The known

The agents scattered like exposed roaches, the large ship within the grasp of the water-giant being tossed downward. The ground exploded just where they’d previously been, and a loud boom echoed endlessly, a cloud of dust forming around the ship.

“Are you guys ok?” One of them shouted through the screen of dust.

“I’m alright!” The woman answered.

“Same here!” The other man chimed.

Once the dust settled, they all set their eyes on the water giant, watching it kneel, and Shinichi emerged. Despite being encapsulated by the ocean, he came through almost completely dry.

“Be careful!” The woman spoke, “He has a soul manifestation.”

“Damn, why’d he have to go and awaken while fighting us!”

“I don’t know, but keep your guard up.”

Shinichi stepped toward the gathered trio, a calm expression on his face. The sound of water droplets smacking the floor silently chimed, and resting deep within his gut was a wakizashi. It sat so deep that only the black hilt was visible.

One of the men got down to a knee, closing one of his eyes and pointing his finger forward. Blue light gathered at his fingertip, concentrating into a small point before shooting outward at lightning speed.

Shinichi reacted with a swift parry, pulling the wakizashi from his abdomen and doing away with the small beam of light. Water gathered itself around the tip of his blade, his hand raised above his head. He slashed downward, a wall of water shooting from his blade and cutting through the concrete. The three agents scattered yet again, just barely managing to dodge the attack.

The woman with the knuckle dusters rolled to the side, catching herself before she smacked the ground. Shinichi turned to her with a blank expression, pointing a finger at her and speaking to himself. “How much for the right arm?” He asked, seemingly to nobody.

“One month.” A soothing voice answered.

“Take it.”

The woman rushed forward, pulling back her arm and ready to strike. Her knuckle-dusters gleamed in the moonlight, but just before her attack could connect, her arm disappeared entirely. The knuckle-dusters fell to the floor, and the woman stumbled back in shock. There was no pain, no blood. One moment it was there, and the next it wasn’t.

Before Shinichi could retaliate, one of the men rushed in, leaping through the air and pulling his leg so far back he could touch his butt with his heel. The wind surrounding his foot burst, blue light popping from his heel and catapulting his leg forward.

Shinichi blocked the attack with a single arm, eyes examining the third attacker as he got down onto a knee once more, light gathering at his finger.

He parried the oncoming beam of light, and within the same moment, he charged forward, leaving the other two in his dust. Before they could react, the man had already lost his life.

Blood poured from his throat like a faucet, spilling into the air before silently dropping to the ground like raindrops.

“For that burst of speed, I’ll take another month.” The voice spoke.

The man's body plopped onto the ground, and the remaining two agents backed away in fear.

“This is starting to look unwinnable.” The man spoke.

 A bright blue light zipped into the sky, stealing their attention. The world around them had suddenly turned pinkish-red.

The two agents began to spasm, their foreheads wrinkling, the skin parting itself and making way for a third eye. They writhed in pain for a moment, the black eye darting from place to place before finally settling onto Shinichi. The two agents held a hand over the sides of their faces, the wind around them thickening and intensifying.

“He’s used it.” She silently muttered, “He’s given away his life.”

The other agent chuckled silently. “I never thought I’d get to experience it for myself.”

The all-seeing, in this lower form, allowed anyone with its power to see just about three seconds into the future. With this newfound power, the agents reproached with confidence, squaring off against Shinichi. 

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Himeno dodged and weaved between her three attackers, dishing out counters wherever she could. She made quick work of the man wielding the switch-blade, catching him by the wrist and disarming his blade, taking it for herself. She quickly plunged it into his neck, before following up with a stab to his stomach. She tossed him to the side, readying herself for the next oncoming attacker, knife still in hand.

“Alvin!” The other male agent rushed toward his side as he gagged, arm reaching out in desperate hope that he could catch some air. “Calm down, I’ll fix you.” The man held a hand out, blue light cupping the wound on the man's neck. “Just relax, ok?” He tried to calm him down, but it sounded like he was trying to reassure himself the most.

The remaining agent, a woman, kept on Himeno's trail. She remained wary of the switch-blade in her off-hand, ducking and weaving around her slashes. She did not attempt to attack herself; her main goal was to keep Himeno from finishing the other agent, and to give her ally enough time to patch him up.

Himeno stepped inward, and the agent stepped back, eyes stuck on the bloody blade.

“Watch the hands too.” She muttered, slamming her fist onto the woman's face. The agent stumbled back, hands raised on instinct. She looked between her own guard, watching as Himeno plunged the knife deep into her abdomen. Himeno pulled it from her flesh before she could react, watching the agent wobble around before losing her balance. She fell to the ground, blood spilling onto the ground beneath her.

Himeno stepped over her body as if it weren’t even there, slowly approaching the final, wide-eyed agent. She twirled the knife, zero expression on her face as she came closer.

The agent winced before she even dished out the final blow. His eyes shut tightly, hands held close to his face, but nothing came.

A sudden rumbling startled them, and through the tiny windows near the ceiling, they could both see the sky turn a pinkish-red.

The last agent began to writhe in pain, his hands clasped over his forehead, the aura around his body intensifying before quickly dissipating. He dropped his head onto the cold floor, muttering to himself like a madman and kissing the floor.

“Thank you for this second chance, master. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” He slowly stood, and on his forehead was a large black eye; its pupil, in contrast, was all white. “Now I have a chance to save them.”

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NN, at the same time, struggled against this evolved version of Agent Moore. His attacks were much more brutal, much faster, and much more calculated.

The red aura surrounding NN’s body grew sharper, brighter, and much more intense.

“No matter how much power you gain, I can still see your every move before you make it.” Agent Moore palmed his opponent, holding him up in the air, bright blue light shimmering from his all-black palm before exploding. The smell of smoke and burnt flesh filled his nostrils, NN’s body going limp and catapulting backward. He hit another pile of shipping containers, the skin on his face slowly reshaping itself.

“You can regenerate all you’d like, but it changes absolutely nothing. Your technique has its limits, and it won’t be long before your body can no longer withstand such a taxing technique.” he sauntered forward, holding his black arm out and opening his palm. A ball of blue suddenly appeared, shining brightly.

NN stood, charging as the ball zipped toward him. He allowed a grunt to escape his lips, red aura gathering itself around his arm and dancing like a flame in the wind. With that very arm, he swat away the blue ball, a loud explosion booming from behind him.

“This is pointless.” The agent took a tiny step to the side, NN throwing his entire body into a punch and missing. He stumbled forward, reeling his body around and slinging his arm outward. The agent dodged once again, grabbing NN’s arm mid-air and pulling him inward. He turned his body halfway around, tossing his opponent as far as he could. At the same time, he gathered magical energy at the tip of his finger, pointing it forward and aiming it at a spot his opponent hadn’t even arrived yet.

The light zipped forward, and the moment he managed to catch himself, NN could feel something tear through his arm. He shouted out in pain, those shouts turning into a mixture of laughing and crying. He clutched what remained of his arm, blood slipping through his fingertips. He continued to cry out, standing slowly.

It hurts so bad! He thought. He held the stump forward, the blood dripping down and smacking the floor with loud plops. His scream-laughter grew louder, what remained of his arm slowly rebuilding itself from bone up. “Why didn’t you just aim for the head or heart? This battle could have been over.”

“If I were to take that path, you’d activate your ‘hidden’ technique. I’m better off running down your mana supply, then dishing out the fatal blow.” He calmly answered.

“So you even know about that?” He sounded a bit surprised.

“It’s as I’ve already stated, nothing within this zone can escape my eyes. I’ve seen all there is that needs to be seen. I’m even aware of the fact that my remaining allies are to soon fall in battle. After that, your allies will come to your aid. Himeno is her name, correct? She will be the first to perish of you three.”