Rush

I'm currently sitting on a bench in the hall of a hospital owned by the rebellion. I sit here with my face planted deep in my hands. I'm lost in thought. Yeah, I knew the mission would be dangerous, but the thought I'd have to watch innocent kids die didn't even register to me. Why did I let them come? I'm such a fucking idiot. 

Link and Emerald sit beside me on the bench. The three of us just finished our examinations to see if we suffered any severe injuries during the fight. Luckily, we all seemed to have gotten off with minimal injuries. I wish I could say the same for Max, who's hospital room we're currently sitting outside of.

The doctor leaves his room and looks at the three of us.

"He's awake." He says.

My head jolts up and I stand up immediately. Link follows me into the room but Emerald remains on the bench.

"Max." I say.

He slowly looks over. He's wearing a blue hospital gown and his head is almost fully covered in bandages. I grab a chair and sit beside his bed.

"Commander... Hello..." He looks at me and then at Link.

"You too..." He says.

Link nods his head.

"How're you feeling?" Link asks him.

Max looks down and then out the window.

"I wasn't strong enough..." He mutters.

All of his previous energy from before is gone. He doesn't even sound like the same overconfident person anymore.

"I couldn't do a thing... The others are...?" He looks at me.

I look down.

"They didn't make it." Is all I say.

He shakes his head.

"I thought I was a protector. But... But..." He touches the bandages on his head.

"We're just glad you're alive." I say to him.

"...Yeah..." He says.

I put my hand on his shoulder and look at him.

"I'll find him and I'll kill him. For everybody." I say before standing up.

"Get better soon." I tell him.

I walk out the door.

---

"It's not too late y'know? To get stronger."

Max looks up.

"You were the one that saved me right...? Link?"

"Yeah. I did." 

I stand up.

"You have potential. I know we'll see each other again one day and I trust you'll be stronger. You just give me that vibe!" 

I grin at him before following Kane out the door.

---

"Goddammit..." I mutter under my breath as I see Commander Carson and that one snake like member of The Jury.

They're walking towards me in the hall right outside Max's hospital room. Link comes out of the room and looks at them too.

"That guy's the commander of Squad A right? Who's that behind him?" He asks me.

"He's from The Jury. He's bad news." I tell him.

"Commander Kane. I heard you made progress on your manhunt." Carson says to me.

"Progress...? Yeah we made fucking progress, three of my men are dead!" I can't help but yell at him.

"...But you found the spectre, yes?" The Jury member says to me in his snake like voice.

I let out a sigh.

"...Yeah. We found him. Dunno where he is now though, he disappeared after incinerating yet another town." I tell him, making my disdain clear.

Carson speaks up.

"Yeah, about that. One of the RV drivers that picked you up ran a scan on him. We've located similar energy reading to that spectre in another town a few towns over. This could be your chance." He tells me.

"Well then what the fuck are we sitting here talking for?! I gotta go." I quickly push past him and start leaving the hospital.

I can't let that thing survive any longer.

"Wait." A snake like voice comes from behind me.

I turn around.

"...What?" I ask.

He hands me what look like... arcana suppression handcuffs?

"In theory, spectre abilities are still technically classified as arcanas, so these should work to detain it. Remember what we said before. The Jury wants it alive. Use these and bring it to us and we'll take it from there." He says to me.

...What? Did he just say what I think he said...?

"...Alive?" I repeat.

"Yes. We look forward to your cooperation." He says.

That sets me off. It all finally boils over.

"Alive?! Don't give me that shit! You want me to let that monster live after it killed three of my goddamn men and leaving another almost dead in that hospital room right there?! Those people had dreams! Ambitions! And that thing took all of those away from them! Who the fuck do you think you are?!" I scream.

Carson tries to calm me down.

"Kane! This is a member of The Jur-"

"Shut up! What exactly do they think they're gonna do with that thing after taking it into custody?! Huh?! I don't trust it at all! I'm killing that thing end of story!" I look back at the Jury member.

"You can take that stupid oni mask and that stupid cloak and shove it up your own goddamn ass!" I yell before throwing the handcuffs on the ground and exiting the hospital.

I sit myself on the grass outside and look up at the sky. I don't have any time to sit around. I need to go find that thing now.

It's only now that I realize that I stormed out without getting the tracking data on Rush from Carson.

"...Fuck..." I mutter.

I don't see any way they'd let me have it now. 

Suddenly, a tablet falls into my lap. I look at it and see a red dot located in a town to the north. Could it be... Rush? I look up and see Link standing over me with Emerald closely behind him.

"...How did you get this?" I ask him while standing up and putting my hands on his shoulders.

"Well, after you left I heard Carson telling that Jury member that you're off the mission, and that he's going to find somebody that would be more cooperative about it. Sooo, when we were leaving Emerald swiped the tablet from off the back of his vest. That brings us to now." He explains.

"You... did this? Why?" I look at him and then to Emerald.

"Well we wouldn't want someone else on the job that would take that thing in alive would we?" Link smiles.

"T-Thank you! Both of you I appreciate this so much. I hope you two have a great life." I say to them before starting to run to an RV.

"Woah, woah, woah, don't think you're leaving without us!" Link calls out before him and Emerald jump into the back of the RV.

"You're coming? Even after what just happened? I ask

"Obviously." Emerald says.

Link puts his hand on my shoulder.

"That spectre dies today. And we're helping." He says.

"Thank you both. You two better not die on me." I say before stepping on the gas, following the dot on the tablet Link gave me.

---

72 years earlier:

"Your majesty, the three thousand six hundred and ninety second batch of spectres have been born."

"How many were created this time?" A booming voice echoes throughout the fiery palace.

"Two thousand and fifty four, your majesty." The orange spectre bows on one knee.

"How many were determined worthwhile?" The voice asks.

"...Only one... I'm sorry your majesty."

The voice doesn't speak for a moment.

"I see... Dispose of the others and bring me the one." It finally says.

"Y-yes your majesty!" The orange spectre says before rushing off.

10 years later:

"Rush! How do I make your fire as hot as yours?"

"Rush! The king always asks you for your assistance on jobs, why is that?"

"Rush! Can you teach me to withstand water like you do?"

"Rush! How do I be like you?"

"Rush!"

"Rush!"

"Rush!"

Annoying...

Haven't I taught this before...? I can't remember.

What...? The king needs me? Yes, yes of course.

For his majesty.

I would do anything.

61 years later:

The king is dying.

His son has been taking over as of late.

A new ruler...

Will I still hold the same worth...?

1 year later:

The king has passed away. 

I have a mission. 

The new king needed me...

He chose me.

Yes, of course.

Because I am Rush...

---

"There's nobody here..." Emerald says as we step into the village that Rush is supposed to be at.

"This is where the reading says." I say.

"Is he hiding? No way..." Link looks around.

It's a rural village, with wooden buildings and dirt paths lining the streets. You would think there would at least be a couple villagers around but it's empty. What happened..?

I see a turned on incinerator at the end of an alleyway that looks like it's about to burst.

"The hell?" I mutter as I approach it.

"Seems like a waste of power to be left on like this." Link appears behind me.

"Holy shit-! Where did you come from?" I yell.

"Huh? Me? I've been behind you the whole time." He tilts his head.

Sneaky bastard.

"This thing seems pretty full. Should we open it?" Link asks before running up to the incinerator.

"Just leave it. It's not worth our-"

Before I finish my sentence, Link opens the incinerator, and I see a sight I never thought I ever would.

Charred bodies pour out of the incinerator, piled on top of each other. There must be at least twenty.

"What the... fuck?!" I gasp.

Link immediately looks away, surprised by the sudden bodies.

"I, uh, think we found the villagers..." He mutters, his face dark.

I notice Emerald watching from the distance, until it appears she notices something.

"L-Look out!!!" She raises her voice for probably the first time i've ever heard.

She fires off an arrow so fast she doesn't even have time to charge it. The arrow collides with an orange spectre flying out of the incinerator, stabbing it through the head.

"What the fuck?!" 

Me and Link immediately jump out of the alley and onto the main roads of the village. 

Spectres upon spectres lunge out of the incinerator one after the other. I don't even know how they all fit but they just keep coming.

"Shit! Split up!" I yell before running into another alley and punching a spectre with my right arm.

These spectres clearly aren't the same as Rush. Their flames are orange unlike Rush's black flames. They seem weaker.

The spectre I punch has his skeleton shattered almost immediately and the flames surrounding it go out, signifying it's death. This wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the countless other spectres surrounding me at this very moment.

Link has his metal, faceless helmet on and is slashing spectres left and right, and using his blue fire to hold back the flames from the spectres. 

Meanwhile Emerald is hopping from roof to roof, firing off glowing, green arrows at every spectre she sees, even hitting some of the ones surrounding me.

"Can't let these kids out-do me now can I?" I mutter to myself before shooting a spectre point blank with my shotgun, killing it immediately.

I then spin around and deliver a strong punch with my right arm to the spectre behind me, and continue the loop over and over.

But they don't stop.

With this many spectres pouring out of the incinerator, the ones who'll lose steam first will easily be us.

Link stabs a spectre in the back that was attempting to burn me from behind.

"You should be more careful!" He calls out.

I shoot a spectre over Link's shoulder that was trying to get the jump on him with my shotgun.

"I could say the same to you!" I call back.

Suddenly, the flames from all of the spectres bodies are sucked away, leaving nothing but collapsed skeletons. Every single one.

Emerald lands on the ground beside me and Link and looks up at the sky with us.

We a black figure floating above the town. That seems to be where all of the fire from the lesser spectres went.

Rush.

He absorbed the very lifeforce of the other spectres into his own body, causing his black flames to grow more intense.

"...You." He says before plummeting down into the village, creating a large explosion that we just barely dodge. 

Four nearby houses were all reduced to ash the moment he hit the ground. He lunges at me, but I dodge and punch him in the back, sending him into another house and immediately burning it to the ground.

The resident wouldn't be needing it anymore anyways.

I quickly glance over at the bodies by the incinerator before looking back at Rush. He's already recovered and is now pouncing at Emerald, who sidesteps and fires an arrow at him, hitting him in the shoulder.

"Who..."

Link then shoots him in the back a few times with his pistol.

"Are...you guys?"

Rush doesn't return to the ground. Instead, he stays floating above, charging up a ball of black fire in his hands.

"Quick, to me!" Link calls out.

Me and Emerald run to Link, where he creates an orb of blue fire around the three of us. We hear a massive explosion outside of the orb, and once it's over, Link let's the orb dissipate.

"Holy...shit..." I say.

The three of us are standing in a completely ruined village. Even more so than how it was earlier. The houses have almost all been turned to ash. The only thing standing is the incinerator at the edge of the village.

"Well... this will give us some more space to fight..." Link says.

Rush plummets back down to the ground, leaving another large explosion and begins trading blows with me and Link while Emerald continues to shoot from afar.

Link swings at his neck in an attempt to decapitate him, but is instead stricken in the chest and goes flying. I follow him with my eyes as he lands directly into the incinerator, the door falling shut afterwards almost like Rush closed it telepathically. 

"FUCK!"

I sprint over to the incinerator to try and open it but instead I'm forced to dodge another barrage of black fireballs. 

"Leave him!" Emerald calls out before jumping down from the rubble she was on.

"He'll be fine." She then slides under Rush's legs and shoots a charged arrow directly upwards, impaling him through his torso.

I hesitate, but decide to believe her as I distract Rush while Emerald shoots more arrows his way.

We're overwhelming him. He can't focus on both of us at the same time and it seems like he exerted too much of his power when he blew up the entire village, he can't do it again. The flames surrounding his skeleton are growing weaker.

I throw a C4 i've been saving on the ground behind him, and press detonate.

---

"You will be the one to save us all, Rush. As long as we continue to follow the king, one day, we spectres will have a home on the surface."

King, king, king, king, king, king.

Why am I here?

Am I... about to die?

But... why?

Oh. 

Yes. His majesty. The new king. He sent me. He sent me to observe the surface, find... the ones.... who stand a chance.

He ordered me... 

To die.

To die, and to send forth information on the ones who killed me to the next batch. 

We learn.

We evolve.

I thought I would get to see the world his majesty will create.

I'm scared.

I'm scared.

"Rush! How can I be like you?" 

Don't be like me... Ashe.

---

As soon as I press detonate, the explosion sends Rush barrelling towards me. Towards my fist.

His skeletal body collides with my right, metal arm, and the force of the explosion causes my fist to tear directly through his bone, splitting his body in half.

His top and lower halves fall to the ground one after another. After a few seconds, the flames surrounding his body disappear, leaving only the white skeleton. It's over.

Emerald immediately walks over to the incinerator and opens it up to find.... nothing.

She tilts her head in confusion.

"Oh fuck did he-"

"No. He's alive. Something must've happened that transported him. Those spectres must've come from somewhere." She says.

"I hope you're right." I say to her.

She turns back around and looks at the remains of Rush on the ground.

"What now? The Jury will probably be quite upset." Emerald asks me.

"They can suck it. I don't give two shits they can fire me for all I care." I say, pounding my chest with my metal arm.

It almost sounds like I hear a giggle from Emerald, but she holds it back.

"And what about you? Gonna go find another mission?" I ask her.

"No... Link is alive so I'm gonna go find him. He's out there somewhere." She says while looking down.

"If you ever need a search party let me know I'll help you in a heartbeat." I say to her while patting her head with my left hand.

She smiles slightly, and I hop in the RV parked outside the ruined village.

"Need a ride?" I ask her.

"No, i'm okay. I'll start searching nearby." She nods to me and turns away.

"No problem. And, uh, thanks for everything. I couldn't have done this without you so if you find Link tell him I said thanks too. Hopefully I see you both around." 

She nods, and I begin driving off. Not to the HQ, or anything like that. But home. I think I deserve a well earned nap. Maybe I'll go see Cleo too after. Those pancakes I made would really hit the spot right about now...

Extra Arc 1:

Special Task Force

Complete

Xenophobia: Episode 4

"Well, dear reader. I suppose I owe you money... I bet on that grump abandoning his duties after a couple chapters and that old man really went and saw it through to the end! Please, let me know your credit card number, the expiration date, the three little digits on the back and... Oh! Yes, your social security number! Can't forget that!"

The man paces back and forth in his room, looking awfully suspicious.

"Suspicious? Me? Preposterous! I thought you were on my side narrator..."

I don't take sides.

"Well, enough of that! Welcome back to Xenophobia! As always, I'm your host, Anon! Here with my judas of a narrator!"

Greetings.

"It seems Extra Arc 1 has come to a close! Did you like it? If i'm being honest I was quite skeptical on the idea of an extra arc but after reading it i'd have to say that was quite the ride! The high emotional highs! The low emotional lows! I was quite surprised when all of those new characters were introduced only to be killed off in the next couple chapters! I'm still not the fondest of Kane, he's still a grump to me but when he gave that Jury member a piece of his mind it really got my juices flowing!"

Anon laughs to himself before twirling his Kane figurine around in his hand.

"And Rush, quite the intriguing character, it's a shame he died so soon. Speaking of Rush, that's the name of this very chapter isn't it? A named chapter... This is the first one too isn't it? Even Klein didn't get that privilege before dying. Rush is a lucky fellow!"

Anon can't seem to hold himself still as he moves from place to place in his office.

"Where will we go from here I wonder? It seems we're speeding towards arc 2 and we'll be there in no time! We don't even know what Link's fate is... If he truly is alive like Emerald says, where could he have gone? Personally, I think the fire must've been too hot for even him to withstand, and he got turned to ash like all the others. That seems to be the only plausible explanation to me!"

He laughs after finally sitting back down at his desk.

"I'm quite excited for arc 2. That's next chapter isn't it? Wonderful! Brilliant! Now, that does appear to be all the time we have left today, I wish we had longer, I truly do, but it seems everyone is wanting to move on the arc 2 and who am I to hold you back? Shall we send the dear reader on to arc 2 narrator?"

Yes. I do hope you enjoy what's to come.

"Yes! Yes! Big things are coming! I do hope you enjoyed todays episode of Xenophobia, I know I did! Farewell, dear reader, and have a wonderful rest of your day! Buhbye!"