Chapter 2

James saw himself surrounded by a scarlet red energy.

"Is this..." He muttered weakly before He began to hear a sinister laughter echoing around him.

"Tchh..." He hissed as he recognized the laughter. He closed his eyes and began taking in deep breaths while trying to control the energy around him.

"Quick to action as usual. Haven't you had enough of our regular back and forth? Just relax and let me take the wheel. It would be much easier on both of us." The sinister voice drew closer to whisper into his ears.

"Let me throw that question back at you. Aren't you tired of this futile back and forth? My will is strong. You will never be able to break me. You are stuck in your core until I am finally able to suppress you." He spat as he concentrated more to calm his mind. The voice burst into laughter as it took a more feminine tone.

"Your hold on me gets weaker by the day. Our inner sanctum is already dyed with my energy. It is only a matter of time." It responded. James could feel a slight ache in his head which soon grew and began to wear him down.

"Don't worry too much. Once I take over your body, I'll do a bit of a service for you. I'll murder demons as I would humans. I'll be fair. I'll turn you into a walking chaos. I'll even hold on to bits of your consciousness, so that you can witness it. Come on James! It will be glorious." The voice continued with a hint of laughter behind its wordings.

"You talk too much. I am not going to indulge you in your daydreams. I have already told you that you can not break me. You will stay stuck in there no matter what."

"Ah yes, determined as always. It is so admirable of you, but answer me this. Since when do you lie to yourself James?"

James could feel chills run across his body at that statement. He bit his lower lips as he tried not to let the voice get into his head.

"You are always sharp and you never let your guard down. So how come you couldn't react to a mere surprise attack?"

"Shut up..." James spoke in a low tone.

"Your comrades had always relied on you. Nothing went wrong if James was present, but this time, your closest friend lost his arm."

"Shut up..." James' tone became higher as he clenched his fist. He could feel the presence of the voice behind him.

"Face it, you are losing control of your powers and it is a fact that will haunt you as you grow weaker while I grow stronger..."

"I SAID SHUT UP!" James yelled as he opened his eyes with fury just to suddenly notice a white ceiling above him.

He stared at it for a while in shock before finally realizing that he was in a sickbay. He sighed and placed his hand on his forehead, then noticed that he was sweating. He tried to get to his feet but soon felt drowsy, so he sat up and relaxed. Soon the memories of the battle at Giza flooded in and his head ached a bit. He sighed then forced himself to his feet. He cracked his neck then soon walked slowly out of the sickbay and into a hallway which he recognized. He was in the main base.

While walking, he gradually regained his energy. He could hear a faint sound of someone being scolded in a separate room. Shortly after, the commander came out of the room. He looked as though his soul had been removed from his body. He turned to James and stared at him with hopelessness before walking away. A man with a slim stature dressed in a blue suit, blonde hair and a mustache walked out after and told James that he was next. James walked in and was seated in front of the man.

"How are you feeling now?" the man asked.

"I am okay."

"No need to be tense, she doesn't want to speak to you either." The man said as he picked up James' file. James let out a sigh of relief.

"Don't feel so relaxed. The core is eating you faster than we anticipated. At this rate, you'll end up like the former captain, Edward, only not K.I.A."

James clenched his fist as he looked downwards.

"I've set up arrangements for you to be De-extracted. It comes with severe side effects, but at least you'd still be alive"

"How is Abubakr and the others?" James asked.

"That is rude. Don't change the subject."

James ignored him. "What about the demon?"

"Hey! I said don't change the subject." The man was getting slightly irritated.

"Was it taken down?"

There was a moment of silence. Then the man burst out a calming yet intimidating amount of white energy as he leaned closer to him. James could feel the pressure and as he lifted his head to look at the man, he became terrified.

"Change the subject again and I'll fucking kill you! Do you understand... boy?"

"Yes Sir!" He responded with a forced smile despite trembling.There was a brief pause that followed suit and the man sighed.

"Fine... Your friends are okay, they'll recover soon. Abubakr however, is being forced to retire to trainer. He lost his dominant arm and would really be a burden on the frontlines."

"But you can't just..."

"Well, I didn't. I don't have much jurisdiction here."

"Shit... Why are you even here?"

"I got bored in France and came all the way to see my student."

"That's awfully nice of you Colonel Louis. Did you bring flowers along?"

Louis energy increased and the walls began to crack.

"It was a Joke!"

"As I was saying...Captain Edward reached the transport center and really did a number on it. His location was oddly specific. The New York facility which has been abandoned for a while."

James tried to talk but Louis cut him short.

"Word has been sent to America. They will handle it from here."

"We can't leave it to them. This is our base's problem. Letting another base takeover would speak of incompetence on our part."

"Wasn't it incompetence that led to the escape of the former captain in the first place?" Louis smirked as he retorted sharply. James frowned at him.

"What?" and after a pause "I am here to tell you first of your De-extraction process and to ready you for what is to come. If by some chance I took a stroll to meet HER, and a certain person leaves to fix his units mistake... That will be an interesting turn of event."

James eyes lit up. Colonel Louis stood and walked out of the room.

"Be careful. There are not many times a fish out of water makes it back to sea."

"Ah...ha..."

"Don't mind me."