Ascenders Rift

Chapter 82: The Rising Chaos, Seeds of Hatred

At the center of EarlingStar was a large facility that served as the core for public order; it was here that was known as the Public Security Sector. Many different police cars were parked within its compound, as some regularly drove off and entered the city. While this happened, a myriad of men and women in police uniforms hurried about to different areas.

A few cars were even capable of flight, most of them having a military camo design lifting off from the ground using state of the art gravity propulsion technology. The sides were open as both police and stern-looking individuals dressed in black were seated with strange guns in their hands, few amongst them even wore tactical helmets that seemed to be vaguely flickering with data.

These flying cars then flew off at high speeds in the night sky headed towards the distant areas of not only EarlingStar but the surrounding cities of the Morning Star Empire. If one looked beyond this facility, they would see clusters of rising smoke, littered streets with broken bottles and glass shards as only a few straggling individuals were walking up and about. They each had metal pipes and bats in their arms, looking around with shifty eyes on a few closed down stores.

Currently, inside of the Public Security Sector, the central rooms were filled with a dense crowd of men and women who were up and about handling various tasks. The telephones were constantly ringing as it added further confusion to the already chaotic scene.

Within a separate room from this area, one that was blocked off by a soundproofing glass. Two individuals were seated with serious faces as they looked at the TV.

One was a middle-aged white-skinned man with a bald head, thick mustache and a stubble of beard, he wore a top-class police uniform with badges and on his chest and shoulders. The other was a familiar-looking slim man dressed in an inspector uniformed with a hat on his head, as observed the proceedings.

The screen showed the scenes of a riot as a few persons shouted as they ran towards a crowd of police with blast shields. These individuals tossed a myriad of bottles with burning cloths that hung from them; they smashed into the ground and a few police creating a bright fiery explosion as it forced a few of them back.

As this happened, a few flying cars had appeared from a distance, before landing on the ground. The camera zoomed into the scene where a few individuals dressed in black combat suits and helmets exited the cars and charged towards the crowd. They aimed with their guns and fire what seemed like an electromagnetic wave that incapacitated the group.

When this happened, both men in the room sighed as the familiar man in the inspector coat spoke, "It's literally turning into hell, to think we had to work in unison with the military to deploy the mechanized infantry. It makes me wonder what the world will turn into a few months from now..."

As he heard this, the man in the police uniform looked at the other and spoke, "It doesn't matter what happens, our duty doesn't change in the end. Now I'm sure you didn't just come here to inquire about these affairs, right, Ronald? So, tell me what brings you to my office?"

Ronald shook his head as he heard this, he took out two documents from his compartment in his coat and tossed it on the table as he spoke, "You never change don't you, strict and to the point, it's no wonder you're the Sector Chief. These two, I want to know how they're going to be handled."

The man addressed as Sector Chief cleared his thought and spoke, "Ahem! It's Sector Chief Brook for your information, damn snot-nose runt!"

As Brook said this, his eye then wandered to the documents noticing that they had images of both Milano Lewis and Leah Lewis along with their offenses.

Brook frowned as he spoke, "Hmm, what are you doing? Why did you bring such a menial thing to my attention, Ronald?"

Ronald leaned back in the reclining chair and stared at the ceiling fan as he spoke, "I'm only helping out a friend, he brought this case to me, and I wanted to see it closed efficiently. After all, these days, the rich can almost get away with anything."

"Oh, and who might this person be?" Brook asked with curiosity in his eyes as he held the document.

Ronald made a sly smirk as he replied, "Someone you know well, and ex-elite of that old squad of yours, I believe you guys used to call him, the Black Hawk."

Brook's eyes went wide when he cursed, "That son of a bitch! He dares to show himself again, bastard..."

As he said this, Brook took out a cigar and lit it, taking a few puffs before he spoke again, "What's he up to these days?"

Ronald sighed as he replied, "The same old story..."

As Brook heard this, he too sighed as he muttered, "Still on edge I see, well I can't blame him, after what happened that time, he wouldn't want to walk the same path again."

After saying this, Brook put down the cigar and stared at the paper before he spoke, "Okay, I hadn't had any fun since dealing with that Keller shit. Heh, I'll sort this out the right way; this is what will be done."

Ronald's eyes shifted to Brook, who then began to speak about a few things. Not long after, Ronald had left the room with a smile as Brook leaned back in his chair, gazing at the scene on the TV with a thoughtful expression.

***

A few hours later, two individuals were walking outside of the police station; one was a full-grown woman with a curvaceous figure, ample chest, and brown complexion. Her long red-dyed hair was messy much like her formal dress as her almond eyes looked tired.

A younger girl walked beside her with similar features; her eyes had more of a rounded look as she wore trendy clothes. Still, despite her attire, her expression right now was one of worry.

"Mother, did you really do that to uncle and cousin? Why did you do such a thing?" Susie asked as she looked at her mother with worry and a hint of pain in her eyes.

Leah seemed like a lost soul; she wandered under the support of Susie. Soon, the two had arrived at an empty bus station covered in silence. No one was even nearby, as the scene carried an uncanniness due to it being late at night, the street lamps lighting up only a few different areas of the streets, along with the lights from the surrounding buildings.

Susie saw that her mother remained silent and couldn't help but feel uneased, she wanted to say something, but Leah finally broke the silence as she spoke, "My dear daughter, now that you know what kind of person I am, do you now hate me?"

Susie paused for a moment as her eyes flashed with a complex light before she bit her lip and replied, "Mother, I don't hate you, while I didn't like what you did I can't bring myself to do so. Mother, I believe that people can change, so long as you're willing to put in the effort and make amends, I believe that you'll be fine."

Leah looked at her daughter with watery eyes; her tears rolled down her cheek as she hugged her and spoke in a sad tone, "My child! I'm sorry, I only wanted us to have the most perfect life. I didn't think it would turn out this way. I am a bad mother, a bad sister, and a bad aunt. Now, I've gone and even lost everything as a price to avoid going into jail. My husband lost his house, his job, his everything, and we no longer have a dime, with my own two hands I've destroyed not only my life but your future. Yet, you can stand beside me and say that you don't hate me!"

As Susie saw her mother break down into tears, her eyes also grew watery; she didn't know how to reply to her mother. The truth is, Susie didn't even know what was going on at first, when she got the call that her mother was confined, she quickly left campus and came over to the Public Security Sector.

Upon hearing her deeds, Susie was angry, especially when things ended up as they did. However, when she saw her mother's expression, she couldn't bring herself to hate her anymore. A woman is but a simple creature, they put on masks to make themselves seem more complex only as a method to not be looked down upon by anyone. Yet, at the end of the day, all they really want is to feel a sense of safety. The warmth and coziness of a secure home with no worries or pain from anything or anyone else in the world. To accomplish this goal, they would go above and beyond, stepping into the depths of hell itself to see their wishes true, even if they know that what they're doing is not right.

Maybe this is but a faulty view, and in actual fact, all lifeforms regardless of gender are of a similar nature, being selfish with their own agendas and wishes before all else.

Susie's tears fell silently as she gently rubbed her mother's back and spoke, "Mother, it will be okay; I promise you that all will be fine."

Leah seemed to have found a bit of peace; she leaned her head on her daughter's chest and said nothing as if she only wanted to rest. Yet, it was at this moment, when all seemed to have calmed down, the silence was broken.

"How touching..." A cold voice said.

Both Susie and Leah hearing this turned and looked towards the source. There they saw an odd scene, where a man stood close by a streetlamp that shone its lights upon him, but regardless of how much light illuminated his body, his features couldn't be seen. It seemed as if he was always shrouded by a layer of darkness even in the brightest of light, as an indistinct mask covered his face leaving only his glowing red eyes.

Both Leah and Susie were stunned; they looked at the man in fear as they backed up while speaking.

"Y-Y-You... who are you?" Susie asked in a flustered tone.

"Get away from my daughter right now; if you don't, I-I'll calls the cops!" Leah said and stood before her Susie as though her mind was a bit broken; it was a mother's instinct to protect one's child.

"Fufufufu..." The man laughed as he saw this, his eyes shone even more sinisterly as he spoke, "The police? You mean the place you were just discharged from as a felon. Haha, that's funny. You're quite the comedic little human, now aren't you."

Leah had a pitiful look on her face when she heard those words; she recalled the previous scenes causing her mind to falter again as her eyes turned dead hopeless.

"Mother, let's run!" Susie said as she tried to pull Leah, but she turned and noticed that Leah was standing still while trembling.

The man seeing this licked his lips and smiled as he spoke, "Wonderful; I can already taste it; such an overwhelming amount of despair it's of top quality. Human woman, I've waited long enough, today you'll be my finest dish..."

"What? You darn creep; we don't have any food or money to give so get away from us!" Susie shouted in anger, attempting to scare him off as she noticed that her mother wasn't of the right mind to move.

Yet, it was at this moment, Susie saw a scene that changed her view of life. The man's body began to distort, turning into something ghastly with many mouths that had sinister teeth as his body became a few meters large.

"You! What the hell are you!" Susie shouted in alarm as she fell onto her rump, and trembled while looking at the monstrosity before her.

The creature shrouded by darkness chuckled as it spoke in a resonant tone, "What am I? Fufufufu..." As it said this, its body quickly sent a part of itself over to them.

"Nooo!" Susie screamed in fear as she closed her eyes, not daring to stare at what would happen. Yet, as if fate had protected her, no matter how long she had stayed silent, nothing happened.

Eventually, a disgusting crunching sound could be heard from beside her as if flesh and bone were being torn apart along with the muffled sound of someone screaming.

Susie opened her eyes to see a scene much like that of a nightmare, her mother's right arm hanging loosely from a vicious mouth of darkness, bouncing up and down as the mouth chewed upon the rest of her body. Occasionally, it would open, showing chunks of meat and bone, along with blood that flowed downward. Suddenly, this arm fell to the ground as the last token of memory for its owner.

Susie looked at this scene with an indescribable amount of fear as she was so shocked she could only speak in a broken manner, "Mo... Mo... Mo..."

She tried to call out to her mother, but no matter how she did, her words couldn't come out. Instead, she could only slowly reach her arm towards the hand on the ground.

Yet, at this time, the creature opened another mouth, sending a speedy tongue towards the hand. It rapidly gobbled it up and swallowed it as the monstrosity spoke, "Oops! A part is missing, can't have that now can we, good food is meant to be eaten whole."

Having feasted the creature was happy, its figure reshaped back into the form of a man, shrouded by darkness as he looked at the shocked Susie and spoke with a smile using the tone of her mother, "Do you hate me?"

Susie, who was still shocked, continued to stare at the point where Leah's arm had vanished; her mind seemed to be gone entirely.

The man seeing this smirked and spoke again, "If you hate me, then grow stronger become powerful, and face me again. I promise that I'll let you reunite with your dear mother again, human... Fufufufu!"

After saying this, the darkness started to twist as the man's body vanished into the night. Now, only Susie remained at this scene; her mind in distraught as it flashed with countless memories of her childhood, her current years and scenes spent with her mother.

Crack! Suddenly, as if the shattering sound was heard at the depths of her mind, Susie lifted her head and started to laugh, "HAHAHAHAHA!"

Her eyes were crying tears of blood, as she made her sorrowful cry throughout the night scene. Oddly enough, despite all that happened thus far, no one was nearby the vicinity.

Eventually, Susie's eyes turned blood red, her being seemed to have changed entirely as she stood on her feet and gazed at the starry night sky with pure and utter hatred as her voice sounded across the empty night, "I will kill...!"