The Mysterious Intruder (Part One)

Age 1991

"Wait! We're really going to just do nothing?" Ken shouted as she raised her arms up.

The group was finally back in the hotel they had been provided.

"Yes," Dawson said simply. "I don't care what Hero smelled. We have no proof of how his nose works. There could also be an explanation to this."

"I know what I smelled..." Hero muttered rubbing his nose. "It was awful..."

Dawson let out a heavy sigh. "Look... I want to stop these murders as much as you guys do. From moral standpoint these murders are wrong, disgusting things. But that isn't how the Enforcers work! We have a mission to follow. As long as these murder cases stay small and only focus on normal humans, then chances are the Enforcers won't get involved for free. Either they need to hire us, which I doubt they can do since this mission would be a high B-Class to a low A-Class. If they really, really, really wanna put a stop to these murders than they should hire a freelancer to help." The man reached out placing a hand on Ken's head. "You're still young Ken... You'll learn how a real Enforcer is eventually-"

Ken turned away from the man as she let out several small mutters of breath. "Gah... This is so stupid!" She yelled storming off.

Sif gave a small eye-roll as she folded arms. "That girl is such a brat..."

"You were the same way when you were her age-" A black hand of darkness shot out slamming Nick into the wall. "So...Sorry..." Nick gasped out hitting the floor.

The room seemed to grow silent as a pause hit them all.

"Hero. Sera. Why don't you both go back to your room, and talk to Ken." Dawson asked them.

"It would he my honor to bestow the wisdom of the Nobles on her!" Sera announced.

"Yeah, whatever," Dawson said not caring. "Hey, Hero..." He grabbed the boy's shoulder pulling him closer to him as he began to whisper to him. "Listen. I've grown rather fond of Ken. She's small and adorable."

"Umm..."

"What I mean to say is this. Watch over her for me. Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid..." The Red-Demon said quietly as his yellow eyes peered into Hero's multi-colored eyes. "Guard her."

"O...Okay..."

"I'm serious. Make sure she doesn't get into any trouble. I've seen that girl. Just looking at her I can tell. She's going to do great things."

"Am I gonna do great things?"

Dawson was silent as he stared at Hero. "Do you want the truth?"

"Yes?"

Dawson reached out placing a hand on Hero's head. His eyes seemed to glow for a moment. "Fero..." He muttered quietly. He waited for a few seconds before finally pulling back as his eyes stopped glowing. "You're going to die like an Enforcer." He said simply as he turned away.

"What! What does that mean?" Hero questioned eying the man?

Dawson turned away from the boy as he gave a half-wave. "The Enforcers have a small curse. No Enforcer, other than master Storm, and a small hand full of others, has lived past the age of thirty, and even then those that do, usually don't make it very far past the age of thirty. Every other Enforcer they either die before reaching that age, or they retire from the Enforcers, like Okami Otoko. No Enforcer has seen the age of thirty. Either you quit, or you die young. Judging from what I've seen, and just from what I know of you, you'll die like an Enforcer. You're not going to reach the age of thirty."

"Oh... Well shit."

"Relax," Dawson said letting out a small laugh. "My predictions aren't always true, and sometimes there's some twist to them. You'll die an ordinary Enforcer, but who knows? Maybe the definition of ordinary will change one day. Or it could all be false. I'm just telling you what I saw."

The group quietly watched Hero leave as the boy entered the elevator.

"You know you could have just said something else?" Sif muttered. "Telling him he would die young isn't very nice."

Dawson gave a shrug. "I figured he should know." He said quietly.

"Chances are it's right." Nick sighed out. "Hero isn't very strong. He might have a lot of stamina and energy to keep fighting but power is very lacking for him. Not to mention he rips his body apart. Most Seraphin's end up killing themselves. It is a power they simply can not use... Ahh well. Good thing he's the one that is a Seraphin and not someone actually important."

"Ouch," Sif said quietly. "That was just uncalled for."

Ren ignored the two Enforcers as she slowly moved over to Dawson. The Red-Demon turned when he saw her as he raised an eyebrow towards the young woman.

"Ren?" The man asked slowly.

"I wanted to apologize..." The second reserve, of this mission, said as she gave a small bow. "After thinking it over I realized that you were right. I allowed my judgment to be clouded by my feelings, rather than my duty. I urged Ken, and the other two recruits on, despite knowing how dangerous that was. It is my fault."

Dawson gave a small wave of the hand as he shrugged off her apology. "It hardly matters..." He said simply. "What is done, is done. Still though. What you did was certainly foolish and uncalled for. But as long as you learned from this mistake I am sure that lady Sif will understand-"

"It isn't Sif's approval that I am seeking..." Ren said quietly.

"What?" Dawson asked. Before he could get his answer though the elevator doors suddenly opened as a man stepped out...

Okane. The Noble that was staying here. Following behind him was his young daughter Heather.

Ren's breathing instantly stopped when she saw the man... The two stared back at each other for a few moments, both with a look or recognition. It wouldn't take a detective to figure out, that the two of them knew each other.

Dawson reached out placing a hand on Ren's shoulder. "Do you know him?"

Ren was silent for a moment before she broke Okane'd stare. "Of course I do... He's a famous Noble after all. I'm sure everyone knows who he is."

"That isn't what I meant..." Dawson said quietly. "That look he gave you. How does a Noble such as him know who you are? Ren? What are you hiding?"

Ren turned away from the man. "I think I'm going to head back to our room..." Ren said simply as she walked away. She stepped past Okane, the two of them sharing one more glance before she stepped onto the elevator.

Dawson gave a heavy frown as he stared at the Noble who was already heading towards the exit. Behind him, his daughter trailed after. She held a clearly annoyed look on her face as she followed after her dad.

"Just what exactly is going on..." Dawson muttered out.

A few hours later...

Hero set up no longer in the real world. All around him for miles, was a pool of red liquid. In the distance a pissed off Labcoat rested. It was the same old landscape.

Although this time something was different...

In the distance a large white hospital stood...

"So you weren't able to get rid of Hospital?" Hero said raising an eyebrow as he stared at the Labcoat.

"No..." Labby said practically spitting it out. "Now that I am chained up I no longer possess the ability to simply send them away... They are manifesting here again now."

"Good." Hero said flashing the Labcoat a smile. "I've been wanting to talk to them for a while... Umm... So what exactly are they?"

Labby let out a heavy sigh, despite not having a mouth. "Look at this way. In here you are the representation of Hero Otoko. I am the representation of control, and the will of Doctor Hyde. I represent the ability to control your power, while you represent the will of Hero Otoko, as well as his Attribute, the ability you call balloon. The lake of red, that we are standing in, is the smallest fragment, of the one you called 'mother...' This lake is her Attributes, final resting place held within your body. The thing taking the form of the hospital, which you have given the name 'Hospital' too, is also a representation. They represent the Monsterfication."

"So it isn't her..." Hero muttered out, as the image of the girl he promised he would save, came to his mind. "Not reall at least. Not Ava."

"No... It is not the one you love. Rather it is a representation of the power you now have from her." Labby explained. "Though at times it was possible for her will to seep through."

"So then why are you constantly sending them away?" Hero questioned. "And why are you able to send them away?"

"When I send them away it does not actually get rid of them. Rather it sends them back to the deepest parts of your mind. I do this because they are the most dangerous thing in here... The Lake of red feels nothing, and knows nothing, at least for now, since I have been locked up the lake has begun to expand... I am to monitor you, and kill you if you progress too quickly. They, however, are different. Their job is to take you over. They crave blood. Gore. Violence. Battle. Their job is to make you go out of control. To turn you into an actual monster. When a person with the Monsterfication loses control, the ability will snap. Their body will begin to expand, rapidly growing in places. The Monsterfication is the power to create new mass. Where as your Balloon power simply inflates mass, this one will create brand new skin, muscle, bones, it expands them increasing its mass, at a cost of control. The more you push its power the quicker it goes out of control. This is especially true for a Seraphin. One slip up, doesn't just mean you could rip your body apart. A slip up could mean you let the power take over. Then you'll become a real monster, falling over that edge. You would no longer be that naive caterpillar. You would be a monstrous butterfly. You will cease to exist. The will of Hero Otoko, his humanity is fragile, and easily able to be cracked. Like all of us in here you to have a job. It is your job to make sure his humanity does not break... It is your jobe to hold onto the edge of Humanity, and stay in your cacoon. Stay as a caterpillar. Stay humn."

"Why are you telling me this?" Hero asked curiously as he raised an eyebrow at Labby. "If I go out of control, and become a monster the Enforcers would kill me. Don't you want me to die?"

Labby stared down at him for a few moments. "I do... But I believe you misjudge me... I have... Shall we say, grown rather fond of the people you, or at least the real you, has met... I was forced to feel the compassion the real Hero felt for them. As such while I do want this host dead, I would prefer it if I was the one who did it, or at the very least if he killed himself by tearing his body apart. Not only would him losing control over the Monsterfication not result in an immediate death, but he would go out of control on a rampage, killing everyone in sight. He would hurt those close to him. And I simply do not wish for that to happen..."

"Oh, I get it..." Hero gave a small devilish grin. "You're actually a big softy!"

"I'll kill you."

Hero let out a sheepish laugh as he threw his hands behind his head. "Well. Thanks for telling me all this. It just confirmed something I wanted to know."

"What?"

"Not gonna say." Hero said simply as he walked forward towards the hospital in the distance. He stopped though turning back to the coat. "Oh yeah. I got a quick question I need you to answer. You about those power up things we can do? Enhancements or whatever they are called."

"Yes."

"Well that Vice-Captain guy told me mine didn't work?"

"That's because they didn't but they did."

"Aww what?"

"Like everything about you, you are different from a human. Seraphin's posses a different type of Enhancment. You see rather than simply growing stronger after recovering from near death they stack. A Seraphin's Enhancments are much stronger than a humans. They can greatly power them up in one go. But rather than activate one at a time, they instead stay in the body building up, than all at once they are unleashed. So you did in fact have your Enhacnments when you got near death, but they will not happen until you reach a certain level of them. Then all the one's you have will hit you all at once. It'll probably kill you. You did get stronger as even at 20% power you passed you previous 30% but that was only because your body remebered that level of power and boosted itself back to that level."

"Oh..." Hero said silently. "Wait! But I remember waking up and being stronger?"

"Yes. You're a Seraphin. Even without Enhacements your body grows at an incredible rate."

"Cool." Hero said nodding. "Well that's all I needed to hear. I'm gonna go say hi to Hospital!"

"What are you doing you fool! If they take control of you-"

Hero ignored the lab coat as he marched forward towards the hospital. As he got closer he began to notice the white sludge that was rolling off of it. It hit the red liquid beneath it, and sizzled up into nothingness. Apparently, the two didn't like each other...

"Hey Hospital!" Hero shouted waving his hand down at the building.

A silence seemed to pass over for a few seconds as the giant hospital began to slowly morph and bubble up. When it finished it now looked more humanoid. It had the appearance but a person, but lacked any features, such as a nose, mouth, eyes, or hair. It has two tentacle arms, and its entire body was made out of a white sludge-like thing...

Despite lacking a mouth to speak a loud rumble seemed to come out of it as it spoke...

"Hero..."

The entire void seemed to shake.

"Whoa... I don't remember that happening last time..." Hero muttered out shaking his head.

"Last time I was in control of how much power they could pull out." Labby explained somehow now by Hero's side. Though this couldn't be the real Labby as it was the size of a normal lab coat.

"Umm... How are you here?"

"What little power I have to work with is making this clone." The normal-sized lab coat explained. "Though I can't do anything really."

"Okay, then why?"

"To make sure you don't do something stupid and piss off the giant monster that can turn you into a monster."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Hero turned back to the giant hospital that was now staring down at him. "Hi!" He yelled out waving to it.

"...Hero..."

Once again the void seemed to rubble. The Hosptial touched down ignoring the fact that its body began to melt once it was touching the red liquid. A small arm reached out as it slowly brought it up to Hero.

"Hey Hospital." Hero said flashing a small smile. "I just wanted to confirm something-"

"Zero..."

"What?" Hero recoiled as the tentacle slammed into him smashing him into the ground. The red liquid washed over Hero, but thankfully it didn't harm him. "Oww! What the hell-"

"Damn it! I told you this would happen!" The small version of Labby shouted out.

"Didn't... Listen... Do... Not!"

Hero's eyes widened back up with realization. "Whoa whoa! Look! I didn't mean to fight Zero! I had to though. Everyone else was in trouble."

"What are you on about?" Labby hissed out.

Hero stood back up dusting himself off. He stared at the warm red liquid that was all around him for a few moments before finally speaking. "The first time I was in here... Well actually it wasn't the first time, but I only have memories of that time. When I was in here though Hospital did something. She made me do something. I saw a vision of Zero though at the time I had no idea who he was. Hospital showed me him and warned me not to fight him..."

"Mantra..." Labby hissed out quietly. "That can't be true. Only I know about that. The other versions, this Hospital, this lake of red. They are just other versions of yourself, representations of the Attributes that are within you. They should only know what you know."

"No..." Hospital said once more letting out a loud and massive rumble.

"She's right." Hero said flashing another smile.

"...What do you mean by she..." Labby said quietly.

Hero stared at the lab coat for a few seconds. "I mean she... As in the girl, I'm going to save."