HELLSCAPE

CHAPTER 13

"NOOOO!!" Agent I yelled out as she woke up in the library surrounded by her Hellfire books and the research she had done,

"Y'know... you talk a lot in your sleep" came a voice from across the table. Agent I looked up surprised to see the man with the scar sitting across from her,

"WERE YOU WATCHING ME SLEEP!" she yelled at him before being hushed by the entire library,

"Shhhh" he said imitating the others in the library and chuckled to poke fun at Agent I as she scowled at him,

"You asked me to come and help you research the Hellfire to better understand my abilities" he added

"I did?" she responded in confusion. As she tried to piece together how they got there, a menacing figure loomed over the man with the scar, his energy was the same as the unnatural she had seen in the vision when she touched her mentor's hand in the training room. She saw his grin pierce through the shadows and heard his demonic laughter echo and bounce off the library walls. He reached his hands over her mentor and in one swift motion, he plunged his hand through her mentor's back, through the front of his chest, pulling out his heart and holding it above his mouth to let the blood pour from it into his mouth. As she saw the life drain from her mentor's eyes, her heart raced and her eyes started to tear, she couldn't help it. The man with the scar's lifeless body flopped onto the table and lay motionless...

—

"NOOOO!!" Agent I yelled out. She woke up to find herself in the library surrounded by her books but saw no sight of her mentor or the demonic figure she had seen,

"Was that just a bad dream?..." She thought to herself

"...or was it a sign trying to tell her something?", even though the events of her nightmare were not reality, she wiped tears that trickled down her face. What she saw may not have been real but her reaction to it very much was...

—

"What's happening?!" Agent I yelled out to her mentor as 3 of the senior agents ushered her, as well as many other agents, into mission control

"Just follow their lead" the man with the scar responded, still with an unamused expression on his face despite the hectic circumstances

"My fellow Devils, of the London Institute!..." 06 began to project in front of the crowd of agents, accompanied by 04 and another senior that Agent I had not met yet,

"As you can see on the map above..." he continued as he pointed to the map swarming with unnatural markers of varying colours

"The eastern coast of the United States has become overrun by unnaturals, we are unsure as to how so many have appeared in such a concentrated area but needless to say these institutes are being overwhelmed in their attempts to contain and neutralise the unnaturals in their respective jurisdictions..."

Agent I saw her mentor at the back of the room sitting on a desk where he had pushed the computer and other office appliances to the side to make space for him to sit, he did not seem bothered by the problem at hand but she wasn't sure there even was anything that bothered him... after all, what was it 04 said to them in Italy over the comms? Oh right, the man with the scar didn't care about anything...

06 continued with his briefing,

"New York, Maine, Virginia, Florida and many other states have been overrun and their institutes have requested our help to provide backup against this unnatural threat because our agents are the best of the best at what they do..."
"Question!" the man with the scar exclaimed from the back of the room with his arm raised, the entire room turned to look at him. The suspense in the room was tangible as many of the agents, rookies or otherwise, were aware of the man's reputation and capabilities... the man that commands hellfire had a question...

"Isn't EVERYTHING in Florida 'unnatural'...? He asked before breaking out into laughter,

The crowded room was unsure as to what they should do, should they laugh along with him or stay serious and focused on the task at hand?

"I'm glad you find this funny because you will be spearheading the operation from within the field" 06 snapped at the man

"HUH?!" the man with the scar responded with confusion

"But- but- 04 said I didn't have to take missions for the rest of the month after I saved yours and the rookie's butts in Italy!" he yelled out. 06 scowled at him in disapproval as his comment undermined his competence as a senior agent

"Oops." the man commented, reading the expression on 06's face and understanding the situation,

"You're spearheading the operation because of this..." 06 explained as he pointed to an omega marker in the centre of the hoard,

"Omega threat unnaturals are rare, to say the least, the last time we encountered one was in Nagasaki Japan many years ago. We have reason to believe that what we encountered back then and this unnatural are the same..." he added. Agent I saw a cold, concerned expression fall upon her mentor's face, this was the first time she had seen him worried. Even when he was fighting the "world breaker" in the arctic, she could see that he was having fun during the fight, but something about this mission has him worried, scared almost.

"Everyone else takes care of the unnaturals swarming the area..." the man commanded,

"The Omega is mine. Stay out of that fight," he added before walking out of the room,

"You heard the man!" 06 yelled out, prompting the other agents to prepare for the mission.