I Am Become Death
Page 26
Chikara figured they would do that. Chillingworth had to cover his tracks. Right now, the five of them were probably on a private jet halfway across the Pacific Ocean, and she had a good idea of where they would stop first. His injuries needed rapid healing, and given his partnership with Jeremiah Neuhaus’s son, he knew just who to ask. This gave her a short window of time to track him down. She had Gen call the hospital caring for Neuhaus again, only to learn that he had moved to another location without telling them where.
On Sunday, Chikara had many visitors. Detectives asked her what had happened, but just like the other students, she couldn’t say a word. They finally left her alone when Renka “convinced” them that she knew nothing.
Hirono and Yui reported that the members of the two kendo clubs still suffered from head trauma and concussions but were expected to make a full recovery. Tomo and Yui brought flowers and candy. Chisato came to her with the broken bokken wrapped in a blanket. Chikara’s blood had already dried into it.
She didn’t accept the gift. “Keep it. I’m using real steel from now on.”
“Kaminari-san... what’s going to happen to Michiko?”
She grabbed her hand. “Don’t tell anyone this, but my friends and I are going after her. I promise we’ll find her.”
“Thank you so much.” Chisato knew that if anyone could save her friend and stop the bad guys, Kaminari Chikara could.
Hibana Taichi came in that afternoon. Chikara had Renka summon him earlier that morning. He took one look at her face and went silent. Chikara said, “Hibana-san, I need your help.”
“Uh... okay. What do you need?”
“Weapons. Electric weapons. Ones that I can power myself. You’re the best electronics guy I know. Do you think you’re up to the task?”
His face lit up. “Are you kidding? I’ll get right on it.” After they discussed the specific tools she would need, Taichi ran home, opened an energy drink and got to work.
The day after that, Chikara checked herself out of the hospital against all advice from the doctors. She had them clean her wound one last time. The stitches along the cut would have to remain for several weeks, and she declined a fitting for a glass eye.
In Gen’s hospital room, Chikara told her two cohorts to inform their families that they would be going on a trip to America for an indefinite amount of time. College would have to wait.
“Should we tell them about what we can do?” asked Renka.
“I don’t know. If you have to, go ahead.”
“I will,” said Gen. “I’ve been thinking about what you said, and I’ve decided to admit everything to my family.”
“Even the plane?”
Gen groaned, “Yes, even the plane.”
“Uh... I guess I’ll admit it too,” said Renka. “I’m sure they’ll sympathize.”
***
That night, Gen called his family to his room. He created shapes from the darkness surrounding him and told them everything. He explained Kaminari Mika’s adventure in Africa, her will granting the ring to the three of them, his destruction of the American jet and Kaijin’s rampage. Since he didn’t know the details of the prom, he just said that he and the girls had to rescue Michiko from her kidnappers in America.
Kagekuro Shuya couldn’t control his excitement. “Wow! My big brother’s a superhero. This is so cool.”
Their father Inajiro wasn’t as pleased. “I’m disappointed that you kept this from us and destroyed that jet, but I’m glad that you’re making up for it.”
Kimie told her son, “Since you were a baby, you wanted to help other people. Then you wanted to punish the bad people. I guess now you have your chance.”
“Are you going to have a sweet codename?” asked Shuya. “Or a costume?”
Gen laughed. “No, little buddy. I think we’ll be fine without them.”
***
Renka planned on using her gifts to influence her parent’s opinions, but at the last minute she decided against it. She felt that controlling her own parents would make her no better than her enemies. She told the bizarre story and changed their emotions only as a demonstration. Her parents expressed disappointment that she would be putting college on hold, but ultimately approved of her decision. She agreed to call them every day to report her progress.
Relieved, Renka walked to Chikara’s shrine to see how she was coping. Renka found her in the basement in deep meditation and surrounded by a powerful electric field. She watched as Chikara slowly lifted herself off the ground and levitated several meters high. Before she reached the ceiling, the metal pipes hanging above her snapped and spilled water all over her. She fell down and quickly mended the pipe with her electromagnetic control.
Renka asked, “Are you okay?”
Drenched, Chikara knew that Renka could sense her humiliation. “I need more metal if I’m going to fly. Let’s go to Hibana’s and see what he’s made.”
“Shouldn’t you get cleaned up first?”
Chikara let another body-wide surge of voltage dry her off. This burned her clothes, prompting a quick change of attire.
When the girls arrived at Taichi’s house, they found him in his workshop surrounded by empty energy drink cans and advanced equipment. They didn’t expect him to build so much in just one day. “Kaminari-san, you’re just in time.” He looked jittery but pale, suggesting that he hadn’t slept since he started. “Here’s what I got for you...”
He held up a woman’s bodysuit. “Your battle armor, woven with an aluminum-magnesium alloy to make it light yet strong. The cloth itself absorbs heat, so don’t worry about zapping yourself naked.” He laughed, but the girls didn’t find it funny.
Taichi then showed off some boots and wrist gauntlets. “Okay, check these out. They’re iron-plated between the leather layers. If you can generate big enough electromagnetic fields, you should be able to fly.”
“Next up, my patented remote-controlled boomerangs. I’ve added an extra surprise... they can emit an ear-piercing noise and a blinding flash guaranteed to stun your enemy. I call them Flasherangs.” Chikara inspected the devices, remembering how she fought them before.
“Finally, my magnum opus... your sword, my lady.” He knelled before her like a knight and presented the futuristic weapon. Though shaped like a katana, the sword’s inward blade consisted of a dark blue material that Chikara couldn’t identify. Inside the translucent substance, she saw a series of tiny transistors, diodes and circuits. The blunt end of the sword consisted of black metal, and the handle looked like a long solar panel wrapped in a pattern of electrical tape. She saw half of a menuki ornament on each side of the hilt. They formed a black lightning bolt, her new symbol.
“Your own body acts as a generator, pumping power into the low-permittivity conductors and creating a dielectric current that energizes the plate and cathode, which activates the Zener diodes and...”
Chikara cut him off. “Japanese, please?”
“Taichi laughed, “Heh heh, sorry. Basically, it focuses and channels your energy.”
Chikara let her electricity flow into the handle’s circuits, letting the blade surge with incalculable power. She swung it through the air and got a feel for its weight. Although heavier than her old bokken, it would have to do. She swung the sword downward and watched as a wave of lightning extended outwards and left a scar in the wall.
Renka could only stare in awe. “Wow.”
“Yeah, she’s a beauty,” said Taichi. “And the swords not bad either. I call it the Electrosaber.”
Chikara looked satisfied. The weapon suited her perfectly. “What do I owe you, Hibana-kun?”
“Are you kidding? I’m helping a real superhero save the world from a diabolical villain. That’s all the payment I need.”
Chikara looked around the room and noticed an item Taichi didn’t mention. She picked up the jagged piece of metal shaped like a lightning bolt. “What is this?”
“Oh, that was going to be a dagger, but I didn’t get around to
finishing it.”
“I have a better idea.”
After some instructions on how to use the Flasherangs and Electrosaber, Taichi bid them farewell. “Good luck. Hey, when you defeat those guys from the prom, tell them Taichi sent you.”
“Sure thing, Taichi.”
***
That night, Gen checked himself out of the hospital. The doctors gave him some papaya paste to encourage the skin to heal and sent him home. The three young heroes started packing for their trip. Mr. Kaminari arranged for a flight to America, hoping his daughter’s new equipment wouldn’t cause much of a problem in customs.
When Chikara finished packing, she noticed the sounds of thunder and rain echoing throughout her shrine. She had forgotten about the predicted storm that night. She carried her new sword upstairs to the balcony as if called by the sounds of the thunder. Without regard for her safety, she opened the doors and walked outside. The rain came down as if it shooting the earth, but she didn’t mind. She looked to the clouds and saw the frequent flashes of lightning that scarred the sky.
Each shock of atmospheric discharge only reminded her of Chillingworth. With each clap of thunder, she imagined herself striking him with a worse electric blast than before. She wanted to disfigure that smug, mocking grin on his face just like he did to her. She would be a bolt of lightning herself... sudden, powerful and lethal, and her thunder would be heard all across the world.
She felt as one with the flashes in the sky. She understood them and they called to serve her. She lifted the Electrosaber and commanded the sky to touch her with its abundant power. The clouds responded and sent a bolt of lightning straight into the sword, which absorbed the massive amount of voltage and channeled it into its owner. Chikara felt every gigawatt course through her body and cleanse her of all weakness. At last she had found the spark… herself.
Once the storm calmed, she walked back inside and dried off. She then located some cans of paint from the basement, sat down with the jagged piece of metal and decorated it. Satisfied with the terrifying design, she held it to her scarred face and let the resulting electromagnetic field hold it over her eye. She looked into a mirror and proclaimed, “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Your world, Damian.”
EPILOGUE
I can see Renka and Gen approaching my house. They’re holding hands and making lovey-dovey faces. I don’t care anymore. She can do what she wants. Justice is now my only concern.
I tried to run and hide from my mother’s plans. I thought I could choose my life freely and live in peace, but I realize now that nobody can change their destiny, and I was born to do this. Now that I have my weapons, my friends, my power and my will, nothing will stop me. I feel like I have been reborn. I feel like an oiwa in Noh plays... a woman’s ghost who returns for revenge on the man who wronged her.
Mom told me the path would be difficult… that I will be hurt and hardened. But in the end, I will prevail. I will go to America, find Michiko and disrupt Chillingworth’s plans. Once I have my chance, I will wrap my hands around that psychopath’s throat and choke the life out of him... him and any other extremist that threatens the world.
I open the door and walk outside to see my friends. I called them here to discuss our travel plans. Renka is shocked and astounded by my evening wear, but Gen smiles. He’s glad that I’ve finally embraced my future. I walk towards them in Taichi’s metallic suit, boots and gauntlets. I carry my new weapon, still sparkling with electric current, and I wear my half-mask... the blue and black painted lightning bolt that conceals my scar. A simple mirror covers the eye hole so my enemies can see their own terrified faces when I come for them.
Gen and Renka are excited and scared, I can tell. They don’t know if they’re up to this, but I know in my heart that with them by my side... we will save this world.
“I’m ready.”
To be continued in…
I Am Become Liberty
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
EPILOGUE