Chapter 8: Faith and the Void

Meanwhile—

“Hmmm…
You know, it’s funny—the things we end up doing in life.”

Maikaru stood calmly as the city burned beneath him.

“Here I am,” he muttered, “a soldier of the World Government, hunting one man… while everything else collapses into chaos.”

Why did he have to do this?

Some individuals were simply more dangerous than others.
Those blessed by the Flash in ways that surpassed what a normal human could regulate—or suppress.

They were called Major Calamities.

And the one he was tracking today was among the worst.

Kurai.
The Calamity of the Void.

You’re probably wondering who I am.

That’s simple.

My name is Maikaru—and my job is to capture calamities like him.

Maikaru stood atop a skyscraper, wind ripping through his jacket. He tapped the comm at his ear.

“I think I’ve located Kurai,” he said. “Visual confirmation.”

A soldier’s voice crackled back.
“Copy that. Be careful, Maikaru. This one isn’t like the others—no matter how strong you think you are—”

Maikaru jumped before the warning finished.

The building vanished beneath his feet.

One hundred and fifty meters.

Falling.
Falling.
Falling.

Below, Kurai stood at an ice cream shop, unaware—quietly paying, numb as ever.

The wind scorched Maikaru’s eyes as gravity screamed past him.

What happens when a man of faith leaps into the void?

CRASH!

Maikaru slammed into a parked car beside the shop, metal folding inward like paper.

Kurai flinched, ice cream splattering onto the pavement.

“…Great,” he muttered. “Another government idiot killed himself.”

“Uh—actually—”
Maikaru groaned, crawling out of the wreckage.
“I’m still alive.”

Kurai jumped back.
“…What?”

Maikaru straightened himself, brushing glass from his jacket.

Blond hair. Average height. Slightly goofy expression—serious eyes underneath.

Kurai, by contrast, was gothic, hollow-eyed, apathetic. Anger simmered beneath the numbness.

Maikaru smiled faintly.

“You know what really holds people back in this world?”

Kurai scoffed. “No. And I don’t care.”

“Faith,” Maikaru replied simply.
“The faith to decide who you are.”
“The faith to move mountains.”
“The faith to keep going when everything tells you not to.”

Kurai stared.
How did this idiot survive that fall?

Maikaru tilted his head.
“You’re wondering how I lived, right?”

“One word,” he said.
“Faith.”

Maikaru’s essence was Faith itself.
Given enough belief, he could warp reality—small miracles bending to his will.

Kurai’s essence was Void.

At the core of his being was emptiness—and that emptiness manifested as a living black hole.

The air thickened as they faced each other.

“Careful, Maikaru,” the comm warned.
“This is Category Five. Five agents already dead.”

Maikaru smirked.
“Let’s see what happens.”

He raised a machine gun and opened fire.

Kurai summoned a black hole instantly—cars and debris ripped upward, forming a rotating shield as bullets vanished into nothing.

Normally, attacks passed straight through Kurai.

He was the void.

But he remained cautious.

Faith was unpredictable.

Kurai lunged forward and threw a punch.

Maikaru blocked with his rifle—

It split clean in half.

The strike carried black-hole properties—matter tearing inward before snapping back.

Maikaru backflipped away, landing hard.

How do you fight something you can’t touch?

Kurai summoned another void—this one dragging vehicles into orbit.

Then another—pulling Maikaru forward as a car launched toward him simultaneously.

Trapped between attraction and impact.

Maikaru acted.

He leapt onto the airborne car, ran across it, then dove—driving a kick straight into Kurai.

Kurai blocked—

And froze.

Maikaru’s leg didn’t tear apart.

Maikaru spun and kicked him again—this time in the head.

Kurai slammed into the ground, rattled, actually hurt.

Maikaru landed lightly.

“You see?” he said calmly.
“Just a little faith.”

“Even a living black hole can’t touch me.”

Kurai pounded the pavement in fury.

“So you’re not just another soldier,” he snarled.
“I get blessed by the Flash and suddenly I’m a criminal?”
“All I wanted was to live quietly.”

His voice cracked.

“And you—faith goon—won’t let me.”

A massive black hole bloomed behind Kurai, swallowing cars, streetlights, garbage—everything.

Even Kurai began drifting toward it.

Unbothered.

“I didn’t want to fight today,” he growled.
“But now?”

“I’m going to ruin you.”

Above them—

The Being watched.

Delighted.

Faith.
Void.
Psychopath.
Torturer.

All clashing without his interference.

A perfect stage.

Pure entertainment.