Shattering Humanity-Chapter 143: Someone Else Outside The ’Beasts Of HFF’

{6:50 P.M. Hanabi City}

In the early night sky, no stars are visible yet, but the Full Corn, Harvest Moon is completely exposed in contrast over the city.

The Blackhawk helicopter carrying Nephilim, Silpheed, Tristan, and Bethany flies above the quiet city.

’Someone’ who is wearing torn grey pants, only worn by the students at HFF Academy, with a rusted SunSword set up, sees the copter. That ’someone’, begins to run in the same direction as the aircraft.

{7P.M. Hanabi City Park}

The helicopter slowly and carefully lands in the wide open field, within the large park, lightly covered in what is now known as ’SeiõrSnow’.

Everyone, other than Tristan, exits the chopper to the hostile welcome of 3 smaller Icemen, a full 100 yards away, who have heard the noise of the spinning blades and have started rushing towards the humans.

Bethany goes to withdraw her hot blade from her holster on her hip, but Nephilim puts his hand out to signal her to cease.

Nephilim: "This is nothing Silph can’t handle."

The General unsheathes his hot blade and gently tosses it towards Silpheed, who unsheathes their own most updated version of the SunSwords with their left hand, while catching the handle of the General’s with the right.

Nephilim: "We’ll stay back while Tristan uses his ability to find out who those poor fools left hanging were, but more importantly, find out who put them up there in the first place."

The General’s ’most reliable alley’ nods at the man who has the utmost trust in them. Bethany approaches the General while Silpheed calmly walks towards the opposition.

Bethany: "I’ve been meaning to ask, General Nephilim, but I didn’t want to be rude-"

Nephilim: "You also want to know more about Silpheed, is that what you’re curious about, my dear Bethany?"

Bethany blushes from the possible offense, signaled by her superior’s quick, interruptive acknowledgement of curiosity towards his face covering partner.

Nephilim: "To be honest, my lovely Bethany, even I don’t know everything, about the person I trust more than myself. What I do know, Silpheed is, ’special’ to say the least.

Just how you are all rightfully convinced that gorgeous fighter, Shelly, is special, I am equally if not more convinced that Silpheed is another example of the same category of ’special’.

You see, I didn’t grow up with the best upbringing, but Silph was always there for me. When I got locked up for murdering a child rapist, who had a dirty political background, Silpheed was given responsibility to watch and protect the child victim, while I was in jail."

Bethany watches as Silpheed, with both glowing orange swords, approaches the icy enemies.

Bethany pops off her IceEye but her vision is immediately covered by Nephilim. The lustful purple aura from her eye seeps through the General’s fingers.

Nephilim: "I’m going to have to ask you NOT to use your x-ray powers to check Silpheed’s gender, my fair Bethany. I sure hope you respect my wishes."

With her eyes still covered, Bethany nervously swallows her spit and nose gently. The aura stops seeping through Nephilim’s fingers and he removes his hand from her face.

The General respectfully bows at the young woman.

Nephilim: "I sincerely apologize for my own rudeness, Madame Bethany, and I hope you can understand there is a reason for my over-protective attitude."

Bethany looks back at the 3v1, now only 20 yards separate Silpheed and the aliens.A sad blue aura coming from the covered eye of the mysterious person.

Bethany: "If Silpheed has her-... his-... their IceEye covered, how can they focus on targets?"

Nephilim: "It’s a fake see through eyepatch, haha."

Nephilim gets serious and recounts the day he was released from prison and hour after leaving the cell that he lived in with Daisuki for four years.

Nephilim: "When I was released, Silpheed in repentance for failing to keep the child safe, had gouged their right eye out, sewed 7 stitches into both lips, and mutilated their genitals. I didn’t know the feelings that I had at that moment existed, I was broken hearted for being the reason the child couldn’t be safe indefinitely and also the reason behind Silpheed’s guilt.

But at the same time I was disappointed in not just Silpheed’s failure to save a child from scumbags for four years, but also self inflicted irreversible bodily harm. I will admit, since then, Silph has never failed me again."

From ten yards away, there are two Icemen in front of the third.

All of a sudden Silpheed’s sole red eye focuses on the perfectly aligned group and a soaring Iceman *POPS* into existence at an incredible speed towards the hostile aliens.

It is the same Iceman that Katsu had the giant toss at the helicopter earlier in the day.

The flailing ice projectile performs a perfect double beheading lariat on the front two of its comrades, while still having enough velocity and momentum to headbutt the sole remaining Iceman in back and bashing both the alien’s heads, releasing the symbiotes, and 4 red clouds float into the young night sky, releasing the energy source of the hosts.

All four dead Icemen lay in a heap.

Silpheed calmly turns around, the sad blue aura fades from the black and red eyepatch, and puts the left handed SunSword in its sheath.

Nephilim lets out a small laugh through his nose and gives an impressed look towards his trusted companion as he takes back the weapon.

Nephilim: "Well, if you didn’t need to use a sword Silph, you shoulda just told me. Remember, don’t be afraid to let me know what you’re thinking. I’m not always going to be here to make the decisions. I would like to have the peace of mind knowing you can make the best decisions on your own, without my help."

While doing a quick nod, Silpheed’s exposed red left eye closes but the hidden expression is obviously of a stitched up smile.

Silpheed: "Ezz, Nef-e-uh-um Zr."

Tristan opens the side of the helicopter and everyone turns to look at his horrified expression, trying to piece together what his ability just witnessed inside the closed copter.

Nephilim: "Any luck on who the victims were, young Tristan?"

Tristan shakes his head in disappointment.

Tristan: "They were already burning alive by the time they were left hanging."

Bethany: "Who carried the two of them all the way to the entrance while they were struggling and burning alive?"

The young man sits on the edge of the parked open helicopter, looking down at the SeiõrSnow covered ground. It’s quiet while he collects his thoughts.

Tristan: "I don’t know if you guys will believe me when I tell you... but, it was one single ’cloaked figure’. Because of the distance and angle of the picture that I took, I could see the cloak had ’some type of tree designs’ stitched into it."

Silpheed’s single exposed eye widens from hearing the description of ’who’ burned and hung the victims.

Silpheed(quietly to self): "Chr-ees...?"

Nephilim: "Only one person? Did they take two separate trips? I truly do believe you, young Tristan, I just want as much information as possible, to try and piece this all together."

Tristan shakes his head in response.

Tristan: "From the perspective of the picture, I definitely only saw one person, but they had their two palms up and out, facing the floating, burning victims. It was as if the person was using telekinesis or ’magic’ to keep them burning and carry them to where they became a ’welcome mat’. There were two nooses already hanging before the individual brought their victims there."

Nephilim is thinking, trying to imagine the scene while his young disciple describes it.

Bethany has her arms crossed, clearly irresolute about the explanation.

Bethany: "Magic? Come on, Tritty. It was probably just a telekinetic IceEye ability, you said they were already on fire by the time you could see it in your picture, so the culprit could have used their power to hold them to a fire until they..."

She gets a mischievous smile on her face and she gets reeeeeally close to Tristan’s ear and whispers.

Bethany: "...Com-bust-ed."

Tristan blushes and creates distance between them.

Tristan: "Please Bethany, this is not the time to be playing around! Stephanie and those four 12 year old girls could be crying out for my help right now and I’m here."

Nephilim side eyes Silpheed and the assistant, already waiting for the General to look in that direction, nods, as if assuring something.

Tristan hops down from the cabin of the chopper, he starts pacing back and forth, while biting his nails.

Bethany is watching him, seeming more worried about her squadmate outside the mountains than the possible situation with her other squadmate inside the mountains.

Tristan: "Great! Just great! Not only did Laban take my sword for self defense, but now we can’t get into the Sister Mountains. Not knowing exactly who left those two burnt corpses hanging makes this situation even more worrisome."

Bethany: "Relax Tritty, we don’t know what’s going on yet. Besides, Steph may look like an adorable little angel, but she finished ranked in the top 25 in both combat and academics, within the Academy. You know more than I do, how much she loves those girls you two are always talking so much about. I’m sure she’ll be fine."

She rubs Tristan’s back while he has his hands gripping his dark hair, with a look of deep worry on his face.

Tristan: "Bethany, I don’t think you actually understand, I’ve watched those girls grow since they were born. I don’t know of a life without Stephanie at all.

If anything happens to those girls... any of them. I’d have nothing left, nothing, but the guilt I’d be forced to live with of letting them down."

Bethany remembers what Nephilim told her about the guilt Silpheed had. She takes a few steps away from Tristan, while looking at the mountains they currently call home.

The moon is perfectly above her head as she looks back at Tristan with her gorgeous smile with her fingers linked behind her back.

Bethany: "Well for what it’s worth, Tritty, you’re the first person who ever offered me salvation from this cold and scary world, without expecting something gross or something immoral in return. So even if it’s just in a platonic way, for now, you’ll always have me around. But that doesn’t mean I’ll stop trying to make all three of us ’something more’, teehee."

Tristan’s eyes focus on the naturally beautiful mental picture of his squadmate.

Tristan: "...Bethany..."

Away in their own conversation, while Tristan recovers from his mini meltdown, the General and his partner, also look at the three mountains in the short hike-able distance.

Nephilim: "What do you suspect, Silph? First the terrorists attack, now the clear display hanging from the entrance, symbolizing that these mountains are under new ownership. It was definitely done by someone who knew we were out on business for the day. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

We’ll hike a little up Mount Decima and enter through the ’storm cellar door’. It takes at least a day for the system to reset the General’s access code there. Once we get in, we may have to go into stealth mode for this one, okay?"

Silpheed nods.

Silpheed: "Ou- ju- ouu- diing- dae- uurn- n- uung-, Nef-e-uh-um Zr?"

Nephilim: "Like I said Silph, we may not know who made the sign, but it’s pretty clear that whoever made it, wanted us to know we have a new boss. It was most likely the two remaining ’Sisters’ left hanging.

Word might’ve gotten out about their mistreatment of the people and their taxes. The majority of humans don’t agree on taxes in the first place, but they reluctantly pay them for a better quality of life all around them. But when the quality of life doesn’t match up to the amount of taxes being paid, the people revolt. Too much taxation makes the people feel used and mistreated, leading to a revolutionary movement.

It’s quite possible, some type of a ’People’s Revolution’, could’ve happened, coincidentally, while we were out on duty in Roronora. Hopefully, since I’ve only been the General for 3 days, they hold no animosity towards me. BUT we’ll cross that bridge.

The new question is, the ’magic’ that young Tristan described, is that more of an advanced form of the ’energy’ you’ve slightly managed to control, Silph?"

Silpheed looks at their hand. Opening and closing it.

Silpheed(nods): "Aii- stirr- aaf- pro-mumbs- ak-a-baii-n- ii."

Nephilim: "So you’re saying those powers have allowed you to use some type of telekinesis, and spontaneous combustion?"S

Silpheed nods and looks at their hand.

Silpheed: "Aii- haa- oozed- bowf- dos- axe-ah-ent-lee, oo-unz-, Nef-e-uh-um Zr, bah- ouu- noo- juz- az- muuh- ahz- aii- doo- aboo- deez- bawuhz-."

Nephilim looks at the beautiful, bright, early September moon.

Nephilim: "Continue to keep those weird powers a secret, your ’Cut&Paste’ IceEye only works on other people and objects, but you’ve been using those ’secret powers’ to mimic it on yourself. Don’t do that anymore until I say so, got it?"

Silpheed(bows): "Ez Zr, Nef-e-uh-um Zr."

From behind Tristan and Bethany, the person wearing the torn academy pants slowly approaches them, out of breath, the scuff of his shoes off the ground makes the young Squad 1 members turn around and Bethany unsheathes her SunSword.

Nephilim and Silpheed also turn to see what’s happening next to the Blackhawk. Every one of them drops their jaws in awe, either from the sudden appearance of the quite popular, recognizable student or from Nephilim and Silpheed witnessing the fact one of the people they kidnapped has survived from the destruction of Son Goku City, where they had dropped him off, 3 days ago.

Jay stands there with a smile, battle torn, and a brand new IceEye in replacement of his right eye.

Jay: "Oh shit, what’s good Tristan? Good to see someone else outside the ’Beasts of HFF’ made it back. So, did I make the top 15 or am I too late?

Did Shelly and Katsu make it back yet?"