1 Prologue - Hisk the Detective

As the engine shut down, headlights turning off, the door opened. A man came out of the car from the passenger seat wearing a brown coat which didn't go past his waist.

He's a detective but you wouldn't guess that since he doesn't wear stereotypical detective clothes like a waistcoat or have a pipe he smokes from. He doesn't smoke at all, half because he cares for his health, half because he needs the stamina. His name?

Hisk.

The Detective.

From the driver's seat exited a policeman. A blue uniform, cap, sleek shoes and, unlike Hisk who has a taser, he has a gun at his waist.

A J.L pistol, J.L standing for James Lake which is the company who supplies police with weapons since The Fall, that uses old fashioned inspired gunpowder, though is much quieter. Explosive powder using weapons were out fashioned a century and a bit ago, during the Fall, because they were too loud even using suppressors.

Nowadays people use Electromagnetically Proppeled Ammunition Guns.EMPAGs, but most people refer to them as railguns, railgun pistols, railgun rifles etc.

A car also stopped and 3 other police officers came out, 2 policemen,1 policewoman, all who also had the same pistol.

"Remember, Chief said to do this quietly, we find the Extra, we 'disable' it and we are done. We would make noise so we ain't gonna stay around as Shrouds swallow up this place." said Number 1, as Hisk started calling the one who was driving the car he sat in, to Number 2,3 and 4, Number 2 and 3 being the other policemen, Number 4 being the policewoman.

They stood in front of a big, 2 storied, black wood house, clearly old fashioned even by The Before's standards, The Before being the time before the Fall. The entrance was a

double door one, opening inwards. A few steps leading to a veranda before it.

They walked there in 2 groups. When they reached the door 1 put one hand on it, putting his other hand on his pistol and everyone did the same, apart from Hisk.The doors creaked open, as they do, and led to a pitch-black room.

1 went in and, with a tap on his chest, he turned on a flashlight which was embedded in his police vest, illuminating the room enough for everyone to see what it looked like. On the right side, there was a staircase leading up, on the left a corridor leading into blackness, and in front of them, there was another set of double doors.

Everyone came in and Hisk shut the door behind him.

"Put it down. Don't want him to be using holograms now do we?" ordered 1. 4 took off the thing she wore on her back, that Hisk only just noticed, and placed it down. It looked like circles stacked upon other circles all smaller than each other.

She tapped the top and it lit up the room dimly with a blue light as it extended, elastic material now visible between the circles, and at the end a little antenna rose out from the top, a little light starting to brighten up at the tip. Hisk couldn't feel it but disruptive electromagnetic waves and other things that he didn't know were sent out of this device. A Disruptor.

Hisk knew its name but to him, it was like a jammer that also worked on holograms and the like. It also weakened the Extra. Hisk tapped on his wrist to bring up his Interface but only a weird hologram made up of random colours came up that looked like it got smashed by a hammer, if it was a screen that is, before shutting off. It was working, Hisk confirmed.

"I and Fred will scout the next room, "1 said pointing at himself and 2 then towards the big double doors, "Jessica, you will go down that corridor", he said pointing at the corridor on the left."...and you, detective, go with Mark upstairs." he said as he nodded towards the stairs before going to open the next set of doors.

"Come on." says 3 as he walks past Hisk. They reach the stairs and 3 taps on his vest to turn on his flashlight, which illuminates the stairway and the ceiling at the top.3 went up first, weapon drawn, Hisk in tow. At the top of the stairs, they are greeted with a long corridor which harbours 4 rooms, ending in a corner probably leading to more rooms.

"Hope there ain't no Shrouds in here. They'll be everywhere."3 commented.

"I heard they rip a person's soul out," added Hisk.

"Only if you aren't a Guarded."

"Yeah, only if you aren't a guarded."

"We're lucky then aren't we?"

Hisk just nodded to 3's question, trying to be quiet as they approached the first door. He crouched down a bit pulling out his taser while 3 did the same with his pistol, his free hand on the doorknob.

Hisk tried listening. He could only hear creaks from the old wood, his breathing and some walking downstairs. 3 turned the doorknob.

3 pushed the door open swiftly while checking the room with his pistol, before quickly turning around to look behind the door, revealing nothing. The room consisted of a king-sized bed with a nightstand on both sides and a doorway probably being a wardrobe. 3 and Hisk nodded at each other before approaching it.

3 did what he did before and, again, came up with nothing. They then searched under the bed but, again, nothing.

"Nothing." said 3 as they exited.

They moved to the one adjacent to it and did the same thing.

"Nothing."

Next room.

"Nothing."

Next room

"Nothing."

They turned the corner.

"Nothing."

"Nothing."

"Nothing."

This corridor ran down the whole width of the house, totalling with another 12 rooms, 3 of which were already searched."I'll go to that room, you to that one." said Hisk, pointing at the room down the side they searched and then to the first room after the corner on the other side.

Unlike before were, they went from one room to the one opposite, this time they went and searched rooms only on one side.

3 nodded and went to check the next room. He put his hand on the doorknob and just like before, pressed his body against the wall, pistol drawn. He looked down the corridor at Hisk, who copied his actions. They made eye contact and nodded before turning the doorknobs.

3 entered and swept his pistol around. He looked under the bed and then, finding nothing, went to check the wardrobe. Nothing. He exited the room and saw the door to Hisks room close as he exited."N-N-NOthing" said 3 before frowning a bit and tensing up.

Hisk seemed to just not notice anything and went to the next door.3 did the same.

"Nothing."

They checked all the rooms and found nothing, again.

"Let's take a rest. The Extra isn't on this floor." said Hisk, leaning with his back against a wall. 3 nodded and turned to go sit a little bit more down the corridor. That's when Hisk struck. He turned on his taser and swung it quickly through the air straight into 3's neck. But 3 reacted super fast. Inhumanly so and in an inhuman manner, by twisting his arm from the elbow down around and using his fingers as a shield, which have turned a mechanical like greyish black, an image of a policeman stuck in place where he was before.

Sparks shot out and Hisk took his chance. He used his right leg to knee 3 straight in the side before sliding his taser back towards himself and using the back of it to smack 3 on the back of the head. 3 was sent stumbling forward, his arm going to his side as if trying to protect against the kick that happened already. Hisk moved backwards and activated his Aura. Flames started to envelop him but they moved slowly and calmly, and they were a deep blue.

3 turned around flexing his right arm which was slow to respond as if lagging.

"That would've hu-u-urt." groaned out 3.

Hisk put his taser back in its holder to recharge while taking a fighting stance.

"Hisk, your Aura is nice and calm. Wanna compare it to mi-i-i-inee?"3 said as he spread his arms out. His right arm was a bit slower than his left one, Hisk noticed.

An Aura started to envelop 3, an azure blue, almost turquoise one, this one more chaotic than Hisk's.

"What's the point? Your one's boring. You Extras think you are so strong after you cheat your way into getting an Aura, but you are still as weak as before." said Hisk, waving his hands sarcastically, the hologram 3 wore struggling to hide him; glitches and wavering.

'At least the jammer works, a little.'

"Same goes to you. Even after getting an aura, you are still weak if you don't have it activated. We Extras might not get a power boost like you when we have our Aura active but we are tens of times stronger than humans even without an Aura so I think we got the upper hand." retorted 3, taking a step forward.

Hisk still doesn't know why all Extras speak like that.

'Just go along with it.'

"But your Aura Powers are so bland, being limited to only elemental ones make it so people can find it out easily." said Hisk, extending their talk, anything that helped him scout the Extra out more was welcome, even obvious statements.

"I guess so, but what are they gonna do? My Aura Power makes it so I'm harder to kill even with a plan."

3 took another step. Then the wood shattered underneath him. 3 flew towards Hisk at incredible speeds, his face and uniform began glitching before disappearing, revealing a robot body that, unlike the Terminator movie show you, resemble the muscular system and not just the skeleton, which rubberish material and other things replacing muscle.

"That's if you can use it well," said Hisk.

3 punched with his right hand, coating it with most of his chaotic Aura, while Hisk met it with a punch of his own, his aura still covering all of his body. The hits connected and the wood shattered, broke, creaked and bent, along with the doors breaking off near them, the hinges shattered into pieces. Wind bellowed out violently following the initial shockwave.

And blood gushed out of Hisk's hand.

His shirt and jacket sleeves were torn open, along with some of his skin and he was sure he broke some finger bones, but he took the hit. Hisk was pushed down into the floor by the punch, the only reason he didn't descend a floor was because his Aura diffused the power of the hit evenly across it. But 3 did much better. His knuckles only bent in a bit before they were sent to the side of Hisk along with his arm.

Perfect. He started to punch with his left hand but something punched into him: a bit of Hisk's Aura. Aura can be used so that it turns into blobs that "punch".

Since 3 put all his Aura into his punch and sent it all out, he has nothing to defend himself with against Hisk's next attack, not even his Aura Power since he needs Aura for that; he only has his body. But only tens of times the power of humans isn't a lot against a thing that can bend and break Jaxon metal. Especially when there's more than one.

Another Aura punch and another one came out of Hisk's aura, turning into an Aura punch barrage. The first punch bent a few minor bits, the second bent those more. 3's eyes widened realising his doom, before being shut by another punch. Over 230 Aura punches descended onto 3 in the span of 4 seconds, which bent and broke his body, before launching it down the corridor by Hisk punching it himself with an Aura covered fist. Actual punches coated in one's Aura are much stronger than full Aura punches because they have a physical medium to help output the power.

3 crashed through the wall of the house and crash-landed into the dirt outside, creating a small pit. His body was bent out of shape; his left arm was gone halfway down, his right arm bent 4 different directions with sparks coming out, his right leg completely bent in and his left leg full of dents and bends, his torso and chest sparkling happily, some dirt can be seen through the holes opened by bent metal and his jaw along with half his head completely broken to bits.

Hisk tore off the ripped sleeves, leaving both his shirt's and jacket's left sleeve come to an end at his elbow, and bandaged up his bleeding hand. The blood on the floor already started evaporating.

Another feature of being a Guarded, if a Guarded's blood is spilt, it would steam away. The theory is that it turns into life energy, whatever that is Hisk doesn't know. This is true for anything that the Guarded lose from their body apart from natural bodily fluids like pee or stomach acid unless they're dead. Then everything steams away.

Hisk turned around and went towards the corner which leads back to the stairs, leaving 3 to be taken by Shrouds.

But a loud clang made him turn around to see 3 jump towards him, covered in Aura, his bent right arm readied to punch. There's not enough time to dodge nor space as Hisk quickly covers his arms in his Aura and blocks the punch, leaving him relatively unscathed until he got shot backwards not only because of the hit but also because of the wind 3 produced to fling him away. He smacked into the wall at the corner, smashing the rest of the unbroken glass from the windows left there after the first hit, and making it fall onto him.

3 stood in front of him, breaking down, wires falling along with sparks and the screeching of metal against metal.

"Damn you. Hisk-k-k.I could. Have been. Immortal." He said, taking a step towards Hisk.

Hisk flinched, frustrated a bit. 3 stepped closer before leaning down to look at Hisk.

"Any last.Words before. I kill.You.Hisk?" asked 3, in broken sentences while raising his Aura covered fist and making wind revolve around it causing a screech.

"Yeah. Take that hit you gave me back."Hisk said as he raised his injured hand and placed 2 fingers on 3's chest.3 seemed confused before realising what this was.' I forgot! Hisk's Aura power! I need to-'

[Aura Power: Impact Release]

A hole was torn open in 3's chest, destroying everything inside. Hisk made sure to use only 2 fingers so that the impact is more concentrated and less spread out so there's less knockback for a certain reason. 3 flew back and as he reached the first doorway on the right, the one Hisk "searched", a snap sounded out.

A string could be seen caught onto 3, a tripwire he broke when flung back.

"Goodbye," said Hisk before the device activated and the ceiling was torn open as heavy and hard objects all fell on 3, trapping him. Killing him.

Hisk relaxed a bit, staring at the hunk of metal in front of him. He decided to take a small break, watching the blood evaporate from around him. He then stood up and headed down the corridor while holding the wall. All of that made him feel woozy. From 3's body under the wreckage, steam came out of his head, his brain starting to evaporate.

Getting down the stairs was a hard task for Hisk. He wasn't in his prime and the glass shards that kept falling off his shoulders distracted him, not to mention the headache he had. When he reached the bottom he looked at the 2 fingers he killed 3, or since 3 was a machine, "disabled", him with and he saw they were cracked open, blood flowing down. His ability makes it so that he can store impacts by getting hit and then release them. He has to work on his move names.

Getting hit has obvious disadvantages however he can use his aura which makes it mostly painless. Storing an impact strains his body, not to mention releasing it isn't always perfect and can, and will, lead to injury.

"Took care of him?" shouted a voice from the other room, the one the double doors lead to.

Hisk walked in and saw all 3 of the others smoking in the corner.

"Yeah."

"Man, you should pay extra for that guy who faked the mission with the Chief's personal details and that, the Extra couldn't tell shit!"

They laughed.

"Will do, "Hisk said as he walked towards them, seeing a cigarette packet on a little table in the middle of them.

"So how much we getting for taking care of 'im?" asked Jessica.

"5k each," responded Hisk as he took out a cigarette. The other 3 cheered hearing the number. Hisk took a lighter with him and headed towards the door.

"Thought you didn't smoke?"

"I need some stress relief too."

"Understandable."

"By the way, where's the disruptor? I'm heading to the car to get some quiet time and might as well get it."

"Here, it's yours anyway," said Jessica as she picked it up from next to her with one hand, activating her Aura, and throwing it at Hisk. Hisk threw the lighter from his right hand to his left, the one holding the cig, and, after activating his Aura, caught it.

"Thanks," he said before turning around and walking towards the exit.

Jessica and the other 2 also had Auras, but all were a bland grey colour because they were Powerless. They still were Guarded but their Auras didn't have Powers. Most of the Guarded are Powerless. It might be a blessing or a curse, as Hisk remembers all the Guarded that rely too much on their powers. Powerless were right that not having a power might be good.

And they were right, Hisk doesn't smoke.

As he got outside, he put the disruptor down and lit the cigarette before opening the lighter and spilling all the fluid out, he then put it in his pocket. He blew into the cigarette causing it to light up and the pressed it against something next to his hand. A small string. A string infused with few flammable materials. It caught fire and pretty quickly made it's way into the building, up the stairs and toward the metal pile, where there was a small pile of flammable, solid gasoline. It started to burn.

That weakened the wood and then made all the metal fall through the floor, straight on the other 3. 1, Hisk never found out his real name, and Jessica died almost instantly, their spines or brains crushed, Fred wasn't so lucky as he got stuck between some metal. And it started to get hot.

Hisk was in the car, the disruptor in the back. He watched as the whole house started to burn and then become a blazing inferno. He was already on the road but nobody came around here anyway; too dark and too far. He started to see Shrouds encircle the place, pitch-black bodies with white, glowing eyes. They tried to get in but couldn't; too hot. 'They are attracted to light and sound so after 4 in winter or 8 in summer, no one is allowed outside, apart from Guarded because they can fight them off.'

Hisk scoffed.

"They got me doing it as well, now." He pulled out onto the street, looking and enjoying the view. He sighed.

"I need a break."

Hisk has seen enough. He drove down the road, cruising quietly and quickly, his headlights off. He was using the night vision mode on the windscreen, pretty cool in a city, life-saving outside of it since he didn't need to use headlights.

And like that, Hisk headed back to the station, having taken care of some Hunted, both 3 and the others were on a list, 3 in a black market target one, the others on the Chief's target list.

And on this day, Fise was born.

NUMBER 3:

GUARDED,

EXTRA,

DEAD,

KILLED BY HISK

NUMBER 2/ FRED:

GUARDED, POWERLESS

DEAD,

KILLED BY FIRE(HISK)

NUMBER 4/JESSICA:

GUARDED, POWERLESS,

DEAD

KILLED BY BRAIN BEING CRUSHED, FALLING METAL(HISK)

NUMBER 1:

GUARDED, POWERLESS,

DEAD,

KILLED BY SPINE BEING CRUSHED, FALLING METAL(HISK)