The Trio

The trio continued their conversation in the city's central park. As evening approaches, the warm sun, along with the gentle breeze between the artificial forest of the park, made the environment quite soothing.

"As I was saying, my old-man worked as a researcher in the energy institute," said Emilio, lacking the joyful tone he had earlier, "all I know was that he worked on something 'extremely significant', according to him."

"And now you know what he was working on," replied Tracy.

"Yep. Thanks to you, the puzzle pieces now connect: his understanding of particle physics, him working in energy research…antimatter power is the most efficient one we can ever dream of."

"Uh, I didn't expect another nerd in the team," complained Tracy, feeling left out for her lack of understanding for the technical terms.

"C'mon, I'm the son of a researcher. It is natural for me to know stuff." Emilio then turned towards Edwin. "It seems that you also understand these nerdy terms! Guess we'll have a good time together!"

Edwin closed his eyes and sighed, still uneasy about how this friendly boy tried to kill him some hours ago.

"Anyways," continued Emilio, "as I was saying, we live close to my dad's work place, so naturally, with my curiosity and confident in my power, I had to sneak out to take a look that night…and that was when I came face-to-face with him."

"Him?" asked Edwin. That pronoun caught his attention.

"The person responsible for the disaster – the esper. I caught a glimpse of him in the middle of a burning hallway. Of course, I threw myself straight into the fight, and as a result…"

Emilio's voice gradually weakened on the last phrase as he lifted up the side of his shirt. There, around where bandages were strapped around his waist. Beneath the white strips, carbonated skin revealed itself slightly, like the edge of a burnt page.

"Oh, lord!" gasped Tracy, trying to look away.

"That is nothing compared to what I really lost that night." Emilio growled silently; his fists clenched tightly around him after he suddenly stopped walking.

"That murderer…I want him to taste every bit of my emotions," he kept going, eyes staring blankly at the floor with burning fury.

He had become an entirely different person than when he was five minutes ago, transforming from a vivacious extrovert to what seemed like a ghastly murderer.

"I want tear him apart, kill him a thousand times, rip him to a million fragments-"

Emilio stopped with a slight tremble when a forceful pat landed on his shoulder, followed. Edwin had his hand on him and spoke calmly, yet without losing his prestige.

"Save the anger. He's not here."

Emilio looked at Edwin vaguely. Edwin's stare didn't feel threatening, but warm, like a beam of sunlight…as if this fellow in front of him understands how he feels. Emilio then scratched his head and put on an awkward laugh.

"Heh, my bad. Almost lost myself again…sorry for that.

"You sure are temperamental," exclaimed Tracy, "anyways, are you sure that we are facing a powerful individual?"

"Yep. To elaborate, that third-degree burn beneath my shirt came from what looked like a huge laser beam. I still remember the unbearable heat and loud explosion when it grazed me."

"And from our little adventure, we found an entire organization working for him," elaborated Tracy, "so, yeah, this will get tough."

"Any ideas of what they are up to?" asked Emilio.

This time, it was Edwin who stopped, leaving the other two striding for a step or two before turning back.

"Have you ever had this feeling that…you have lost everyone you trusted or thought could trust – either by having them turning against you or simply dying?" he spoke with his eyes closed, with a dragged tone, "when you felt like nothing was worth existing for how twisted they are? That all should just perish?"

The last phrase came out unconsciously as a suppressed roar. Both Emilio and Tracy were speechless for a second, before gazing at each other.

"Don't look at me," said Tracy, "that was the most emotions he ever expressed."

"So, what are you getting at, my friend," said Emilio, taken aback by Edwin's dark thoughts.

"If our enemy believe so, then their purpose is simple: to destroy. As we have tested, they are building a device that can only be used as a bomb," said Edwin after gaining his composure, "it is very probable that they want the city gone."

The rest of the trio went quiet again. Though they were hinted at the possibility earlier, having perhaps the most composed and sober person in the team confirming that still shocked them.

"Huh. When did us, a gang of lost brats, become possible saviors of the town?" reflected Emilio, with a light laugh, "I mean, you've seen how he single-handedly hammered the most capable policemen."

Just when their conversation neared its end, two very familiar figures came from the other end of the pathway.

"Oh boy, would you look who that is!"

Officer Dan laughed as he strode closer toward the trio with his partner, Officer Jose.

"What are you doing here?" asked Edwin, feeling uneasy as he noticed the surprised expression of Dan, suggesting that he already noticed the most usual thing about the situation.

"Holy, kid…are those young lads around you your…" gasped Dan, coughing as he spit out the word that he thought would never apply to Edwin, "…friends?"

"Um, they are not..." murmured Edwin, not knowing how to answer; his voice diminishing.

"Yep, we are his buddies! Nice meeting you, officer." Tracy replied lively, then swinged his arms around the shoulders of Edwin and Emilio, with the former desperately trying to get free and the latter laughing."

"You sure have a low expectation on the boy's social relationship, Dan," commented Jose, awkwardly watching Dan still recovering from the shock.

"You know this boy, Dan?" asked Jose.

"Oh…yep. That's the 'neighbor's kid' I told you about," answered Dan, while giving an almost unnoticeable wink at Edwin – they both wanted to keep their situations secret.

"Ah, I see," answered Jose, then turning to the trio, "kids, just call me Jose. That's my partner, Dan."

"Greetings!" said Emilio enthusiastically.

"Now that is a significant moment, kid," said Dan as he took out his smart phone and handed to his partner, "it's a moment to cherish forever! Here, Jose, take a photo of us."

"You're exaggerating…" complained Edwin.

Before Edwin could finish, Jose captured the scene of Dan patting Edwin, who looked quite uncomfortable, and the other two kids posing.

"That should do," said Dan, walking away, satisfied with his phone.

"By the way, I heard a compelling conversation just now." Jose leaned closer, his tone suddenly becoming serious. "I did just hear the word 'esper' pop-up, didn't I?"

Edwin, though maintaining his poker face, was instinctively alerted. He peered at the other two accomplices – they were also getting defensive, just not on the surface.

"Well, we were just talking about how interesting their rumored powers are…" muttered Emilio with an uncomfortable smile, "shooting laser beams and all…"

"Welp, let me tell you this," said Jose, his voice getting deeper and tougher, "these espers…they are so much more terrifying than you can imagine. Trust me, I've seen them in action: concrete pillars dusted in seconds, metal instantly vaporized, lives mercilessly taken…be very careful, young lads."

Edwin wasn't sure whether others noticed it or not, but he was certain Jose's threatening sight lingered on him slightly longer than it did on others.

"Anyways, you guys just be careful and call us when needed." Jose suddenly returned to the humble uncle he was and waved the teens goodbye. "Have a nice evening, people."

"He does that to kids and rookies just to scare them. Sorry about that," apologized Dan jokingly, "anyways, Edwin, glad seeing you opening up. See you people later!"

Edwin gave him a frustrated look and waved goodbye, watching the officers leaving.

"So that is the old uncle you live with," said Tracy after they have walked away far enough, "does he know?"

"No," answered Edwin, "and we will keep it that way."

◆ ◆ ◆

The hour hand of the wrist watch struck ten in the night – the time for rest for most of the city.

To him, it's the time for slaughter.

The hooded man dragged his robe full of tears across the concrete pavement. He was whistling an old pop song he heard back in the army – one of the only enjoyments he had during the war times a decade ago. Then, a series of laughing coming from the nearby alley interrupted him.

He walked towards the gap between two brick walls, where ponds of sewage water glimmered under the half-broken road lamp. A gang of teenagers were spraying paint all over the wall, creating their art work while emptied cans littered around their feet.

"To hell you go, espers!" said the large, red phrase printed on the brick wall. Beneath it was a painting of a figure tied to a wooden pole while being burnt in a mountainous of flames.

This image seemed to triggered some of the most unpleasant memories of the robed man – soldiers screaming in fear and pain; friends and families dying in front of him; hysterical laughter coming from himself while standing between piles of burned bodies he had created…

Just when the 'artists' were finishing up, a series of footsteps startled them as they turned around in alert.

"I'm afraid I don't agree with the slogan, boys," the man in robes walked closer, suppressing the burning anger beneath the brown hood.

"Who the hell you think you are?" Seeing that it wasn't the police, a teen called back and took out a dagger. "You don't want no trouble, then leave. We got more than enough guys to beat one homeless man to a pulp."

"Erase this crap, now." The man growled under his breath. "Final warning."

"Not happening, punk," shouted the leading teen in anger, approaching the man with his weapon, "now leave, or we will-"

The explosion that followed produced a blinding light that could be seen from ten block away. The dust cloud from the vaporized bricks were yet to settle. The hooded man walked through the destroyed alleyway, stepping on the unrecognizable piles of carbonated bodies.

"Damn…failed to hold my temper again…" he complained, shaking his right hand, which was still steaming hot from the plasma beam it just fired.

A boy's weeping caught his attention. He walked deeper into the destroyed alley, and found a boy – a lot younger than the other ones – crying in fear and curled in the corner of the wall.

"Hey, you," called the man, "no more hate for espers, understood?"

The boy looked up in fear. The blurry view of the robed man seen from his teary eyes resembled a demon – a merciless, powerful monster. The boy, in fear of death, regained his strength and dashed away.

"Little prick. Did he really understand me?" sighed the man, "maybe should have killed him right away…was that mercy I just showed? So incompetent of me."

He kept walking, ignoring the police sirens coming from behind. The fact that he let the boy live still troubled him – after all, he was the all-mighty cadre of 'Remedy': the most powerful anti-matter controlling esper, codenamed 'Positron'.

"Well, no need to worry about that." Positron decided, cracking his neck, then his fingers. "I still got a job to do. Time to retrieve what these pathetic police stole from us."

While the patrolling officers and detectives kept the search for the criminal going, the investigation on the lab found underground had been running non-stop. Guarded by the finest armed policemen, engineers, scientists, and officers have been examining the facility day and night, locating every bit of details, ranging from the tiniest bolts to the largest cranes on site.

With a close look on the overall structure, a few important deductions were made: first, the devices and blueprints discovered here – which suggested that the owners must have fled in a hurry – show the usage of technologies developed in the Energy Institute, which was attacked a week ago; second, non-lethal, yet abundant traces of gamma radiation were also present, which can only be generated by antimatter-matter annihilation – something the institute had been working on. The construction here, however, shows no signs of power generation whatsoever, meaning that the antimatter here would be used for a much more sinister purpose: as a weapon. In conclusion, it seemed that this organization raided the lab for the necessary technologies to weaponize and store antimatter. But as to the purpose of these acts, no one had any certain clues.

The underground lab was as peaceful as it had been since its discovery, with the noisy clicks of cameras taking photographs, accompanied with the occasional flash of cameras.

The temporary peace was broken by an urgent call from the intercom.

"An unidentified and armed personnel is heading toward the entrance, stay alert-" Right when the noise cut off with a sharp buzz, a strong glow reached the lab from the direction of the tunnel's entrance. A second later, the loud boom resonating underground reached the lab as the metallic devices rattled.

"This is the lab unit, calling the surface unit, do you copy?" There were no replies.

The patrols soon heard a reverberating sound coming from the entrance – it was a steady footstep, which was growing louder and clearer as the malevolent intruder approached. Then, there he was, overlooking the patrols from the elevated staircase. After taking his hands out of the large pockets on his robes, he lifted the oversized hood that covered his age-worn and scruffy face, where numerous scars stretched across his face like canyons on a map. Under the greasy dark hair was a pair of blood-thirsty eyes.

"Put your hands where I can see them," yelled an officer as he pointed his gun at the intruder, "identify yourself!"

"Out of my way…" threatened the robed man as he proceeded to pull his loose sleeves up, revealing the mechanical devices around his forearms.

Then, a wide, terrifying smile stretched across his face. "…or else…prepare yourselves for a big cleanse."