A clue of the broken past (II)

Zero couldn't believe what was happening before him. Even the window had some electric force field that did not allow him to escape. Was the only way out to defeat the four assassins? Such a deadly thought chilled him to his bones. It was not an impossible feat, but he did not know anything about each killer. Four professional killers against one were considered suicide.

"I think I saw him going through this way!" Red's voice echoed inside the building. The building was not considered huge. By Zero's calculation, it was possibly the size of a small factory.

"Oh, man. I can't wait to use my firecrackers on him." Red said in glee while running through the hallways and rooms.

"He just ran through this way!" Sirius called out towards her group. Zero heard the thundering footsteps of the girls wearing high heels. "He's here!" She called out in glee.

Zero froze like a deer and turned slowly towards the door. He was finally caught in this decrepit run-down building. He gulped and, for the first time, prayed for his life.

"Put your hands up in the air and turn around slowly," Sirius said sweetly. He could hear the venom in her tone.

Zero did what she asked and slowly turned around. Already he could feel his heart beating wildly in his throat. His eyes darted, looking for an escape route or anything he could use to possibly get away. Nothing. He was finally out of options.

"Who sent you here. How did you find us?" Sirius asked.

"I was-" Zero stopped. Instead, he was interrupted by another voice.

"I was just playing with some friends. We were only going to tag the walls." A scared young male voice spoke.

Huh? Confused, Zero turned around to see that there was nobody there behind him. Instead, he thought he heard the voice not too far away from him, but in the other room next to the room, he was in.

Carefully walking over to the edge of the door, he peeked out. Right now, he needed to find a way out before he, too, got caught. He was no superhero who could save the person who was caught. The success rate of both of them leaving the building was even slimmer.

Turning left, he bolted towards the opposite direction of the room. With a sudden stop, he saw Rose with the bunny mask and a long whip in her hands. Each snap of her whip hits the concrete floor, followed by the sound of gum bubbles popping.

Zero almost swore out loud but stopped himself short. He was lucky to not step out of the shadows before turning around so quickly that he tripped. Then, catching himself before he hit the ground, he ran back the other way. His heart was pumping, and he was sweating from the oppression he felt.

As he bolted towards the opposite side, he skidded to another sudden halt. This time he felt overwhelming oppression more than before. His instinct screamed at the top of its lungs, telling him that fighting the girl had a better chance of surviving.

It was the same oppressive air that Zero had felt the day he had a split-second fight with the man in a skull mask. It was a fight he would never forget nor ever want to remember. Even though he could not hear the soft steps of a professional assassin, he could still feel each step coming closer and closer.

Taking a couple steps back, Zero scanned around him. He could not go backward, or he would have to face the voluptuous lady. If he went forward, he would have to face death himself. He turned towards the only exit he could and slipped towards the door leading to the room.

Zero froze. He was cornered on all sides, and he had no escape.

"Look, we have company," Red replied with a laugh. He had a small fire crackle-like bomb in one of his hands; on the other hand, he had a lighter.

"Aw, is it true we have a new kitty on our hands?" Rose came up behind him.

Zero jumped up in surprise. He quickly moved towards the side, moving out of her reach. She walked right past him as if he was not there.

"Who is our intruder?" Angel walked in the door and stopped not too far away from him.

"Just a street rat," said Sirus. She had the tip of the blade of her umbrella pointed towards a young man's neck. His hand was up in the air trembling with worry. Angel came in. Next, Zero stepped further back. His right foot hit the broken stone that was on the floor.

The sound of stone against stone moved while he stumbled backward. He had to catch himself before he fell. Angel stopped at the entrance. He slowly turned around towards Zero's direction. At that moment, their eyes met. Zero froze.

"It seems there is something else here," Angel called out to his group. They stopped what they were doing and glanced toward Angel, confused. Eyeing him, wondering what he meant.

"What are you talking about? I don't see anything. Have you gone nuts?" Red laughed. "I knew that he would snap sooner or later."

"I don't see anything," Sirius replied. She was staring at him, strangely lost for words. "Are you okay?"

Angel walked towards Zero; with each step he took, he took another step back. Zero couldn't help but squirm uncomfortably. Then, slowly with a flick of his wrist, both daggers appeared before him. He gulped, sweat dripping, and he slowly leaned forward. This was his life and only chance to survive. He wanted to live.'

Slowly reaching toward Zero, he couldn't help but freeze in sweat. He felt like hours went by. At that moment, Zero struck Angel's hand. At that moment, something different happened that he had never expected. His hands passed through Angel like a ghost.

"What the?" Zero spoke out loud. Lost with words, he didn't know what to do. Zero passed through Angel completely unharmed. He walked forward, lost for words. He stared at his hands, wondering how he went through like a ghost. Maybe this was all a dream and another nightmare that Zero had been having these past days.

Angel blew out a cold breath. "It seems that we have a different presence here. Kill the boy and get out.

"That's all well done, but what are you talking about? Another presence?" Sirius wondered; her umbrella dropped down towards the boy's chest.

"He's just going crazy. Ignore him, Sirius. We should just get this over with." Red shrugged with uninterest. "Just ignore the crazy man."

A message appeared before Zero at that moment.

Final Real World Quest: Alpha Division individual quest.

Distract the assassins for a moment allowing the youth to escape.

Special note: Has connection to Danketsu Ryu academy.

Total Individual quest that needs to be completed 3333 worldwide. 3332/3333 completed at this time.

Quest Level: B

Failure: Blockage of ability for a month. Loss of all three senses for three months.

Reward: A message from Kyle.

"This is a quest? A real-world quest?" Zero couldn't believe he was given the last quest. He didn't understand how he could be getting a Real World Quest in a game world.

Right now, he could go through people like a ghost, and now he was given a Real World Quest. The quest was a simple directive. To be a distraction for the youth to escape. For what purpose, though, he did not know.

The only strange thing about the quest was its failure. Zero was unsure if he would lose his ability in the game or in the real world. Even if he did lose his abilities in the game world, it would make leveling and travel a lot more complicated, but the thought of his abilities being blocked in the real world and losing all three of his senses would be detrimental. Touch, sound, taste, smell, and the ability to see are all unique in the human race. Losing even one was difficult, but losing three out of the five could become a major hindrance.

Such a thought worried him, but at the same time, he wondered how it was even possible to lose his senses. Even though he was curious, he was not curious enough to find out.

His fear had vanished, but his worry was still in place. He didn't know what other trap or if the illusion would break anytime soon. Then, staring at his hand, he noticed that his body was actually translucent but still solid. He was no coward, but he knew when to fight or flee.

The time when he fought the man with the skull mask was the time he had to flee to survive. Now two things came up that were different than before. Nothing made sense at this moment. What was more surprising was what was written on the special note. An ally of the Danketsu Ryu.

An ally. He didn't know what the young man was doing there, but the chances were that he could be a spy. This thought crossed his mind like lightning.

Zero noticed the second portion of the quest that caught his attention. The reward section. It was a message left by his Twin brother Kyle. His curiosity spurred, and his resolve fortified. He knew what he had to do. The answer was simple. To distract and help his ally and get his reward to find Kyle.

"Kill him now!" Angel orders his group.

Sirius pulled back her arms and struck the young man's heart. A loud sound of metal against metal could be heard. Zero whipped around and saw the young man barely dodging the umbrella. Instead, the sharp knife skidded across the young man's dragon mail. He was covered well with light metal armor that could easily protect against swords.

"Tch, I thought I could have pretended a little longer here." The young man hit the sword aside and did a roundhouse kick. Raising her umbrella to block the kick, she was pushed back towards the wall. She kneeled with a loud slam against the wall, catching herself with her umbrella. "That worm!" She screamed.

"Sirius!" Red bolted forward towards Sirius. He flipped his lighter ready to light up a small bomb.

"Red! Don't light it!" Rose yelled out. She whipped her whip towards Red's arm and pulled his arms with the bomb. "You idiot!"

"Bitch let go! I know what I'm doing!" Red furiously cursed at Rose. "I got this!"

"Are you fucken nuts! Are you trying to kill all of us as well?"

"Damn, Sow." Red pulled backward and pulled off the whip from his hands. "Making everything so difficult as always."

Zero quickly scanned the room for something he could distract them with. He was literally a ghost at this moment, and nothing he knew of could help the spy. His desperation rose, and he looked for answers. He saw broken chairs, tables, furniture, and a wooden bookshelf in the room. As of right now, there was no answer that he could think of. He was just a spectator to the whole scene that happened before him.

"Damn it!" Zero swore. He did not like to be a helpless bystander at the moment. He needed to do something, running towards the wooden bookshelf. He tried to grab on, but his hands passed through it like water. "Come on!"

But just as he was about to give up on grabbing onto the wooden bookshelf, his hands slowly turned solid. In that instant, he felt the hard wooden texture of the bookshelf underneath his fingers. He was surprised that he was able to even touch the bookshelf at all. Without a second thought, he pulled the bookshelf onto the ground where Rose and Red were located.

With a loud thud, everyone either scattered like roaches or turned their heads toward the sudden unexpected fall of the bookshelf in shock.

"What just happened?" Rose said with disbelief. She couldn't believe that the bookshelf fell on its own. "Did the bookshelf just fall?"

"Move!" Angel yelled. He, too, was distracted for that split second that cost him a bad injury to his arms. The young man had retaliated in that moment of confusion and had thrown a smoke screen around him. "What are you doing?! Get him!" Angel yelled, holding his bleeding arm. Red, Sirius, and Rose snapped out of stupor from the sudden fall of the bookshelf and bolted after the young man.