured and captured by the Chinese soldiers. Tezuka and Ryu rescued him. Somehow, Tezuka got the power of rush so he practically became the world’s fastest man. He escaped with not only Sky and Ryu but also a Chinese woman who was looking to get out of the country. Unfortunately, they could not find anything that China was working with Japan, so it was basically a waste of time.
“Yeah… they were sent to get killed by that flying woman,” Knapp rolls his dark brown eyes. “So, let’s see how Jade and Johnny did…”
~*~
TWO DAYS AGO
“Why are they taking so long?” Jade yawns boredly. He and Johnny have been staying in their tent just a few miles away from the base in South Korea for a few days now.
Johnny shrugs his shoulders as if he does not care. “It’s their call.”
“I hope something doesn’t happen to them,” Jade says nervously.
“Yo, Gravity and Atom!” a female voice comes through their radio.
“Nova!” Jade exclaims in relief. “Thanks god! I thought something happened to you guys!”
“Sybil and I have been staying at the spaceship in Spain. Knapp is here on Earth right now, but I haven’t heard anything back from him at all.”
“Why is he here?” Johnny asks curiously.
“How the hell should I know? You know how unpredictable he is!” Clear scoffs. “Anyway… I don’t want to wait too long. I’m worried that they would change or wipe out something on their computer, so if that is ok with you, I’m giving you a go.”
Jade and Johnny look at each other. At least she told them nicely…
“Sure, no problem!” Jade says cheerfully. “We are moving out right now.”
“Thank you. And good luck! Don’t go dying on me!” Clear says before she cuts off the communication link.
“Well.. then, Atom...” Jade laughs lightly and turns to Johnny. “Let’s pack and then go, shall we?”
They take down the tent and then get dressed up in soldier uniform. They pack everything into one large duffel. Johnny easily picks it up and puts it over his shoulder. They begin to walk, heading straight for the base.
It takes them about two and half hours before they reach the Sunny Wild Squad base. Danielle gave them computer access cards hoping that the enemy would accept them when they first got to Earth.
Amazingly, after one of the American soldiers takes one look at their cards, he allows them onto the base easily.
They casually make their ways toward one of the tents and then enter it. “Piece of cake!” Jade says cheerfully when they spot a laptop sitting on a plastic table. “Can you please keep watch for me?”
“Sure,” Johnny says as he gets out and stands next to the tent. He crosses his arms as he pulls down his soldier hat a little bit.
Like before, Jade plugs a flash drive into the laptop. He turns on his bluetooth ear plug as he says, “It’s in.”
He watches as Clear is doing magic work on the laptop until something suddenly moves at the corner of his eye.
“Gravity times five!” Jade quickly yells as he points his hand at the nearly invisible movement. Suddenly, a man appears out of the air and is practically crashing into the ground under the weight of heavy gravity. “Who are you?!”
The man gives a few chuckles. “I was spying on you.”
“What?” Jade asks softly.
“That laptop was a fake. The entire base is a fake. We knew you would be coming. We know that you have a mind reader.”
“Nova, it’s a trap! Stop whatever you’re doing --” Jade yells only to get blasted away by a sudden explosion.
“What?!” Johnny shouts in surprise after he quickly leaps away from the blast. “What was that?”
“Heheheh!” The man laughs briefly before he fades away into the air right in front of Johnny’s eyes.
“Oh hell no, you can’t disappear on me!” Johnny yells as he throws a small yellow orb at where the enemy disappeared. As soon as it touches him, it suddenly blasts into a small explosion.
“What the hell?!” The enemy shouts after he was sent flying across the area. “You… You also have the ability to explode?”
“That’s correct. Now, tell me who the hell are you?” Johnny snaps.
“Fine. Since you’re going to die anyway. I am Hakai, the Silent Fighter.” The foe jerks a thumb at himself. “Are you ready to die now?”
“Not so fast!”
Hakai suddenly gets back to the ground with the weight of heavy gravity. No matter how hard he tries to get up, the gravity only pushes him even further into the ground. He says angrily, “D-dammit…! Not again!”
“You… Silent Fighter…?” Jade asks breathlessly. “Wait a minute… The guy who explodes himself… You’re the one who killed Tokuso Mitsukai!”
Hakai chuckles before he bursts out into laughter. “Of course, I killed him! He shouldn’t have snooped around! He would’ve still been alive today!”
Johnny is about to open his mouth when he spots a fireball heading straight for Jade. He quickly throws another yellow orb of energy. “Split!”
The exploding orb crashes into the fireball but another explosion comes afterward, its sudden shockwave sending Jade across the field.
“Hehehe!” Hakai laughs as he flips his body back up and lands his feet on the ground. He leaps backward until he is standing next to Kasai, who is crossing his arms.
“It’s just as the leader said… They would be here,” Kasai says. “That tells us that there is a traitor within the Sunny Wild Squad.”
“Tch!” Johnny frowns. He hurries to Jade who is groaning in pain. “Are you ok, Gravity?”
“Y-yeah, Atom… I’m fine,” Jade mumbles.
“I see that you’re using your codenames,” Hakai grins widely. “But sooner or later… we will find out your real names!”
“We need to get out of here!” Jade shouts.
Johnny has been building another orb of yellow energy within his chest. It comes out and is hovering above his hand. He throws it at Hakai and Kasai.
“Oh shit!” Kasai cries but before he and Hakai can do anything, the bomb ball blasts into a huge explosion that takes down the entire base.
~*~
“At least we got more information than ever,” Logy says. “But the fact that they know there’s a traitor in the Sunny Wild Squad… it cannot be good at all.”
“You’re right.” Knapp frowns in concern. “So… there are three strong enemies… Hakai, Kasai, and Rin. We need to keep an eye on them.”
“Yeah.” Logy nods his head in agreement.
“Knapp?” Sybil calls as she enters the lobby. “I didn’t know that you’ve been here this entire time.”
“You were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you up, baby,” Knapp says cheerfully. “Logy and I recently finished reading the reports.”
“Oh,” Sybil says softly. She does not like that Logy and Knapp are way too close in contact. “So, where have you been? I was really worried about you, you know!”
Logy lightly elbows Knapp in the arm and jerks his head toward Sybil as if Knapp needs to tell her something important.
“No… Not now,” Knapp says in sign language without using his voice. He does not want Sybil to be even more worried.
“What’s going on?” Sybil asks irritatedly.
“I will see you at dinner.” Logy waves his hand and then leaves the lobby, leaving Sybil and Knapp completely alone.
Knapp licks his dry lips as he is thinking of the correct words to say. He gets up and says softly, “Sybil… Everyone but you knows this… because I didn’t want to make you worried.”
“What is it?” Sybil is getting impatient at this point.
“I… I lost the power of the universe,” Knapp scratches the back of his head. “So… I’m basically a normal human without powers… I can die by getting stabbed by a knife in the vital area now.”
Sybil blinks her pink eyes in surprise. “W...What…? What does it mean…?”
“It means we are stuck here. Earth is completely locked. Clear has been trying to find a way to get out of here all day. So, I think we will just dig a new hole and hide the spaceship,” Knapp says almost jokingly. At this point, the joke actually sounds like a good idea.
“Oh no… I’m so sorry…” Sybil gives him a hug. “It’s ok… You have friends who can protect y--”
“No… I don’t need anybody to protect me… I need to make sure that Earth is protected as well,” Knapp says firmly. “I failed when it got locked but I will make sure to save it even if I have the power or not.”
Sybil smiles at him. She leans forward until her lips are barely touching Knapp’s. “You haven’t changed at all.”
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