The Special Magic Squad

Yaku turned to Jack. He tapped him on the shoulder.

"Jack...?" (Yaku)

"Yuhuh?" (Jack)

"I have a question? You don't use hand signs to summon your magic do you?" (Yaku)

"Sure yeah, I defiantly don't. I don't...? Why?! Is that bad?!" (Jack)

"No. But, hand signs are a way to control your magic. I haven't seen you use them, and I don't think it would hurt to try?" (Yaku)

Jack looked at his hands. All he could see was a distant memory of someone he loved. Of someone he cared about. The memory faded as fast as it appeared.

He closed his eyes and slapped his hands together creating an Eiffel Tower-like type shape.

Nothing happened.

"Yeah, I don't feel any difference?" (Jack)

"It has to flow naturally. Look at me." (Yaku)

Yaku pulled out Hermes and gripped tight to its yellow-feathered wooden grip. He closed his eyes.

"My magic ability allows me to see the hearts of monsters. I can learn their hand signs and use their magic once I turn them into a weapon... So try looking into the heart of yourself and seeing your own magic." (Yaku)

Jack closed his eyes once again. Memories flashed by in an instant.

"Nope. Not doing it. Nah nah nahhhhhhh noooooooo! No way!" (Jack)

"Why?" (Yaku)

Jack quickly turned away.

"Just a big fat stinking no!" (Jack)

"Ok suit yourself. Just trying to help." (Yaku)

Yaku turned and fell asleep on the helicopter seat. Jack looked at him feeling guilty for some odd unknown reason.

"Wait I-" (Jack)

"Too late!" (Yaku)

"A-" (Jack)

"Nope! Good night!" (Yaku)

"A... Ok... Fine..." (Jack)

---

Dublin, Ireland.

A man in an all-white Magic Force uniform and a black flower pin walked through the streets. He walked with his hands firmly in his pockets, relaxing and vibing to the cold daily breeze.

He walked humming an old melody to himself, prancing along the pathways of life, until he spotted an old lady in the distance.

He walked up to the old lady, holding his hand, waving hello.

"Yo, yo! What's up?" (Colt)

The old lady turned with a muted expression.

Colt tilted his head to the side pretending to be confused.

"Are you ok? Can you not talk?" (Colt)

The old woman stood still, not talking or moving.

"Oh I see. You're a monster." (Colt)

The old lady looked up at the man in white. She looked at his stunningly simple face and white hair that swayed in front of his eyes. His silly playful smirk, like he was laughing inside, like he knew he was strong, the strongest.

The old woman began to shake profusely.

He held out his hand.

"Still not talkin huh? Hmmm...? You know I heard stories about you. The town folk talked about an old woman from the manor on the hill. They also said if any kids go to the manor a monster would eat them. But you came to the town-" (Colt)

He looked down at the old woman's hands. He saw a ripped up bloody shirt.

"Oh I see." (Colt)

He smiled touching the woman on the shoulder.

Suddenly her mouth opened wide, a thousand teeth, a thousand little mouths inside each other, they all spoke in unison.

"KillKillKillKillKillKillKillKill!"

Colt leaned forward. His grinning face pressed against the horrifying monster of a million tiny screams.

"So that's all you say... Disappointing." (Colt)

He slapped his two hands together pointed to the sky, like he was praying to a higher power.

Flip.

The world flipped upside down. Colt flipped upside down.

His body hung in the air, with his legs pointing toward the sky and his head pointing toward the ground. He perfectly floating still like he had become the center of gravety.

The monster of many mouths just stood still, screaming the same word over and over again.

"KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL!"

"Come on! Be more original! Your just a normal old shape-shifting monster. I'll end this quick." (Colt)

The monster swung at him.

But as her wrinkly arms flung across the air Colt flipped his hands upside down, sending the gravity in all directions, making him flip across the sky and land directly behind her.

He released his hands, whispering.

"I call this move death from space." (Colt)

The monster turned around swinging at full force as Colt slapped his two hands back together, praying toward the sky once again.

Flip.

"Bye-bye." (Colt)

The monster of many mouths looked up to the sky. Its legs in the sky. The sky. The sky. The sky.

Like Magic. The monster floated up and up

"KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL..."

It screamed the same word over and over again, trying to reach for the ground. But thee was no way. Gravity had shifted to the sky. There was no way to break free. She fell up. Faster, faster, faster!

Colt waved goodbye and walked away humming the same old song to himself.

Minutes later he looked back up to the cold cloudy sky to see a distant red dot flying across the atmosphere.

"Oh, it's burning up. Huh...? Didn't expect that. Guess it saves the cleaners some time." (Colt)

---

Tokyo, Japan.

On a towering skyscraper that looked over all of Tokyo. Jack and Yaku have finally arrived at their next destination, the Temporary Special Magic Squad Headquarters.

They landed on the roof helipad.

"Where are we? The city's so pretty." (Jack)

"Were in Tokyo." (Yaku)

Yaku jumped from the helicopter, landing on the rooftop with ease. Jack followed thumping to the helipad like a madman. He looked over the city with glistening eyes.

"Wow! It's so big. So pretty." (Jack)

"It is. It's the prettiest... It's also my home." (Yaku)

Jack jumped in front of Yaku.

"Home? But you speak perfect English?" (Jack)

Yaku silently strolled past him, ignoring his questions and pointing toward the vast city of lights in the pitch of night.

"See all those lights right out there. That place is Akihabara. And if we follow the streets and the skyline we will then get to Taito, and you see that river?" (Yaku)

"No." (Jack)

"Well, there's a river there. And that's where I lived for the first ten years of my life. I still remember it like it was yesterday. Back when Japan still hadn't excepted the Universal Magic Force Pact. And back when they had to pay the price for it." (Yaku)

Yaku remembered a distant memory. He shook in horror looking out at the rebuilt city that stood taller than it once was.

"I can still remember it to this day. So vivid." (Yaku)

Jack empathized with Yaku. He felt sorry for his memory, for his horrifying past. He started to relate to him. He felt the same pain, the same loss, the same feeling.

---

The two entered the Special Magic Squad Headquarters.

Electric paths of black to yellow, a glossy floor with black reflective walls and golden intricate details all about.

They walked past empty hallways of countless doors labeled in funny characters and unknown Japanese kanji. They reached a staircase.

They walked down twenty floors, stepping step by step, thirteen steps a level, a hundred per five floors. They walked until they reached the end of the staircase.

A thick metal door stood grand in front of them. It was labeled, Leasure Hall.

The door magically opened in front of them to a smiling round man in a skin-tight butler's outfit holding a silver tray and a stainless white cloth.

"Sir Jack and Sir Yaku. Welcome to the Magic Force's Temporary Base of Operations Number Fifty-Two. Or like I was told to say by Sir Colt. Welcome to Japan, Fuckers." (Bob)

Jack stepped back stunned by this quick and blunt meeting.

"Umm... Well it's nice you two Fucker." (Jack)

Yaku stepped up, holding his briefcase between his arm and his chest.

"Who are you?" (Yaku)

Bob looked up with his smiling round face and slicked back black hair.

"I am the butler of the Special Magic Squad. You may call me by my given name... Bob." (Bob)

Yaku stared out at the grand architecture of the Leasure Hall.

He looked at all the levels of the building, the grand room with hundreds of tables, hundreds of chairs, pillars reaching the highest points of the four-floor grand gallery. Small stands, vending machines, couches littered across the glossy and carpeted floor, with TVs on every three sets.

It was a wide thirty-foot space, with not a single person in sight.

"Where is everyone?" (Yaku)

"It's deserted." (Jack)

"I was told by Madam Diana to wait for her to give the tour of the premise so I can not reveal all the information at hand. However, I was specifically told to clarify that the Special Magic Squad only has six members at the current moment, not including you two." (Bob)

"Six? Only six? For this huge place? Now that's some special treatment." (Jack)

"Yes, you are right. Special treatment indeed. The Special Magic Squad is not a permanent Squad, unlike the others. So we do not have the manpower to hold our own squad headquarters or base. We are instead moved across the world to temporary holds." (Bob)

Jack looked around at the grand space. He walked up to a random mannequin in the corner of one of the seating areas.

"So where are the six members? Are they here?" (Yaku)

"Madam Emma, Sir Harrinhorn, and Master Colt are out on a mission. While the other four-" (Bob)

Bob stopped himself and quickly glanced at his wristwatch. Jack walked back over playing with the arm of the mannequin.

"As a matter of fact. Madam Diana and others shall arrive in, five, four, three, two-" (Bob)

Ding.

At the back of the Leasure Hall, a small cramped elevator opened up, revealing a stunningly beautiful tall woman with long silky black hair and sharp black heels. Behind her stood two slouched men in the same black uniform with blue third-class flower pins. Diana wore a red flower pin.

She slowly strolled up to Jack, Yaku, and Bob as Vlad jumped to one of the couches. He laid out in full while his through slowly filled with vomit. Qway picked up a small trashcan and tossed it across the hall sending trash in all directions.

"Don't throw up on the floor dip shit." (Qway)

"Shut up...! Dingus...! You made more of a mess than me!" (Vlad)

He threw up into the bucket as Qway strolled over a couch and TV.

Bob slowly inched away picking up the littered trash on the floor.

Jack stared at the beautiful Diana in front of him. He turned to whisper to Yaku.

"Yaku. She's so hot. Her hair, her face. She's just my type." (Jack)

Yaku whispered back.

"Shut up. I don't want to hear another word about your type and girls. I've had enough about it on the plane." (Yaku)

Jack ignored Yaku and kept rambling.

"Should I try to ask her out?" (Jack)

"No! Definitely not. She's the leading sorcerer of our squad. She's technically our boss." (Yaku)

The two boys immediately shut up as the beautiful woman stopped in front of them.

"Sorry for being late. We were drinking at the bar down the street." (Diana)

Vlad sat up screaming.

"The best bar ever!" (Vlad)

"Shut up drunk!" (Qway)

"I'm not drunk!" (Vlad)

"Yes you are." (Qway)

Qway jumped up and ran toward Vlad screaming in anger. Vlad pulled out a knife and swiped at him.

"We should leave them be for now." (Diana)

---

The two boys were led by Diana, walking down the sleek black and yellow hallways of glossy gold and striking lean glass.

"Sorry about those two boys back there. Vlad is never that loud, it's only when he's drunk that he gets that way. And Qway, he's a bit of a short-tempered, but deep down he's nice." (Diana)

"Do they fight all the time?" (Jack)

"All the time, but they don't usually pick fights with others. You two will get used to it." (Diana)

The group of three stopped at a small window looking down into a large white gymnasium, filled with weights, dumbells, and a treadmill in the corner. Jack was immediately intrigued, he pressed his face against the window glaring in at all the workout equipment. Yaku peeked in.

"It looks an isolation chamber." (Yaku)

"it's actually the Magic Training Room. It's built to withstand any magic, with a special type of technology meant to limit magic output." (Diana)

"I want to use it now!" (Jack)

"No one really uses it, well except for Colt. He made it into his own personal gym and he kinda gets mad when someone uses it. But don't worry, he's a big old goofball. He'll go easy on you two." (Diana)

Yaku's eyes lit up. He remembered the name Colt from somewhere, the name kept ringing in his head over and over again, like it was important but not important enough to be remembered.

"Who's this Colt guy? I think I've heard of him before?" (Yaku)

Diana turned a full one-eighty in the opposite direction. Her face turned soft and quiet.

"Yaku your very focused and have a lot of self-control. You shouldn't meet with Colt. He will only rot your soul and mind. While..." (Diana)

She looked at Jack's delighted unpredictable face.

"...Him on the other hand..." (Diana)

She pulled Yaku to the side of the hallway. Her face serious and concerned.

"Yaku, don't ever let Jack become enchanted by Colt's charm. No matter how strong he is, no matter how crazy charming or wild or funny or anything he does to get your attention. He will only create misfortune. Even among us, even among the most special of the special, he is truly a special case." (Diana)

---

The group walked past the kitchen, the dining hall, the game center, the vehicle room, the weapons room, the communications office. They walked up three hidden floors through hidden elevators and hidden stairways.

"Lastly we have made it to the end of our tour. This is the sleeping quarters." (Diana)

She pointed to two rooms across from each other.

"This one is yours, Jack. And this one over here is yours, Yaku. Bob prepared your rooms and everything so please keep care of them so that Bob doesn't have too much work. Also, give him a thank you or something next time you see him. He needs it." (Diana)

Jack looked down the long hallway of hundreds of rooms and doors with names plastered across each one.

"Are these other rooms taken as well?" (Jack)

"Ummm. No. We um... We kinda rent out bases from time to time across countries and cities. It's our thing. Whenever another Squad or Division needs our help they send us across countries to set up base. Though I am not one-hundred on why Squad Yua wants us in Tokyo?" (Diana)

Jack looked up at his door, his name attached by a blank sheet of paper and a lot of loose tape. Yaku entered his room quickly.

"Oh um... Yaku. Before you go. Tomorrow we eat breakfast in the dining hall." (Diana)

"Thanks. Goodnight." (Yaku)

He quickly slammed his door shut.

"He must be cranky." (Jack)

"No, he's probably tired. It's been a long day for him." (Diana)

Diana looked at the long line of names and doors across countless isles. She looked straight at Jack. His height one inch shorter than hers. His hair lighter than hers. His eye's brighter than hers. His smile wider than hers.

He entered his room waving goodbye.