Chapter 1.6: ‘The mask’

Year: 2483 Month: June 1st

With a bounce in his step, Kai strolled down the streets of London, somehow excited for the plan ahead of him. His mood is quickly executed by a commotion in the middle of the road. A group of people stood and watched as a police officer struggled to arrest a man. The man was tall and well-built with reddish hair and bright blue eyes. He was wearing a hoodie with the sleeves rolled up and cargo trousers with rips in them. The man was dodging the polices grab attempts and hitting them as he dodged. The officer was just about at his limit as two more police officers arrived with guns. They pointed them at the man and ordered him to get on the ground. The man slowly raised his hands and kneeled onto the ground. The officers approach him and press the guns against his head. Kai sighs and continues walking when a sharp voice startles him,

‘’Help him’’

Kai whips around.

‘’who said that?’’

‘’Help him’’

Kai looks over to the man. The officers were struggling to find the handcuffs. Something nagged at the back of Kai’s mind. He clenches his fists. He didn’t even know this man, who was clearly a criminal, and yet he felt like he should help him. He curses and puts his face mask on once again, activating his power. He runs up behind one of the officers and punches him in the back of the neck, the officer tenses up and falls over. The other officer whips around and lifts his gun away from the man. The man seizes the opportunity and punches the officer in the leg, forcing the officer to fall to the ground. Kai grabs his face and drains all his energy with the dark flame. The officer goes limp and falls to the ground. Kai deactivates his power and wipes his forehead. The man gets up and looks at Kai, scanning him up and down.

‘’Thanks kid.’’

Kai furrows his brow

‘’Thanks? All I get is a thanks?’’

The man shrugs and pats himself down.

‘’Don’t feel very generous today that’s all.’’

Kai suddenly realises the crowd around them and puts up his hood. The man notices Kai’s fear and snickers. Kai looks at the ground. He jumps as two police cars brake loudly behind him. He turns to see four officers pile out of each of the cars and aim rifles at Kai and the man. Kai immediately raises his hands and cowers backwards. The man steps forward and pats Kai’s shoulder.

‘’Don’t worry kid, I got this one. Name’s Harrison by the way. Harrison Flores. Remember it’’

Kai looks up. Harrison takes a few steps forward and extends his arms as if he were about to embrace someone. The officers yell at him to surrender. Harrison lowers his hands and grabs something on his hip. He suddenly pulls a mask of his belt and places it on his face. The mask binds itself to him and lights up, all the engravements glowing a dark orange. Harrison quickly moves his arm from left to right and he becomes cloaked in a coat of orange flame, the officers start shooting at him and he dashes forward at incredible speeds, avoiding every bullet and closing the distance in seconds. He grabs one of the officers and slams them onto the bonnet of a police car, then he quickly elbows another officer in the stomach and grabs their rifle, throwing it at the third officer. The fourth officer shoots Harrison in the arm and Harrison quickly fights back, jumping off the roof of the other car and kicking the officer in the jaw. Kai stands completely still, stunned at how expertly Harrison moved. Harrison removes the mask and replaces it back onto his belt, the flames disappearing and the mask fading to black. He clutches his arm and rips a large part of a officers uniform to wrap around the bullet wound. Kai runs over,

‘’Are you ok?’’

Harrison chuckles,

‘’I’m fine kid, now get out of here, more are coming’’

Kai looks at Harrisons arm, blood was flowing down it and the make-shift bandage was not working at all. Kai grabs Harrisons other arm and motions with his head,

‘’Follow me, I..I think I can help you out.’’

Harrison shakes his head,

‘’I’ll be fine-‘’

Kai tightens his grip,

‘’Follow me’’

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Harrison gets up strugglingly and Kai leads him back to the large house. Kai decides to try and throw anyone who might be following them off by taking numerous turns and backroads. As they reach the house, the old man greets them at the door again. Kai bows his head.

‘’Please allow this man shelter.’’

The old man shows no reaction. Kai remembers and leans forward whispering,

‘’Anzen’’

The old man nods and lets them in. Harrison stumbles inside, looking around in awe at the spacious lobby. Cayde shouts from atop the stairs,

‘’KAI! Who is that?’’

Kai looks up and awkwardly smiles.

‘’A guy with a bullet wound, reckon you could help him out?’’

Cayde quickly runs down the stairs and storms towards Kai. He grabs Kai’s arm and pulls him away from Harrison.

‘’I’m not helping someone I don’t know’’

Kai looks at Cayde and grabs his shoulders,

‘’Please Cayde, he’s not just anyone, he is power enabled as well’’

Harrison overhears the conversation and chuckles,

‘’Not exactly kid, I have a cursed object. Gives me a burst of power when I wear it, but without it I’m just a guy’’

Kai squints.

‘’Is that what the mask is?’’

Harrison nods, unclipping and holding up the mask.

‘’This thing has both saved my life and ruined it. But hey, enough about my ‘abilities’, you help me out with this wound and I’ll give you something in return’’

Cayde steps forward.

‘’Ok, I’ll help you. But you have to hold up your end of the bargain’’

Harrison lets out a hearty laugh.

‘’I’m a man of my word.’’

Cayde steps forward again, now a few feet in front of Harrison.

‘’You ready?’’ Cayde asks, pulling a knife out from his coat. Harrison jots backwards, making Cayde jump as well.

‘’Chill out, I’m just removing the bullet that’s in your arm. Unless you’ve already done so?’’

Harrison reluctantly steps forward.

‘’We are just doing it here?’’ He motions around the room. ‘’No sterile room or anything?’’

Cayde looks angrily at Harrison.

‘’What do you think this is, a hospital? I’m willing to help you, take it or leave it.’’

Harrison nods slightly and turns his arm to Cayde. Cayde grabs his arm and unwraps the ripped uniform. He then digs the knife into Harrisons arm, who lets out a large yell as this happens. He digs the knife deeper and deeper into Harrisons arm, searching for the bullet. Harrison starts to struggle against the knife, causing Cayde to slice Harrisons arm lengthways down to his hand. Harrison screams and jerks away from Cayde. Cayde looks towards Kai and motions forwards,

‘’Restrain him!’’

Kai tilts his head,

‘’What?’’

‘’Restrain him!!’’ Cayde repeats.

‘’Do as he says’’

Kai looks around, the same deep voice as before echoed in his ears.

‘’The mask is screaming, the man is screaming. Do as he says’’

Kai grabs his ears, the voice echoing deeper. He looks up at Harrison, blood was pouring out his arm and he was wincing at every slight move he made. Kai grits his teeth and activates his power. The flames once again envelop his hands and he runs at Harrison. Harrison tries to reach for his mask, but is too slow. Kai grabs his other arm and his face, draining just enough energy with the dark flames so Harrison couldn’t fight back. Cayde quickly follows suite and digs the knife back into Harrison’s arm, digging faster and deeper than before. Blood was gushing out of Harrison’s arm onto the floor and he was screaming in pain. Kai tightens his grip and looks away from the blood, on the verge of vomiting. Cayde throws the knife onto the ground beside him and reaches into Harrison’s arm, pulling out a small bullet. Kai sighs in relief and releases Harrison. Harrison crumples onto the ground and starts breathing heavily. Cayde quickly kneels beside him and nods at Kai. Kai grins and deactivates his power, he was gonna finally see Cayde’s power again. Cayde’s eyes start to glow a bright golden yellow and he gently grabs Harrison’s arm. The tissue and muscle of the arm starts to rapidly rebuild itself, almost as if the brutal scene Kai had just witnessed was put into reverse. After a few seconds, Harrisons arm looked like it hadn’t ever been injured and Cayde stood back up. His eyes fade back to brown and he wipes his brow. Kai motions to Harrison.

‘’You got a bed he can rest in?’’

Cayde nods,

‘’He can stay on the sofa bed for a bit.’’

They lift him up and transport him upstairs, he was surprisingly light yet heavy at the same time. As they reach the sofa room, they see Apollo sat next to the fireplace reading some sort of book. They quietly place Harrison onto the sofa and call out,

‘’Apollo?’’

She closes the book and stands up, she turns and stares at Kai menacingly.

‘’Who’s the man?’’

Kai stutters,

‘’W-we helped each other out’’

Apollo looks at the man and shakes her head,

‘’Whatever happens to him, or us, you’re responsible. You got that?’’

Kai nods quickly. Apollo sighs and waves her hand. She walks out the room and Cayde shrugs, following after her. Kai turns to look at Harrison. The mask captures his attention. It was a black ceramic mask of what seemed like a demon, it had engravings of different Japanese words that Kai couldn’t quite make out and deep eyes that were almost hypnotic. Kai stared into the eyes of the mask. Wondering who created it and how it somehow gave powers to someone. He kept staring for a while. Lost deep in thought. Then he heard it.

‘’Take the mask’’

His eyes widened and he started to sweat.

‘’Seize what is yours’’

Kai felt the same urge he had felt earlier, he felt like he needed to take it. He felt like he needed the mask. Or he needed the power. His arm starts to move on its own, reaching for the mask. Kai tries to resist but is powerless to his urges. He grabs the mask and pulls it away from Harrison. But he didn’t. The mask was still on Harrisons belt, but it was also in Kai’s hands. It was like he had made a copy, a copy so similar but so different at the same time. The mask he had in his hand had two long horns at the top of the mask and he could make out and understand the symbols on the mask, they were Japanese symbols that represented: ‘loyalty’, ‘punishment’ and ‘revenge’.

Chills were sent down Kai’s spine and he tried to put the mask back, but something urged him to put it on. Kai tried to refuse, but he was yet again a victim to his urges. He placed the mask on his face and felt a surge of power course through him. Then suddenly the world went dark.