(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 26

"Never before have I been so bored," McManus said, lounging against a table as he spun his survival knife on the tip of his finger. It made no sense; he'd been in Ichi's office since the school was released, doing absolutely nothing as he typed away on his computer. McManus on the other hand had nothing to do but twiddle his fingers for hours with the only sounds were Ichi's typing.

"I just don't get it," Ichi finally said, though it was a mumble. "This kid's gone missing ever since his resignation. Where, oh where, could you be?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I know the person that killed the Edge Walker on Earth, or at least an educated guess. His name is Daven Hero. Heard of him?"

"Ye-no. Not at all."

"Of course, you didn't. Daven was a member of Hwan-Jin's group. After a recent falling out with his supervisor, Daven resigned and has since then gone missing. We believed that he'd simply joined a new school, but so far every headmaster that I've spoken to hadn't heard of him."

McManus's phone began to vibrate in his back pocket. "Looks like I might have some good news," he said as he slid his phone from his back pocket. "Talk to me."

"Demetrius? Where are you?" That sounded like Brianna.

"Bri-Bri? Baby, I told you that I was going to be late. Now, if you wanted a quickie, then meet me in the gate-keeper's shack in about-"

"This isn't the time for jokes. There's been a distress Signal from New Rome. A Siren's been spotted; she's releasing an army of Edge Walkers throughout the city."

McManus sat up straight in his seat. "Are you serious? Where are you?" Ichi began to say something but was cut off by McManus's raised hand.

"I'm heading over with backup. Contact as many people as you can and head for the city. I'll send you the coordination once we hang up."

"Got it. Be careful, baby."

"Always." She said as she hung up.

"What is it?"

"A distress signal. There's a Siren at New Rome. We've got to get over there, quick."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Ichi stated as he jumped out of his seat. "Let's get over there."

~~~~~~~

Raheem and Abigail rushed into the small city with their weapons drawn. The air was thick with screams of mass chaos. Everywhere that they looked, they saw overturned cars, bodies of injured Amians or the ashes of a slain Edge Walker. Fortunately, the city seemed to be evacuated, except for the injured Amians. One thing was for certain, this was no natural release. Whoever released the Edge Walkers here was a powerful Siren.

Marcus and Bianka were waiting at a ruined building. "Has there been any sightings of the Siren?" Bianka asked, walking towards them with a large minigun. A bandolier of bullets was draped across her chest.

"Not at the moment," Abigail said. "Though the Edge Walkers seems to accumulate from the middle of the city-"

"That's all I needed to hear," Marcus said as he and Bianka rushed farther into the city. Raheem and Abigail followed, swiftly taking out Edge Walkers on the way.

As they ventured deeper into the city, the number of Edge Walker increased dramatically until they were standing in front of a black mass of the monsters. "Stand aside!" Bianka called as she aimed at the wave of Edge Walkers. At once, Marcus, Abigail, and Raheem got out the way as Bianka opened fire, sending an onslaught of bullets into the monsters. The others were positioned behind her, protecting her from the surrounding attackers. It seemed futile, as with every Edge Walker that was killed, another rose to take its place.

"God, how many of them are they?" Raheem said as he turned around and halved an Edge Walker behind him. Three more rushed towards him, their inky arms outstretched towards them. He dodged a slash at his head and slashed it diagonally from its shoulder to its hip.

"Their multiplying!" Bianka called over the firing of the minigun. Marcus looked over his shoulder towards the oncoming Edge Walkers in front of them. It seemed as though Bianka was shooting at a never ending wall of the inky bodies. Through a break in the wall, however, Bianka saw what looked like the end of a wing. "It's the Siren! They're protecting her!"

"That's good to know and all," Raheem said, "but what can we do to get to her?" Just as he asked, a bolt of lightning fell from the sky, striking down a section of the Edge Walkers. Baffled, Raheem looked up to the sky. "Thank you, God."

A figure in a black trench coat began to descend from the sky, holding a one handed katana in each hand. As soon as he made his descent, sound of blade cutting through flesh filled the area. The wall of Edge Walkers turned towards the person as he swiftly and gracefully took down Edge Walker after Edge Walker. Turning towards the center, he bellowed, "You aren't getting away from me this time!"

"Is that so? And what do you plan on doing about it?" They heard a woman say. The Edge Walkers all stopped and melted into black, inky puddles, which disappeared into the cracks of the cobblestone street.

Placing his swords in their scabbards under his coat, he young man in the growled in his throat as the Siren began laughing. "Just as I thought. You're already too late. That cousin of yours is already too far in my control to be awakened. Your best bet is to kill me, and we both know that you won't even-" Before she could finish, a throwing knife jutted from her shoulder. Silver liquid began to drip from her wound as she looked more stunned than hurt at the blade. The young man reached into his coat and pulled out three more throwing knives.

"Do not tempt me, Samantha," he said through his teeth as he prepared to throw them.

The Siren let out an ear splitting screech before she outstretched her wings and flew into the air as the Amians covered their ears. Once the screeching had ceased, the man uncovered his ears and frantically looked around for her. Aside from the silver blood on the ground, there wasn't any sign of her.

"Dammit!" the young man said as he threw his knives to the ground. He lowered his head, his blonde, shaggy hair swaying in the wind.

"Hey, man," Raheem said as he laid a hand on the man's shoulder, "are you all right?" He gasped as the man turned around, peering into him with his small, gray eyes. The sharp face looked too familiar to him; he knew this person from the academy, though he disappeared soon after it opened up. "You're Daven Hero, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I've been tailing the Siren ever since I heard about the first invasion in Sylvia. I had hoped that I'd finally caught her this time, but..." His voice trailed off.

"And you said that the Siren's name was Samantha?" Abigail asked. Daven nodded as she gave Raheem cautious glance. He knew exactly what was going through her mind. Their son was dating a Siren.

"What happened here?" Brianna asked once she caught up to the group. "Where's all the Edge Walkers?"

"They left. The Siren escaped," Daven sighed as Raheem and Marcus went to the aid of the injured Amians.

"I see. Ichi and Demetrius aren't going to be happy about this," Brianna said as she slid her phone from her pocket. She put the phone up to her ear, and after a moment of silence, she said, "The Siren escaped."

Through the stiff air, they all could hear McManus bellow, "What do you mean, 'the Siren escaped?!"

Brianna placed the phone back on her ear. "There's been a situation. I'll fill you and Ichi in on the details when I get back," she said before hanging up and heaving a great sigh. "I hope you can help explain this," she said to Daven.

"You're making me return to Reiax academy?"

Shrugging, Brianna said, "Sorry, kid. Since you know the Siren personally, it would be stupid not to question you about it. I'll bring a clean-up crew to begin repairing New Rome," she called to Raheem and Marcus before she pulled a small packet of honey drops out of her pocket. Pouring two pieces of candies onto her hand, she arched an eyebrow as she handed Daven a piece of the candy. "Now that I think about it, why didn't and Ichi use a honey drop? Reiax Academy." She popped the candy in her mouth before disappearing.

Daven frowned before he swallowed his candy and followed.