Saving Sekai

"Handler, I've done as you asked. I have the boy." The black-masked person stated,

"Good work. We have two Serpentine soldiers pinned down and communications are being jammed. Take him and let us leave quickly." The Handler responded over their earpiece.

"Understood." The masked person replied, as two men wearing dark shades and black suits grabbed the unconscious Sekai, dragging him to the black van and tossing him into the back.

Inside, the Handler was waiting for Sekai. "So this is an Immune..." He mused, sticking a syringe into Sekai's neck, he began drawing blood from the boy, when it was full, he motioned for the men to handcuff him as the van began to drive off.

⸻

Hoshida rapidly fired a set of three 9mm rounds down a shooting range, each one perfectly nailing the center of the target with only a mere few millimeters of difference between them.

'A little too slow...' He thought to himself, staring at the H&K USP in his hands.

Without warning, a Serpentine mercenary burst into the shooting range and locked eyes with Hoshida, who stepped back from the shooting booth and removed his protective ear-wear and glasses.

"Security Director! Thank god I found you!" The mercenary rushed up to him,

"What is the issue?" Hoshida questioned,

"We've just lost contact with the team assigned to protect Sekai Kaeru and the whole area is being jammed!"

Hoshida's face twisted in rage, "Damn...! J&R has struck first!" Hoshida growled in frustration,

"Call the Regional Director, assume Shizue and Keita as KIA and three full squadrons down to Kotono immediately. Have the local police force detain and search suspicious vehicles. Inform the Research Director as well of the situation." Hoshida proceeded to bombard the poor mercenary with orders to be distributed, who simply nodded.

"I-I'll get it done!" The mercenary replied, and Hoshida nodded.

"Get my gear and prepare a helicopter, driving will take too long," Hoshida stated,

⸻

"Damn it!" Hina roared in frustration, "Those fucking Westerners!"

"Please, calm down Research Director," Kiritsu stated, walking fast to keep pace with Hina.

"Calm down? Calm down!?" Hina whirled to her, "If J&R gets so much as a sample of his blood and the virus, they have the potential to synthesize it, and you know what comes after synthesizing the I.K? Injecting it into people. Ignoring the absurdly high death rate that will come as a result, they might succeed in weaponizing Immunes, and that's something we can't allow!"

"But acting rashly won't help anyone." Kiritsu pointed out,

"Still, I can't allow J&R Corporation to get away with this...!" Hina shot back,

Their conversation, however, was interrupted by the appearance of Ruiko.

"Directors...? What's going on?" Ruiko questioned,

Before Kiritsu could warn her not to, Hina replied: "Sekai has been kidnapped by a rival company, J&R."

"What?!" Ruiko's voice raised in a mix of panic and rising anger, "We need to rescue him!"

"We need to rescue him." Hina countered, "You will stay here."

"But with my powers-" Ruiko began, but Kiritsu stepped forward.

"The Research Director is correct, if J&R is after our Immunes, then they might even come here as well." She interjected, "We need you where we can protect you,"

Ruiko clenched her fists, "Still...!"

"Don't worry." Hina laid a comforting hand on Ruiko's shoulder, surprising the girl. "We will bring him back, I promise."

⸻

Despite what Keita had said, he knew they were in deep shit.

If they didn't manage to get out of there quickly, not only would they lose Sekai, but Shizue would likely perish as well.

'To hell with the kid...if Shizue dies...!' Keita thought to himself, thinking quickly, he pulled out a smartphone and opened its camera app.

'It's not a mirror but it will do...!' He raised the smartphone above the parapet, aiming its camera at the surrounding buildings while regularly setting off the camera flash, all the while watching the screen to find the sniper.

'There!' He managed to catch a glimpse of the sniper on a building several hundred meters away right as the phone was blown right out of his hand, leaving him holding nothing but electronic scrap.

"Son of a...that was expensive!" Grabbing his sniper rifle, he peeked out over the parapet and fired two shots in rapid succession at where he had seen the sniper last.

After a few anxious nanoseconds, Keita saw the J&R sniper fall down behind his cover.

He didn't get back up.

"Sniper is down!" Keita said to Shizue, who nodded weakly.

"Hang on...it isn't over yet." Keita snarled, picking up Shizue in a princess carry, and carrying her down the building out to where their issued black van was.

It was right then his radio finally began working again, "K---ta, come in! Keita! Come in!"

"Keita here!" He quickly responded, "Shizue is injured!"

"...We will have reinforcements down there ASAP. However, right now, I need you to prioritize delaying the J&R forces and retrieving Sekai Kaeru," Hoshida paused before adding, "No matter what."

"But...!" He began to protest,

"That wasn't a request. A team will be there for Ensign Shizue, your duty is to continue protecting Sekai Kaeru." Hina interjected, "Science Director, Out."

Keita gritted his teeth as he stared down at the shallowly breathing Shizue in his arms, tearing off a piece of cloth from his own clothes, he used it as a makeshift bandage to stop Shizue's bleeding, before leaning her against the wall of the van.

"Stay in the back and keep in contact with the others," Keita told her,

"Where...are we going?" She asked weakly,

"Where else...we have to save that fucking brat!" With those words, Keita hopped into the driver's seat and hit the gas.

⸻

Sekai groaned, slowly coming too in the back of a moving van.

'The heck happened...?' Sekai thought to himself,

"Well, looks like our prize specimen is awake." A voice stated, managing to break through the fog in his mind.

"Who...are you guys?" He muttered weakly, vaguely aware of being in a moving vehicle.

"Names aren't important, but we work for J&R Corporation, your new home." The man replied, he was speaking Japanese, but had a prominent American accent.

"You...kidnapped me?"

"'Kidnapped' is a strong word, it's just a little bit of corporate espionage." The man teased,

"Why...?" Sekai asked,

"Why? Me personally - I don't have a clue. According to the company, it's because you're an Immune." He shrugged,

'So they're after my powers...?' Sekai thought to himself,

"Get comfortable kid, it's going to be a long ride."

Sekai quickly began secretly hardening his hands to break through the cuffs.

As he did so, he began looking around the van, spotting the other person in the van. Dressed in all-black body armor and military gear, they were surprisingly small, emphasized by the anti-material rifle that was almost as tall as them, situated right next to them as they seemingly slept.

"Don't try anything funny kid, we're in a moving van escorted by about two dozen men in separate vans." The Handler told him, "I told you, just sit back and enjoy the ride."

"Is that so...?" Sekai began grinning, promptly snapping the cuffs in two.

"The fuck?!" The Handler stood up in shock, drawing a pistol from his hip.

"Like I'd just go with you sickos quietly!" Sekai shouted, throwing a hardened punch directly at the Handler, who was still fumbling with his weapon.

In that instant, all Sekai saw was a flash of black as he was promptly kicked against the wall of the van, the wind completely knocked out of him.

The person in the black body armor was fully awake and standing over him.

"Thank you," He nodded, "I must admit, I didn't believe in this whole 'Immune' nonsense, but this..." He grabbed one of Sekai's hardened hands, who was still on the floor, reeling from the assault.

"So the higher-ups weren't full of shit, and superpowers do exist." the Handler stated in amazement, before turning to their comrade. "Knock him out."

The person in black body armor nodded and stepped forward, raising a boot to kick Sekai's head and send him into unconsciousness.

It was right then that one of the van walls caved in and the whole vehicle flipped, sending all three of them flying around the back of the vehicle.