Ascenders Rift

In a dark room that was vaguely lit by a few unique light sources, a few figures were kneeling on the ground. Their faces were obscured by the shadows cast by the lights, much-like the red-haired individual whom they were paying their respects. Looking at them closely, one would notice that they were each wearing different style suits and cloaks with the more secretive amongst them having masks over their faces.

Three persons amongst these individuals had a familiar-looking face; they wore scientist uniforms and carried a slightly dismal mood compared to everyone else.

After a moment of silence, the red-haired man seated in the dark spoke, "Alton, do you care to explain to me why our project was disrupted at the EarlingStar Academy? How could it be that you let that woman from the MSS steal our data?"

Alton gritted his teeth as both Marcus and Donna lowered their heads in shame, the remaining individual looked at them in silence as a cold air filled the room.

Not daring to waste any further time, Alton clenched his fist and replied, "Chief, I-It was my negligence. I should have been more careful. Because I was distracted by the task given beforehand, I had unknowingly left the information in an unprotected state. I frankly didn't believe that girl from the MSS would even take action due to the nature of our joint corporation."

"Hmph!" The chief snorted as he glared at the trio; his body glowed in a menacing light as the bones in their bodies began to make creaking noises.

"Ack! Chief... I… I can fix it. P-Please give us another chance to r…rectify this mistake!" Alton shouted while he struggled in pain, along with Marcus and Donna.

The chief soon managed to calm his mood; his body stopped glowing as he stared at Alton and spoke again, "You want to fix it? All that data will never return! Your carelessness has cost us our entire effort in this sector. Do you know how much I had to pay because of your blunder?"

As the chief shouted, the room shook as if it was currently undergoing a tremor. Alton, Donna, and Marcus trembled, not daring to make a sound, but the remaining individuals stayed calm and indifferent.

The chief seeing this no longer vented, he calmed his mood before looking at them and speaking, "I want you to forget your previous task, from this point onwards, we will no longer continue our operations at that EarlingStar school. We've been told to focus on the remaining areas; I shall assign you three with the sole task of recovering most of the data and subduing any individuals that were on the Class 1 Coded List. This is your last chance, for your sake, I hope you won't fail me again."

"W-We will not fail you again, chief!" Alton, Donna, and Marcus said as they made a bow before leaving the room.

As they left the room, the eyes of the RADA chief shifted towards the remaining individuals. Each of them was quite unique, in that one amongst them had a stylish mohawk and with chains over his body, while a mask hid his face.

The others were a slender man with a needle in his palms; his body seemed unusually slender as if he was nothing but a pile of bones while his mask was more of an uncanny skull design.

Finally, the remaining individual had the build of a young woman, her features were similarly shrouded by her mask, as only her wild blackish-green hair was prominent. She played with a dagger silently, and if one looked carefully, they would find that she was almost elusive as if she could very much vanish from plain sight.

These individuals looked at the chief with calmness, as if they couldn't feel any tinge of fear by his previous show of strength.

The chief looked at them and smirked before he spoke, "Number 10, I suppose you're wondering why I've called you and the others. I'll make this simple; during the time of the world briefing, you will each be making a public appearance along with our representatives. This is to show the world that you are the leading stars of our RADA group, the ones who will save the world from the incoming threat."

The person with the mohawk yawned in an unbridled manner when he spoke, "Eh? Why should I do something like that? That's too booooring, chief!"

"Hehe, he wants us to play superheroes, now isn't that fun!" The female that seemed not to have any presence said as she excitedly plays with her daggers.

"...." The pale and skinny man that seemed as if he would die at any time said nothing, as he remained indifferent to all things.

The chief seeing their reactions thought to himself, "These foolish brats, I knew it would be like this..."

As he thought to himself, he glared at them and snorted, but before he could say anything, a voice sounded from the darkness, "Impudent!"

Following the shout, a towering power filled the room. The floor beneath the feet of the others cracked as the pressure from this power seemed to be leagues above that of what shown by the chief.

Soon, a figure had appeared, a man with a somewhat fleeting presence much like that or rather, even more, superior to the female on the other's side. His face was hidden behind a dark mask as he wore a simple butler suit with black gloves over his wrists.

The man coldly stared at the individuals before he spoke, "You will learn to respect our chief. If not, I will slowly let you suffer the consequences!"

The faces of the previously idle looking individuals became dark, but it wasn't out of fear but respect for the foe's strength.

"It's an honor to the meet the fabled, Mister One, please forgive our rudeness. We merely felt that chief's strength was a bit too weak." The man with the mohawk said with a smile and a look of challenge.

"You, how dare---" Mister One was about to say something, but suddenly, the female who was playing with the dagger appeared behind him in what seemed like an instant.

If one looked closely, her dagger's edge was resting on the neck of Mister One while shimmering in a baleful light. The female licked her lips and spoke, "Hehe, Mister One, you were a bit careless just now, how can you live up to your reputation as our strongest if even I can catch you off guard?"

Mister One looked at the knife below his neck and chuckled, his eyes glowing in a cold light when he spoke calmly, "It' seems that I'll have to teach you foolish children about respect... so be it."

As he said this, the aura around Mister One's body changed, it erupted in blinding lights, causing the entire room to shake. Soon, the eyes of Numbers 10, 11, and 12 opened wide in shock as they felt as if they went to another world.

The earth below them was one of blood, filled with countless corpses as each of their figures hung from a cross, they each felt panic as they couldn't even lift their fingers.

"This, what's going on?" The mohawk individual said, his face ran with sweat.

"I... Is he going to kill us?" The female said with a pale expression.

When the mohawk man heard this, his face similarly turned dark; he only wanted to challenge the strong not to die an early death. The only person amongst them who seemed calm was the skinny man that hung from the cross like a corpse.

Suddenly, Mister One had appeared before them; he walked as if he was stepping on the air with his arms placed behind his back.contemporary romance

Eventually, he had arrived before the cheeky female who was now cowering in fear. The eyes behind his mask shone in a dark light when he spoke, "You think it's good to break authority? Good, then let me start with you..."

As Mister One said this, he slowly reached his hand for her face, causing it to turn into something unusual, morphing into a sinister-looking creature's claw.

"No, stay away! I... I'm sorry!" The female shouted in fear as she struggled to escape, but it was a pity she couldn't escape.

'"Let this be a lesson to all of you..." Mister One said in an icy manner, but as his arm was about to enter the female's body, there was a change.

"That's enough!" A loud shout by the voice of the chief, upon hearing this, Mister One's face changed as he canceled his power returning the scene back to normal.

He was still standing in his previous position, seeming to have not moved, much like everyone else. If anything were said to be different, it would be that the others now carried looks of fear.

"Such a horrible power!" The mohawk man and the others said in the mind as they made sure to note this down.

Mister One then looked at the chief and bowed before speaking, "Please forgive this one's rudeness chief."

The chief looked at Mister One coldly as he spoke, "Fine, let us continue."

As he said this, deep in his eyes was a tinge of mockery when he shifted his sights onto the others. However, that faded when he addressed them, "As I was saying before, each of you will be in the company of Mister One at the world briefing. As you'll be the lead for RADA's incentives in the future, you must each act with a certain level of grace. We have decided to assign you all a new leader, a rising star chosen by the Great Excellency himself, his title is Number Zero."

When the chief said this, he clapped his hand before looking towards the position of Mister One. The faces of Number 10 and the others shifted towards the same direction.

As this happened, another person had appeared, he wore a white mask and had loose white hair. If one looked at his eyes, they would feel a sense of strangeness as they had no light, as if the man before them was merely a dead soul in living flesh.

Number 10 and the others felt a chill when they saw his look, they each gulped down and trembled slightly. The RADA chief smirked when he saw this, he spoke once more in a loud voice, "Good, from this day forward you are no longer an independent unit, but a squad that will be known as the Heaven Eyes. Your sole task is to stand above all else and perform a few special tasks. Now then, this meeting is over, you will leave under the direction of Number One and Zero."

As the chief spoke, the mood in the room changed, they each looked at each other with sharp looks before the bowed and spoke, "As the chief wishes!"

As they said this, they shifted their eyes towards the strange Number Zero and icy Mister One. Zero turned his back on the group as he started to walk towards the exit, while Mister One spoke, "Let's get moving."

"Y-Yes!" Number 10 and the others replied after a bit of hesitancy; as they followed behind the duo, their eyes were a bit unsatisfied, but they didn't dare to speak it out loud.

Not long after, everyone had left the room, leaving behind the silent chief who sat a chair. The chief lifted his head, gazing at the dark ceiling with complex eyes as he thought to himself, "So we finally begin... my dearest, I know you wouldn't like this, but this is what must be done."

While the chief thought to himself, a few light footsteps sounded from behind his chair. The chief stayed in his current posture, not moving, for he knew who had come, he spoke in a sarcastic tone, "Your Excellency has the time to pay this one a visit, I am honored."

The person behind him didn't mind his tone; he only spoke a few words before leaving, "You made a wise choice, chief. Huhu, I shall be closely observing your feats from here on out, so please do continue to entertain me."

The individuals vanished after his words, leaving behind the chief who sat in darkness, his eyes carried a vicious look, as his fists clenched tightly, showing veins.

"Soon, I will show you all..." The chief said in his mind as he closed his cold looking eyes, turning the world before him into one of darkness.

done.co