January 1st, 2021

What…was that thing…?! It…ripped Hannibal…in half…! Jennifer thought, cold sweat beading down her face as she staggered to stand, her breaths coming in heavy exhales. She gripped her shoulders with effort, her eyes still wide, the scene where the leader of the famed Kingston Plaza Incorporated was ripped in half, almost like nothing, by their own creation. The realization of his death washed over her and she cupped her face in her left hand, shaking her head. I’m possibly out of a job before my second day… I can’t believe this. All I’ve done to get this position and that Ghost of theirs takes it from me! What I wanted was to get promotions, earn my place in this world, and I never, ever, ever, get to even make a discovery of my own! Fuming suddenly, she bit down on her bottom, lip, beginning to slowly walk from the chamber. Alarm buzzing met her ears soon after she was well deep into the halls, people rushing past her as she leaned against the wall. The shaking from before had disrupted her nerves, and her brain was fogged by the essence of the being they created was…

“He’s still in here…somewhere…” She whispered, glancing about in all directions. “He’s still in here!”

“Who is?” One of the armored men turned towards her, tilting his head as he bent down to examine her. “Who’s still here?”

“…The…Ghost… He’s still here…he’s here…” Disorientation suddenly took over her, and she turned to grip the fabric section of the man’s uniform. “Get out of here…he can’t be stopped, I’m telling you! Hannibal… He…was ripped…in half…in half…by that…monster!”

“You should get out of here…personnel are ordered to take refuge in the city while the military takes care of the Ghost. Go on.”

“N-No! You listen to me! He’s going to kill us all…every God damn one of us! Do you understand me…?! Every one of us…!” Keln roared in anger, the disorientation suddenly driving her into a fit of rage, and she stumbled out of the hallway and onto the conveyor floor. Barely able to hold herself upright, she shakily stood up, gritting her teeth in slight annoyance at her own weakness. She finally was able to stand, a machinery arm skimming just over her head as she lowered her head into her hands. An explosion nearby rocked the premises, causing her to fall to her knees as debris and flames bellowed in several places ahead. Air gusted in her direction, the wind seeming to burst into a typhoon-like speed as a blur speeded past her, carrying a slim object. Within that moment, the blur stopped, his head darting in every which direction, the Japanese-made folded blade held in his right hand seeming to glow. Her eyes widened as she spotted him, panic washing over her as she began to crawl away slowly. In the moment that her palms struck the ground, Sven’s body spun around immediately as he detected the sound, his scarlet eyes flaring with rage. With a twist of his wrist, the katana in his hand spun, slicing through a gigantic machine that whizzed past them, oil spraying in all directions. Keln covered her eyes as the machine exploded on the spot, but she found that she wasn’t touched by the oil, or the explosion itself hadn’t damaged her in any way possible. While she gazed up at Sven, his eyes were deluded of all color, thus was replaced by the familiar soft azure eyes.

“Why…did you kill him...? Why him…huh…?”

“It was his time to die…” Sven’s cold, deep voice answered partially bluntly, as if he were stating the truth of the Universe. “…And he begged for it…his Soul called out to me, like the Soul Cube did to mine…”

“You didn’t have to do that…! He was a man of power…and people are going to find you, you murderer!” She pointed a long, pale finger in his direction.

“…Finding me…is the hard part… You are a firm believer in God’s teachings, Keln…?” At that moment, her eyes widened as she heard her surname and her arm dropped down to her side again.

“…Yes, Yes…I am.” She hurriedly replied and he glared down at her in slight annoyance, but the rest of his face gave no sign that he cared for her reply at all.

“…You humans…could never know Him, unless you saw Him… I have seen…many things…while I floated in darkness…and He told me as I entered the Gates of Heaven: You aren’t quite welcome yet, Sven… I was sent back to this Hell that you humans have brought me into…after you were done experimenting on my body…” He pointed towards her with a long, pale finger. “But…you…you’re different… You don’t only believe…but you merely watched as I ripped him apart…and from what I've seen of your actions...you've done nothing...to save him. You watched…then tried to run away…”

“I warned him…! I warned him of the dangers of trying to toil with you, Ghost! He didn’t listen…he didn’t…” She felt dementia suddenly wash over her mind as she slowly stood upright, the world around her blurring as she felt her sight begin to fade. Her hands sharply rose to the side of her head, gripping the sides of her head with a slight sense that she was in pain. As she fell to her knees, she felt an arm lift her into the air, her mind swimming with confusion. She slowly felt her head clear as moments passed, air rushing all around her, the world a complete blur. With an extended hand, she touched the face of her rescuer, the flawless skin under her fingers suddenly lost an immense amount of heat drastically, and she pulled back, resting her head against the person’s chest. Her head continued to swim, and her eyes shut, the world becoming a black void. Keln’s body numbed as the rescuer’s arms bobbed.

What’s happening to me…? I can’t see…whoever has me…is it human? Yes, it must be…their face is soft. It can’t be a woman, there are no breasts… Did Sven rescue me? He’s…strange. He’s a killer, yet he saves me. Is it…because of my difference? What about Kingston Plaza that angers him so much?

In that moment, she was set down onto the ground gently, her head still swimming with questions and wonders. She blinked several times, her vision beginning to clear after several seconds, her eyes gazing upwards. The same azure eyes stared down at her, but once she blinked once more, the eyes weren’t present. Confused, she glanced around in all directions, her muddy brown eyes finding nothing, no sign that he even existed, save for her skin throbbing from when he might’ve roughly lifted her into the air. She felt a flush grace her pale cheeks and she angrily cursed under her breath. God damn him…! He saves me, and he isn’t even here…!

Sven’s head lowered to face the world below, his highly sensitive ears picking up sounds of the human’s activity below. The katana, a Five Body Blade, as the Japanese Samurai would call it, hung at his side, tied to his leather belt. A plate of steel was folded over several times, creating the plate of armor-like metal that extended from his hip down to his knee, and being six feet and two inches, the metal itself nearly wrapped around his leg, but was strapped in place by several belts that corkscrewed around his limb. He sat on his haunches as he stared down at the scene below, his blue T-shirt and baggy jeans ruffled by the massive bursts of gusts. For a few moments, he sat on the edge of the tree limb, his trademark shoes set over the edge of the cliff where he was seated. Out of curiosity, he lifted one of the stones nearby and tossed it off the face of the overhanging, watching it plummet to the ground. He soon growled under his breath, the wind beginning to pick up nearby as helicopters zoomed towards him. He thus scowled, his eyes watering as the issued Ghost Espalon Mark Seven brain increasing the degree of the far-sight part of his vision, enabling him to glimpse at the vehicles headed his way. In dignified bold, white letters were the words: Project Ghost, Kingston Plaza Incorporated. In seconds the helicopter squadron almost doubled, as he felt the presence that they were directly behind him as well. He merely lowered his head as the flying vehicles closed in, their weapons aimed directly onto his position. His hair swirled with the upcoming gusts of wind.

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“Oi…they said he was dangerous…but he hasn’t moved yet.” One of the pilots said, cocking her head towards her co-pilot.

“I don’t think he’s that much to worry about… Look at ‘em! He’s just staring at the ground…I think we should open fire and just terminate him already.”

“Terminate subject, Sven, now. Fire at will on his position, he should've been dead earlier!” As the words left the co-pilot’s lips, he laughed, flipping a few switches. In seconds, the machine guns at each side of the helicopter slowly appeared, their barrels pointed directly at his direction. Sven’s head rose after this, his hand slowly reaching towards the cloth wrapped katana handle, his azure eyes glimmering with a lust to satisfy his Ghostly hunger to destroy. In an explosion of fire, the bullets were sent spiraling towards him in a flurry of sound, the rounds slicing through the air like nothing. Sven’s ears caught the sound, and with that, he spread out his stance seconds before the guns went off, pivoting off of his heel to begin to spin. The blade in his hand became a whirling tornado of steel, the calibers’ course directed elsewhere. Afterwards, missiles were fired, their flames causing them to be propelled forward towards him. Alarmed, he hopped into the air, his foot planting itself squarely onto the flying explosive. Immediately afterward, he continued to hop, his legs propelling him higher into the air.

He somersaulted to the side, dodging a spray of rounds and was inches to being blown up by another missile. With that, he finally composed himself, his fingers catching onto one of the explosive projectiles, diverting its course with a twist of his wrist. As he landed onto the ground, one of the helicopters that surrounded him was struck by the missile, causing it to be consumed in flames, which spiraled out of control, thus having it crash into the one directly adjacent to it. He then used the momentum of the last jump to leap directly into the air once more and with a quick sweep of his arm, the katana sliced directly through the ship’s engine and it spiraled out of control, knocking into the other helicopters like dominoes, causing them all to explode seconds after the other. He slung the oil off his Japanese sword, his eyes glancing in all directions. In moments, the horizon began to blacken with shapes and sounds, the ground quaking in the objects wake. Out of curiosity, he tilted his head, watching the horizon build itself into a giant figure, the arms themselves almost half the size of the surrounding mountains.

An immense echo of a groan slowly reached his highly sensitive ears, his body wracking with agony. He wailed, his hands shooting directly to cover his ears from the sound, but it was in vain, his Titanium Adamantite bones shaking and acting as tuning rods to the sound. In a rush of wind, the figure in the distance slowly rose to its full height, the shine of metal nearly blinding him as his head rose. Sven’s systems inside of his body mechanically whirred and thrust themselves into life, his pain sensors and nerves switching themselves off, his mind numbing from the loss of nervous system. As he reached for the katana, which he dropped moments before, his fingers couldn’t tell if he was wielding the weapon at all. In reaction to this, his muscles bulged for a moment, the veins nearly popping from underneath his epidermis, his body shaking with an eruption of power.

The figure in the distance slung one of its massive arms, the wind gusting in response to the action. Both hands of the being slammed themselves onto the hill where he was standing and in one motion, tore away at the landscape as it pulled itself directly towards him. An explosion followed, an object spiraling towards him. In an instant, he was thrust back by the force of the now present projectile, spiraling out of control as he crashed into the ground. Once the round entered his body, his bones themselves melted to welcome the massive caliber, and once the frames of his ribs grasped the round, it was dejected by the momentum that carried it towards him. Once it was fired back in a spray of blood, he regained his balance and he somersaulted upright, his fingers digging into the soil, the friction ultimately causing him to stop. The round spun violently, spearing directly through the metallic surface of the giant being.

In response, its arms raised and it roared in anger, its left hand rising into the air sharply, and with a swoop, the hillside was ripped from its place on the Earth, Sven sent twisting violently. To retaliate against it, he stabbed one of the larger portions of the hill, pulling himself onto the surface and pulling the katana from the large portion. He thus hopped from one section to another, his azure eyes watching the giant robot carefully. Out of the corner of his eye, the massive hand shot directly towards him, and he leaped directly onto the back of the hand, beginning to sprint up towards the head. Plates of metal slunk back underneath the metallic surface, barrels rising from the present blackness. His eyes widened in alarm as missiles were sent flying towards him, the propulsion causing echoing booms to wrack the air with sound. In alarm, he stepped to the side, one of the projectiles crashing into the arm of the robot, the explosion singeing the end of his hair. He sheathed the katana quickly to his side, his eyes glancing towards all of the projectiles that were headed towards him. With a twist of his wrist, he caught one of the missiles in his hands, turning it directly around towards the others, sending it spiraling out of control elsewhere. He thus hopped into the air, his feet planting themselves gingerly on the surface. The missiles were sent to explode onto the metallic arm and once he finally hopped off of the last one, he drew the katana from its scabbard.

Once he slowly began to plummet towards the head of the being, his eyes glinted with a light that miraculously caused the blade to suddenly melt, re-emerging in a wave of plasma-like substance. He thus stabbed the blade directly into the head of the robot, the plasma causing the metal to liquefy and spread apart in its wake as he dragged the sword down the body. In seconds, the metal itself began to crumble underneath the heat of the blade, and with a twist of his wrist, the blade sliced directly through the mid-section of the robot, the halves plummeting towards the ground. As he hopped off the top section of the robot, while the edge of the katana hardened from its plasma state into its metallic edge once more. His eyes shut themselves, and he sheathed the blade.

Keln’s head turned quickly towards the commotion to her left, her muddy brown eyes widening as she saw the small figure plummet towards the ground.

“Jesus…Christ…! What…is he?!” She began to shake, her whole body quivering from the sight of the Ghost’s might. I’ve…never seen anything like it! He took down those helicopters, then that…that…thing! My God! What has Kingston Plaza been thinking?! Why would they create such…a…monster!

Her left hand covered her mouth as a glint of light caught her eye, and in a gust of wind, she felt Sven’s cold presence, his azure eyes glaring down at her with a sense of certain disgust. His ghastly white hair covered one of his eyes, but the instant he brushed it away, his demeanor seemed to soften as he stared at her.

“I’m…what you created…Keln…” Sven’s cold voice chilled the very air, his pale hands rising towards his face. “…And moreover…I’m the boy whom admired you from afar when you were younger… Remember…?”

Her eyes widened, the distant memory suddenly striking her as almost obvious. She held her head in response, taking a few steps back.

It was…him… I knew I recognized him…I saw him disappear, possibly kidnapped like the others… My friends had all disappeared…all of them. I never saw them, or him, the only one who saw me for who I was, instead of who I was going to be. Why was he taken? Why does this memory hurt me so?

Keln’s eyes glimmered as she heard a knock at the door. Who could it be? Who could it be? Was it Sven? Her mind raced as she headed down the massive staircase, her frilly pink dress swaying with the movement of her legs. At the mid-point, she hopped onto the banister, sliding down it to finally reach the bottom of the steps. She opened the door expectantly, smiling as she looked up slightly to see the familiar face. His azure eyes held the same similar glow, the ghastly white hair was parted so that she could see his entire porcelain face. In an instant, she threw her arms around him, a cheerful laugh escaping her parted lips.

Her muddy brown eyes shut themselves as she felt his arms wrap around her in return, and she bit back a squeal of delight.

“Its…you… You’re the one who visited me every day at the Keln mansion…” She gasped, finally realizing who he was: the little orphan boy who often would visit her after school. The memory made her bite down on her bottom lip, her eyes watering with tears.

“Unfortunately…I cannot see you, and you cannot see me…therefore, I must destroy my creators…and if you get in my way…I’ll kill you…” The same disgustful demeanor spread itself across his face as he glared down at her, his azure eyes narrowing as their light began to fade, leaving them dull. “…And anyone else who follows you…”