Shattering Humanity-Chapter 50: More Than A Squad

Message From Author: Dear Reader, Thank you for your contributions towards unlocking more of my story.

Your continued interest in what I consider my passion project is what fuels me. I know my grammar and punctuation hasn’t been the most top tier available, but between my characters and (future) plot, I truly believe I have captured lightning in a bottle.

If there are any inconsistencies or confusion with my style of writing, please don’t hesitate to comment and interact with me.

I hope to create a story that pays proper homage to the stories, sports, and shows that have inspired me enough to have to write this series.

With Love, SasukEntertainment a.k.a "Fumo" :)

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Daisuki is holding the room door open while 3 gorgeous women in their late 20’s leave with meal carts.

All three with different colored hair, orange, blonde, and black with green, red, and yellow suits, respectively.

He kisses them all on their way out and pats their butts softly. They each give an excited "woo".

Daisuki: "Thank you lovelies!"

He taps the blonde’s bum last, closes the door behind her and turns to see the rest of the room full of teenagers glaring at the grown man, except Katsu who is stuffing his face with food.

Itsuka: "So if the evil guys have multiple wives it’s not ok but if the ex-convict has multiple wives it’s totally fine? And here I thought you might be respectable."

Saku: "One ain’t enough? Some of us can’t experience things because of manwhores like you."

Shelly: "One of them was blonde with blue eyes like me. Gross."

Katsu(mouth full): "Chell dem dankuu. Dish foodsh guud!"

Daisuki(sighs): "Believe me, I didn’t volunteer to be a husband to 3 strong willed and demanding women, they just never left the morning after the night I saved all three from Icemen on an excursion."

Saku(mouth full and annoyed): "Jats shnot eellpin’."

Daisuki(walking towards bed): "But without them I wouldn’t have been able to start the sanctuary."

Daisuki sits down on the bed with Katsu. A look of regret on his face.

Daisuki: "Before anything else...(deep sigh)...I want to apologize to you all. Yesterday, everything Nephilim said about my past...it’s true. I’m sorry I tried to hide my past from you all.As a platoon leader, I did take the blame for all those innocent lives that were victims of my orders. All those children who’ll never get to grow because of me...(fighting back tears) When I told you all that my 2nd Stage nightmare was the bullet holes in my dead comrades, I lied. My real nightmare, was the point of view of every single bullet that I ordered to be fired on that building. As a bullet went through the building walls, through the screaming faces and bodies of mothers with their children. Then time reversed and I was a new bullet and the same thing for so long I still can’t believe it was only a few hours. I heard the screaming that was drowned out from the outside. At the end of the nightmare my guilty conscience told myself while looking at the corpses, ’You’re only purpose is making holes where they don’t belong’."

He grabs his chest in emotional distress and looks out the window at the sunrise.

Daisuki: "When I think about why I should get to see the sun rise and set when those kids can’t....It truly eats at me more than any Iceman ever could."

The disappointed looks are now gone from the crew and are now faces of pity, except Saku.

Daisuki: "What sparked my decision, was one of my best friends, who was also my 2nd lieutenant, was just killed in front of me. Half his head, gone in an instant, right after talking about his pregnant wife in casual discussion with me. As I saw the two enemy terrorists run into an abandoned wooden building with snipers, I thought there was only one way to deal with the killers of my comrade. I could tell the rest of my platoon was against the idea but I used the death of my friend to influence them into unknowingly murdering innocent people. Because I was clouded by anger we...we..."

Tears fill his eyes and his goatee quivers as he doesn’t finish his sentence and begins to weep in his hands.

Daisuki(muffled by his hands) : "I’m sorrheheehe....I’m sorry..."

Dveryone except Saku and Friend feels too much pity for the broken down man to eat. With his wet face in his hands, Daisuki feels a hand on his back and looks to his right. A forgiving smile from Katsu, now with a base-kit IceEye, locks and EyeEngages with his mentor/Big Brother making the crying man unable to look away.

Katsu: "Don’t worry Big Bro, we aren’t that dumb. We can tell you aren’t the person that jerk Nephilim tried to paint you as. Just you trying to help us young kids grow through your words AND your actions proves you really feel guilty for your past mistakes.Yea, your past sucks..."

He unengages their eyes and looks at an eating Saku.

Katsu: "...a lot of people’s pasts suck..."

Saku swallows his food and gives him a stink eye back.

Katsu (looks back at Daisuki): "...and living the rest of your life in determined atonement is respectable as much as deserved, but as of two days ago it doesn’t matter who your enemy is..(wide smile and eyes closed)...you’ll always be my Big Bro and your enemy is my enemy."

Itsuka and Shelly are smiling at Katsu’s words and give a nod towards the silent mentor, still puffy eyed and wet faced.

Katsu gets out of the bed and puts his finger to sky.

Katsu: "My new purpose, as Katsu the ’Terrorist with an IceEye’, is to protect every living thing in this room, human, canine, or alien. I won’t let bad people get away with making my friends look evil and put their lives in danger."

Daisuki(tears still streaming): "Katsu..."(thinks to himself)*He didn’t even need to flip his charisma switch*

Saku once again has to obnoxiously ruin the mood and shouts out after swallowing food.

Saku(eyes closed, unimpressed): "If I got convicted for all the shit I did in the past I’d have more than 300 years. But that’s the last thing I care about, they have a bounty on my dog’s head. If they want to target me that’s fine but why target my dog, just cuz his eye?"

Itsuka: "Obviously, if you hadn’t tossed your poster you would’ve seen you and your dog both have ’Dead or Their Eye’ tags. You’re at a set price of 1.2 million and the pup is five-hundred thousand."

Saku’s fist clenches at the price of his best friend.

Itsuka: "Luckily I saw them crumpled up while following Daisuki here after Katsu passed out. I picked up your trash because I was curious. Those pricks only see these alien eyes and their powers as weapons instead of separate living organisms. Just like they see humans in need of protection as income."

Shelly(pondering): "I guess Katsu and Saku were both right after all, but I’ve been thinking about it since yesterday, while waiting for Katsu to wake up. A ’parasite’ being part of Katsu forever...(she looks at mid chew Katsu) If we’re being technical, these ’eyes’ are actually more of a mutualistic symbiotic relationship than a parasitic relationship."

Katsu and Saku(mouths with food): "Uuh?"

Itsuka(shakes her head): "A symbiotic relationship is when two living organisms benefit from the connection between them and the symbiote dying without a ’host’."

Saku remembers what he told the entire Squad 40 that first night at dinner.

*flashback*

Flashback Saku: "And I especially loathe with every fiber of my being, believing that with your words, charisma, and ’connections’, you can make the world a peaceful place, without violence."

*end flashback*

Saku(thinking to himself angrily): "I wasn’t right, she’s mocking me."

Shelly(continues): "Since humans receive powers from becoming a ’vessel’ for the smaller ’symbiote’ there has to be something these things are taking from the humans...(she looks at Friend)....or host that allows them to do such things."

Friend: "RuRRR"

Daisuki: "So if that’s true, what does that make Icemen?"

Shelly: "The reason I think Saku is right.

She looks at surprised Saku.

Shelly: "If humans are more intelligent than the Icemen that Leviathan brought here, maybe these eyes aren’t part of the dragons plan, and the symbiotes are unintended life that survive to find a more prosperous life in a better home or ’vessel’. It’s even possible that the ’eyes’ are parasitic to the Icemen and mutualistic to humans. Or it could also be a trap and another type of life that Levi created just to entice greedy humans with powers."

Saku: "Or both...."

Everyone looks at Saku and Katsu’s eyes narrow.

Saku: "Just because life creates another independent life for its own reasons, doesn’t mean the new life won’t find its own purpose for its own existence."

Everyone is computing the theory, but Katsu interjects.

Katsu: "Are any of you gonna eat too or what?!"

They all look at the 17 year old with the newly acquired symbiote and smile.

Daisuki: "He’s right, if my gals come back and these plates aren’t clean they’ll beat MY ass."

He takes a bite and looks around he begins to laugh while everyone else is eating. They look at him. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Daisuki: "I was just thinking, with the unnecessary bounties on you kids and your pup...(looks at Saku) It reminded me how just 2 days ago, when I told each of you why you were great. Now others want your greatness and it’s not to watch the human race achieve ’Ultimate Greatness’ and become one."

Itsuka watches from the side as the ex Academy mentor, now "terrorist" looks back in retrospect on his words to his ex-students now "co-terrorists".

Daisuki still talking, looks at the highest bounty, Shelly. She knows the exact analogy her Sensei is about to hit them with and her "game face" is on.

Daisuki: "Whether you’re born great..."

He looks at the "free but with a price", Saku. Pissed off that he refrained from breaking out of the mountains to avoid this life as an outlaw with a target on his dog because of him, but now he’s not alone in protecting the canine.

Daisuki: "Whether you have greatness forced upon you."

And finally, the boy with a lower bounty than a dog, Katsu.

When Daisuki first said these words to him, the young impressionable man had both green eyes that he received from his father’s genes. Now one of those eyes is replaced with a reason to put some respect on his poster.

Daisuki: "Or you force your way into greatness. (takes bite of food) Ooh madr whissh ferm yer greaanesh bloomsshin,(swallows food) it requires a certain amount of respect and allows more freedom without consequences. (he looks at Itsuka) and now we have more greatness to join our squad."

Itsuka blushes and everyone even Saku gives her a smile in acceptance.

Katsu: "Yea, we’re more than just Squad 40, we’re ’The Squad’ now."

Everyone takes a bite at the same time, smiling.