Start of Act I - Mainland

  Chapter 1: Telekinesis

  The wasteland outside the jagged, ancient temple was a landscape of nightmares.

  On the ground lay the cooling carcasses of bulky, grey-skinned monsters. Their bat-like wings were shredded, and the blue light in their eyes faded into a void.

  Each beast bore a hollowed, gaping hole in its chest where the heart had burst, dripping blue blood until, one by one, the corpses crumbled into rising ash.

  They were not the only casualties.

  Intermingled with the demons were human soldiers, their Kevlar combat suits shredded and useless. It hadn't been a battle; it was a massacre. They lay dismantled, bleeding and breathless, their supply crates ravaged and their gear stripped.

  Black-shinguarded boots crunched against the earth with a menacing rhythm. A figure in crimson ronin robes and a matching red hood stalked through the remains. She let out a sharp sigh, raising a hand that pulsed with a low, red glow.

  At her feet lay a high-tech tablet she had scavenged from the dead. Its screen flickered with a frantic scramble of numbers and a persistent beep. The data finalized, the coordinates transferred, and the beeping fell silent. Without breaking her stare toward the horizon, the woman brought her boot down, crushing the device into the dust.

  "Flux refers to a state of continuous change, movement, or instability."

  ***

  A strange sensation prickled deep within his marrow, as if his blood had curdled into a simmering, shadow-laced energy. He shook it off, forcing a steady breath to settle the phantom heat.

  The air inside Flux headquarters always smelled faintly of ozone and expensive cologne. At twenty years old, Seonho was already a veteran of this life. He adjusted the straps of his light Kevlar armor, the matte black material hugging his tall frame. On his hips sat his signature twin daggers—vessels for a man who could blink in and out of existence.

  Beside him, Han Rin was busy tightening her hair into two signature buns. She looked like a pop idol ready for a stage, if that stage involved tactical combat and bone-breaking strikes.

  They stood before the Council. Three hooded figures sat behind a desk of polished obsidian, their faces obscured by shadows and flickering holographic data.

  "So, what are we doing today?" Seonho asked, his tone polite but laced with his usual easy-going charm. "Are we hunting another rogue assassin? Did we finally get a lead on the Silver Mask?"

  Rin let out a sharp, mocking laugh, nudging him with her elbow. "Yeah, right. Like you could actually take him on if he showed up, Seonho-ya."

  "Silence," the Middle Council member commanded, their voice echoing like a low-frequency hum.

  Rin pulled a face. "Blurgh!" she muttered, sticking her tongue out.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Seonho tried to keep a straight face, but his playful nature betrayed him. "Rin, please, now is not the time to joke around...- Blurgh!"

  "Their immaturity would likely risk the mission," the Left Council member remarked dryly.

  "Don’t worry," the Right Council member countered. "Despite the theatrics, these two are our top soldiers."

  The Middle Council member tapped a button, projecting a map onto the floor. "I have pinned the location of your mission. This is a rescue. Our enemy, the ANTI, have captured our newest batch of trainees. They have been... repurposed. Brainwashed. We have one remaining trainee who hasn’t turned yet, though reports suggest she has been subjected to severe mental and physical torture. Her name is Kim Leeseo..."

  ***

  The facility was an abandoned industrial warehouse on the outskirts of the city. As Seonho and Rin approached the perimeter, the silence was heavy enough to feel.

  "Awfully quiet," Rin whispered, her eyes darting around.

  "Except for the fact that you keep making noises," Seonho teased, his hand hovering over the hilt of his dagger.

  "I’m a girl of many sounds, Seonho. Deal with—"

  She cut herself off. From the shadows of the rusted rafters, five figures dropped silently to the concrete. They wore the tattered remnants of Flux uniforms, but their eyes were vacant, glowing with a sickly, artificial light.

  "Hi guys," Seonho said, a playful smirk dancing on his lips despite the danger. "Did I miss the party?"

  "Looks like they heard us," Rin chuckled, sliding into a combat stance.

  One of the brainwashed ninjas flicked his wrist, sending a throwing knife whistling toward Seonho’s throat. In a blur of blue sparks, Seonho vanished. A split second later, he materialized directly behind the attacker.

  "Boo," Seonho whispered.

  With a fluid motion, he drove the pommel of his dagger into the ninja's neck, following up with a precision strike that sent the man crashing into the floor.

  Rin was already a whirlwind of motion. She unsheathed her bo-staff, the metal clinking as it locked into place. Her unique gift—Precognition—flashed behind her eyes. She saw the next three moves before they happened. She ducked a high kick, swept the legs of another ninja, and landed a devastating blow to a third man's ribs, all in one continuous motion.

  Seonho teleported across the room like a glitch in a video game. Zip. Crack. Zip. Thud. Within minutes, the five attackers lay unconscious.

  They pushed deeper into the facility. Parts of the hallway were already half-burnt, wires sparking against charred walls.

  As they rounded a corner into a wide bay, the floor began to vibrate. A massive, rusted Scout Robot—a relic of ANTI technology—lumbered into view. Its central eye glowed red, and a hiss of gas preceded a massive spray of fire.

  "Move!" Seonho yelled, grabbing Rin’s arm and teleporting them both thirty feet to the left just as the flamethrower scorched the ground where they had stood.

  The robot pivoted, its heavy metal plates clanking. Seonho threw his daggers, but they simply bounced off the thick plating.

  "It’s too thick for the blades!" Seonho shouted over the roar of the flames.

  Rin’s eyes turned blue as she focused. "Seonho! The cooling vents at the back! It’s already red-lining from the flamethrower. It’s overheating!"

  "On it!" Seonho disappeared.

  He teleported to grab his daggers back, then onto the robot's shoulder, then down to its lower back. He jammed his dagger into the exhaust port, twisting the blade to jam the gears. The robot let out a mechanical scream of grinding metal, its movements stuttering.

  "Now, Rin!"

  Rin leaped into the air, using the momentum of a nearby shipping crate. She brought her bo-staff down with the full weight of her enhanced strength, slamming it directly into the robot’s weakened core. CRACK. The machine slumped forward, sparks flying as its internal systems suffered a total meltdown.

  While Rin stood over the smoking heap of metal, catching her breath and inspecting the damage, Seonho hurried toward the back of the hall.

  Seonho’s boots crunched over a carpet of discarded documents. Amidst the sea of crossed-out names on ANTI’s hit list, only one remained untouched: Hyunki.

  "Monsters," he murmured.

  With a lingering glance, he turned and faded back into the shadows.

  There, bathed in a flickering blue light, was a glass containment pod. Inside sat a young girl, her hair disheveled and her clothes torn.

  Seonho hissed as he pried the manual override lever. The glass slid upward with a hiss of pressurized air. Leeseo slumped forward, her eyes fluttering open slowly.

  Suddenly, her irises flared a brilliant, electric blue.

  Before Seonho could react, an invisible force slammed into his chest. He was lifted off his feet, his back hitting the ceiling with a dull thud. He gasped, feeling an invisible hand tightening around his throat.

  As Seonho dangled in the air, the world blurring behind the grip at his throat, the corruption surged again. His blood burned an icy, incandescent blue, a violent darkness clawing to burst from his skin. He suppressed the roar of the energy, anchoring his focus on the trembling girl before him; she needed his courage more than he needed his rage.

  "Wait—" Seonho choked out, his legs kicking in the air. "We’re on your side... I’m Seonho... sent by the Council... of Flux..."

  The blue light in Leeseo’s eyes flickered, then faded back to a soft, chocolate brown. The telekinetic grip vanished instantly. Seonho fell, landing in a heap on the floor.

  "Seonho...?" she whispered, her voice cracked and small.

  He stood up, coughing slightly as he rubbed his sore neck. He didn't look angry, though; he looked at her with a gentle, lopsided smile. "You... you have quite some powers there, Leeseo."

  Leeseo looked up at him. The dim light of the facility caught the sharp line of his jaw and the kindness in his eyes. Despite the dirt on his face and the chaos around them, she thought he was the most comforting person she had ever seen.

  She felt a sudden, traitorous heat rise to her cheeks. She was exhausted, beaten, and traumatized—but as she looked at the man who had just freed her, her heart gave a small, unexpected flutter.

  "Seonho..."

  Blue.