Arsenal

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sinclair entered his office, followed by two other people dressed in black suits, holding a small envelope.

"Back already?" he asked, lighting his cigar.

"Extermination complete, sir," one of them answered.

"Good. This world has one less bastard in it."

"I know it's not my business, but Kyle's development is crazy, sir. He has completed high-level assassinations all by himself."

"He has even garnered the name 'Arsenal' from his colleagues," the other one added.

Sinclair smiled

"It's all because of how you trained him." He said a bright smile graced his face 

"I don't think it's just that. You all work because you don't have anything you want to achieve. Kyle is driven by pure revenge. And also because I trained him that's why make him powerful."

+

Kael sat in a lotus position, covered in aura on top of the mansion's roof. Lana walked towards him holding a pink lunch box 

"You've been taking your training seriously, huh?" she asked.

"Of course. You don't know how much I want to prove to that bastard that I'm not a pushover."

"Don't you think Kyle has changed?" Lana asked sitting beside him 

"Changed?"

"Over the last month, he has become more open, and he trains a lot harder now." Her face brightens

Kael gave her a suspicious look. "Are you stalking him?"

"Say what? No, hell no." Lana blushes 

"If you are, I mean, who can blame you? He's strong, dependable, cold, and has a pretty face. You don't want him to catch you calling him Kyle."

He got up, and his black sleeveless top revealed his muscular physique.

"It's noon, and the briefing starts soon. Are you ready?" Lana asked 

"I couldn't be more ready but right after I eat."

+

"That would be all for the briefing," Sinclair said.

Arsenal, Kael, and Lana were dressed in different black attire, with Kyle wearing a black sleeveless top and black combat jeans, Lana in a black jumpsuit, and Arsenal in formal attire.

"Paradise isn't your average esper organization. They are the strongest organization in this jurisdiction, maybe even the whole country. So you have to be careful. Godspeed."

They all left the office, and members of Reapers lined up on both sides of the hallway, cheering them on. It was probably the most important mission in the history of Reapers.

"Damn, all these eyes, I love it," Kael said, waving at them.

Lana chuckled, waving at well-wishes from their colleagues.

"Don't let it distract you," Arsenal cautioned.

"And there you are, spoiling the fun, like damn, bro."

"We haven't even left the mansion yet. Chill out, guys."

"Do you think it was the right thing to do, sending Arsenal on this mission? If things go well, it might not be so good," a feminine voice said from outside. The person walked into Sinclair's office, a slim lady with long raven-black hair, wearing a blue tank top and black trousers.

"Raven, I thought you were on a mission?"

"I just came back from it. Then I heard that you sent Arsenal on the Paradise investigation mission."

"Well, what should I have done? If this goes well, he might get what he wants: revenge." He said lighting a cigar

"Are you okay?"

"Excuse me?"

"There is a one-hundred-percent chance that Arsenal is going to complete this mission, and if he finds out the truth, things might get rowdy at the mansion."

"That's fine. Do you know the reason I created this organization? To right the damn wrong I did to society, Raven."

"Then why didn't you send me? I can easily handle the mission the same way Arsenal would."

"But when the time comes, can you make the most difficult decisions if it means the success of the mission? Kyle is a monster I created, and I can do as I please with my monster. If you want to make yourself useful, please get me a new cigar."

Raven left and slammed the door behind her.

+

Arsenal, Kael, and Lana sat in an outdoor restaurant just opposite a tall housing complex.

"What are we doing here?" Lana asked.

Arsenal handed her a white paper.

"This is Liam Hemsworth, a medical practitioner affiliated with Paradise and was part of Mr. and Mrs. Rodriquez's team during the development of the Mind's Eye. He's currently living alone after getting divorced, and the custody of his two kids was handed over to his wife."

"Why are we at a worker's house? We can just go to HQ and get what we're looking for," Kael asked.

"Were you lost throughout the mission? We're not to retrieve the Mind's Eye, its location is currently unknown. We are to collect vital pieces of information about it and report it back to Father."

"Don't the other esper organizations know about this device?"

"Well, they do, but direct involvement might cause war between the two organizations," Lana explained.

"What is the Mind's Eye, actually?" Kael asked.

"It's kind of like an enhancement drug for espers," Lana answered.

"It is more than an enhancement drug; it's a device that greatly enhances the part of your brain responsible for your psionics," Arsenal said.

"Whoa."

"So if I can get this Mind's Eye, I can be able to teach you a lesson, huh?" Kaek asked

"Don't get your hopes up. Are you ready?"

Lana and Kael nodded in agreement, and they all walked towards the building.

+

KNOCK! KNOCK!!

"Who the hell is that at this time?" a voice said from inside the house. The door locks opened in succession, the door opened slightly, but upon seeing the visitors, he quickly slammed the door back and ran in the opposite direction, stumbling over objects on the way. The door was blasted open.

Arsenal, Kael, and Lana climbed up the staircase.

"Do you guys feel that?" Arsenal asked.

"Yes, psionic energy, and a pretty dark one, to be precise," Lana answered.

"That could mean…" Arsenal dashed up the stairs to the floor where they were headed.

"Wait up!"

They both caught up to him, and they found Liam lying on the floor, his white rug soaked in blood, with a gun in his hand.

"Damn," Kael said between breaths.

"Suicide?" Lana asked 

"No, it can't be suicide; it doesn't explain the residual psionic energy left by usage of psionic ability," Arsenal said.

"So what now?" Kael asked.

"Since the person just left around the time we came here, they must still be around the corner. But how do we search for them before we search the…"

"I found them!" Arsenal said as he dashed through the window and sent a Sound wave directly at a moving van, slicing the van into two.

"Lets go help him," Lana followed through the window.

"There's a do… Never mind."

Arsenal landed, and civilians ran for cover, filled with rage that someone got there before him and took out a useful piece of information. He walked towards the van, and a figure came out of the van.

"Gotcha!"

The figure faded.

"Arsenal, watch out," Lana created an ice barricade, protecting him from the incoming vehicle.

"Damn, I thought I got him there. Sheesh." A feminine figure came out from another van, wearing a white mask on her face.

"That won't kill me,"Arsenal said.

"Maybe it would, maybe it won't. You can never tell."

"Were you the one who killed the doctor?" Lana asked.

"Yeah, got a problem with that?" She said with a carefree attitude 

"We've got to be careful, Kyle. We don't know her psionic ability yet. It's better to take it slow."

"That would be too slow."

Sound manipulation; Noise

Arsenal shot multiple destructive Sound waves at the lady. The attack passed right through her and hit a car, exploding it immediately.

"What?" Lana exclaimed 

"Surprised?" She appears sitting on a lightpole 

"I don't sense psionic energy from her, so it's basically just a clone or an illusion," Lana said.

"Aw, there goes the archetypal know-it-all in a three-man group spoiling all the fun. My psionic ability is projection. Those caught within the reach of my Mental Zone technique see images I project into their minds. And now that I have revealed my ability to you, my ability gets stronger because my brain knows you're thinking of ways to counter, and I don't want that to happen. That, in turn, makes my brain subconsciously increase the strength of my psionics," she explained.

"If that's how it works, doesn't it consume a large amount of psionic energy?" Lana asked

"I can manage…." The figure explaining began to fade.

"Arsenal, she's getting away; the image is fading."

"Damn, where?"

"Don't bother. Even your speed can't catch up with me, Arsenal. Ciao." The image faded away.

"Damn it, I let her get away," Arsenal said, his voice filled with rage and disappointment.

"It's okay. We can…"

"Can you hear yourself, Lana? Can you? We got played by a single esper, and our lead is now dead. If you weren't here, I could've…."

"If I wasn't here? If I wasn't here, you wouldn't have been able to find out about her psionic ability as fast as I did, and you would have been hurt," Lana said, her voice pitched.

"Fuck this."

"I don't understand you, Kyle. We were best friends at the nursery. I understand that you got so much stronger than any of us at the nursery and you garnered so much fame as a mercenary, but at the same time, you also got distant. If anything's wrong, you can tell me." Her voice became more subtle.

"My name is Arsenal and not Kyle. Don't you call me that again," he said as he turned his back on her.

"Keep on telling yourself that."

"Hey, guys, look what I found," Kael came running toward them. He immediately felt the tension in the air.

"Is everything alright?" Arsenal walked past him, ignoring the question.