Chapter Text
“Hey Kaichou, what do you want to play after this mission? Yu Gi Oh?”
Doppio Dropscythe, a first-year student at the Institute of Infinity and the Student Council's Enforcer, walks with his hands at the back of his head and looks around the hallway. He accompanies Ver Vermillion, a third-year student at the Institute of Infinity and the Student Council’s President.
“Sorry, Doppi. I still have some paperwork to finish. After that, I might have to rest. Kotoka told me that I look like a panda each day with my eyes bags”, Ver yawned after answering Doppio’s question and continued to walk down the hallway.
Despite being the student council’s president, XSOLEIL, Ver had little control over his members. His vice president and treasurer delegate all paperwork to him, such as organizing their mission and school progress report. His counselor tries to assist him as much as possible, but Ver does not want to cause him any trouble, so he requests to be in charge of everyone at the Institute of Infinity's mental health, including himself. His event coordinator assists with some aspects of her job, such as organizing school events and volunteering to clean the student council room. She occasionally prepares coffee and sweets for him, which he appreciates because he forgets to drink water and eat a healthy meal. Last but not least, his enforcer begins his first day of class by fighting a male student in his class because he was catcalling one of his female classmates, causing her discomfort. The Headmaster just punishes Doppio by giving him twice the number of missions for just a month.
Ver rarely goes out on missions, due to the amount of paperwork, with the exception of Zaion pestering or causing destruction to a school facility. Anyhow as Doppio is still in the penalty period, the Headmaster had instructed him to go with Doppio on this task. They received this assignment from an alumnus. They are members of a branch that assists young children whose powers manifest at an early age. If the children choose to remain with them, they can assist them in enrolling in the institute then they will help the institute when they graduate, or, if not, they can assist them in leading everyday lives without wreaking havoc on the community. One day, they come upon mercenaries who have abducted them while on a school field trip. Eight were abducted and those who managed to flee; reported the situation to them.
Doppio doesn’t have enough brain power to handle this mission alone, which is the reason why Ver is accompanying him. He was also given the task of probing the abductees' soul futures to prevent a repeat abduction. Ver pulls out his student e-handbook and opens the laboratory maps that Zaion had given them.
“Thank you Zaion for giving this map to us. A shame this place jams the signal.”
“Yeah, Ver. This hallway goes on forever. We can’t even call the others!”
As Ver turns to face the first year, he observes his unwavering attention on the brand-new combat tactical fingerless gloves. Ver is glad to see how delighted Doppio is with the gloves as if he was receiving a birthday gift. His previous mission had left his old gloves tattered and ragged. He has to request the admin to buy new equipment for him. They even allow Doppio to choose which gloves suit him. Ver looks back at the map and follows the direction of the location they assume where the abductees are at.
“Thanks, Ver for getting these gloves. This feels better than my old ones.”, Doppio smiled as he patted his brand-new gloves.
“You don’t need to thank me Doppi. This is a normal thing for us because we need new equipment from time to time.”
“So, I can ask for a penthouse then?”
“Um, we see. . . penthouses are expensive. Doppi, do you know I'm already having trouble paying rent?”
“Please Kaichou, I want to live in an arcade penthouse. I might even get an actual bed too.”
“Now Doppi, you were the one who ask-”
“ Somebody, please help us . *sniff* anybody please . ”
The pair stops their conversation and listens to the crying echoes of the hallways again.
“ *sniff* Somebody, please *sniff*”
“Kaichou?”
“Doppio, get ready.”
At his order, Doppio tightens his gloves and cracks his knuckles. Ver donned his mask and rolled up the left sleeve of his coat, igniting his flames. They move slowly toward a door, which looks to be the source of the cry. A card reader and a key are required to unlock the door. Ver makes use of a card and key that acts as the master key for all the locks carried over from Zaion's time. They enter the room gently with caution, the room is pitch black. In the room, they could hear sobbing. Doppio finds the light switch and turns it on.
When the lights were on, they noticed the room looked like the interrogation room in those old television crime programs because of the transparent glass pane dividing the space, and the dull grey concert wall. In this room, behind the glass window, three young children, between the ages of 5 and 10, are huddling and sobbing together. Doppio kicks the doorknob beside the window, making the children squeal and tighten their hugs.
“Oh! Um? Sorry to startle you guys. Are you ok? No one hurt?”
Doppio attempts to comfort the children but just makes them cry harder. He regrets what he did and becomes worried. Ver gives Doppio a shoulder pat to signal him to stop scaring them. He moves slowly in their direction. He takes off his mask before kneeling before them.
“Hello little ones, don’t be afraid. We’re here to rescue you. Here, look at the beautiful lotus.”
Ver forms his flames in a lotus shape and ensures that it would not burn them. The beauty of the blazing violet lotus in Ver's palm entranced the children. Later, he transforms his flames into miniature charming animals that swirl around them. They are giggling at the flaming animal that is spinning and playing around them. The children were able to relax thanks to Ver's fire show.
“Little ones, are you hurt? Do any of you have a boo-boo?”
The three look at each other and let go of themselves. A young girl has what appears to be a blood-soaked cloth warp over both of her arms. The other two are young boys' limbs that have bruises. Ver smiles at her and says in a comforting tone.
“Little girl, may I remove this cloth warped on your arm? We have bandaids with us, it will be painful when removed, can you brace the pain?”
She nods at Ver. She shows Ver her arms and bites her lips for the pain.
“Ok, ready? On the count of three. three, two, one”
When Ver opens the fabric, the girl muzzles her screams to show that she’s a grownup and not worry her friends. Her arm has a lengthy scar, and the incision is very bloody. He examined the wounds but refrained from throwing up and expressing disgust. He looks at Doppio to ask for the first-aid kit.
“Doppi, can you give me the first-aid kit?”
“Kaichou, let me bandage her. Maybe you can check the other kids.”
“Nah, don’t worry Doppi. I can handle it.”
He can feel his head getting lightheaded from the sight of the wound as he makes that comment. He cannot pass out in front of the kids, not even to Doppio. Doppio sighs nonetheless at Ver's reply. Simply give him another set of the first-aid kit and shift Ver to the other two children. He turns his back on the girl then Doppio returns to bandage her arm.
“Mister, will she be alright?”
Ver looks at the two boys in front of him. He kneels, so they don’t have neck pain from talking to him.
“She will be alright. My friend just has to put some medicine on her arm and cover it, so that the germs won’t get inside of her, that will make her sick.”
The two young boys seem to be relieved at Ver's answer. Ver applies the medicine and bandaids to their bruise.
“Also, don’t call me mister. You can call me Ver-hyung and that man behind me is Pio-hyung.”
“Yes, Ver-hyung.”
Ver smiles at the two boys and ruffles their hair together.
“Kaichou, I’m done.”
Ver turns around, and he sees the enforcer is already carrying the girl who is fully bandaged in his arm. He stands up and goes to Doppio until he suddenly feels something heavy in his legs. He looks down to see both boys hugging each of his legs.
“Ver-hyung, why is Pio-hyung calling you Kaichou ?”, one of the boys asked him. Ver ruffles their hair again and answers their question.
“Because Kaichou means president. I’m the student council’s president at the Institute of Infinity, XSOLEIL .”
“In-sit-tube of In-fin-tili? You mean the same school that Sisters and Brothers went to?”, the little girl in Doppio’s arm asked and tilted her head.
“Yeah, your sister and brothers are our senpais. They were the ones who told us about you guys.”
Doppio says it with a big smile and head pats the girl. Her tears fall out of her eyes, then she hugs Doppio by the neck. They could all hear her sniffling from her cries.
“I knew it. Sister and Brother won’t abandon us. Those people were lying to us. Sisters and Brother love us.”
“Hmm?”
Ver and Doppio are surprised about the girl's response about their alumni. Ver doesn’t want to ask the children in these situations, but they need to know where they are.
“Little ones, are you the only ones that were brought here?”
"No! When we arrived here, only Brother Tony and Brother Volker were with us but Sister Vedatte, Sister Carmen, and Sister Eri weren’t with us. So they ask the scary men to tell them where they are '' the boy on Ver’s left leg responds. “The scary men start to hit them, take them all away, and we never see them again."
"They have no way of telling time here, so they'd think it's only a minute, but it's been days since they've seen our senpais," Ver reasoned in his head . "It only took us five days to find them and get here, but we have no idea how they're treated here. They might be already -”
“Hey Kaichou, can you hold her for a second?”
Ver is stunned when he instantly carries the girl as Doppio hands her to him. Doppio unexpectedly pulls some biscuits from the rear of his pockets. He rips the wrapper open and then breaks it. He uses the wrapper as an improvised platter and serves it to the children.
“You might be hungry from waiting right? Here have some biscuits!”
Ver takes a portion and hands it to the girl while Doppio distributes it to the boys. They eat it so quickly that one of them chokes, and Doppio has to give them water. Doppio puts the wrapper in his pocket and then carries the two boys.
“There we go now! You guys wouldn’t complain about being hungry. You guys might be tired; we will just carry you on the way. What do you think, Kaichou?”
“Doppi, maybe we should put them down first. I need to check on them.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.”
“Check what?”, all the children look at them in wonder.
"Um, I do another magic trick, but you all have to stand still," Ver reignites his flames materialize three dim black diamonds in his palm. After seeing all three were black, he closes his eyes to focus on their visions. The black diamonds gradient into white - Afterward, the diamonds disappear. Ver opens his eyes and his knees collapse. Doppio catches him before he falls onto the floor.
“Kaichou!”
“Don’t worry Doppio. It seems the fatigue is starting to get me. I really need to rest after this mission.” Ver says in a flat voice.
It might have been from exhaustion. He takes deep breaths after looking into their future. Ver grabs his own arms and starts to tremble. Doppio pats his back to calm him down.
"Doppio, if we hadn't arrived, the little girl would have died from blood loss. I saw that if we don't arrive, the scientist will bandage her since she's too precious to die, and they'll use the boys as hostages for her. Even if they save her, the rigorous treatment from the scientist here would kill them."
“Kaichou? What do you mean? What scientist? Kaichou, you’re not making any sense.”
“Doppio, we have to find our alumni and get the heck out of here. I hope that vision hasn't happened yet.”
Ver gets up and carries the girl along with Doppio carrying the two boys. They start jogging as Doppio is perplexed by what Ver has said. Ver takes the lead, sprinting on the floor above them. They enter another room, but this one is unlocked and easily accessible. The room had a foul odor inside the room. All of the children squeeze their noses while Doppio simply stops breathing.
“Kaichou, why are we in this room? This room smells like horrible cheese mixed with the same smell you get from a full trash can in the sun. ”
“Hey little one, can you sit at Pio-oppa’s shoulder for a moment? I need to check something in this room.”
“Please don’t ignore me, Kaichou!”
The girl nodded at Ver and looked at Doppio, reaching out her arms to him.
“Doppi, can you bend down for a bit?”
“Huh?”
Doppio bends down as Ver puts the girl on his shoulder.
“Doppi, keep an eye on them.”
Ver left them outside and went inside the unidentified room. After Ver checks the children's souls, Doppio, and the kids are perplexed by his activity. A short while later, they heard a scream.
“Pio-oppa, you can go inside there. You can leave us here. We will be fine. We will scream if the scary men arrive.”
“But . . .”
“Pio-oppa, I’m worried for Ver-oppa. That scream worries us.”
“Are you sure?”
“Please go check on him.”
With pleading in their eyes, all the children turn to face Doppio. Even though they are somewhat untidy and covered in bandages, Doppio can't help but be charmed by their cuteness. He gently releases each child before walking inside the room.
“This room smells really bad. Huh? What’s this?”
Doppio feels his shoes are wet and splashing on something. He touches the floor and smells the mysterious liquid.
“This smells like iron. What is this? Wait, is this blood? Huh? Kaichou!? Ver!? Where are you?!”
When Doppio realizes the liquid is blood, he starts off running. The ground is covered in an enormous amount of dried and moist scarlet blood. Doppio scans the space and is now concerned about Ver. Doppio recalled when deciding on a horror movie for the Halloween party. Everyone in the Xsoleil informed Doppio that Ver couldn't take gore very well because he would faint at it. Doppio already has enough on his plate with the children, he does not need Ver fainting on him.
“Ver!? Where are you?! Damn it! How big is this room?”
Doppio finally found him laying down. He approaches the unconscious Ver, attempting to rouse him up until he discovers what caused Ver to pass out. Doppio's blood starts to race as he realizes there is a mound of dead bodies in front of them. Some have already degenerated, while others are just beginning. He can also see the decapitated corpses, who were standing closest to them.
“ Senpai? ”
Doppio realizes that the room they are in is the morgue. Their senpai is dead, and Ver probably knew that from looking at the children’s future. The children would have witnessed this, but now is not the time to dwell in the past. Doppio carries Ver to a clean place, away from the pile of corpses. He places him on a nearby dissection table. Luckily after Doppio laid down Ver, he started to hear mumbling from Ver.
“Ver?”
“Huh? What?”
“Ver? Are you ok?”
“Doppi? Where-”
“I would rather not say it, Ver, but we have to get ourselves out of here!”
Doppio helps Ver to get up and holds his hands to speedwalk. They quickly leave the room without looking back. When Doppio and Ver are out, they see the children are gone. They start to panic again. Doppio quietly yells at them.
“Um, kids?! Where are you? You said you would scream if the scary men found you? Kids?!”
“Booo!”
The children appear behind their backs and hug their legs. They smile and giggle, thinking innocently that it was fine to disappear and appear moments later. The adult men feel relieved to see the children are still here and fine. They carry them on the back of their arms. Ver pinches all their noses and quietly scolds them all.
“What were you thinking? Do you know how worried we are?”
“I’m sorry, Ver-oppa. I was the one who suggested to Kafur that we could use his invisibility whenever Alvar heard footsteps.”, the girl apologized for their action.
“Wait! Invisibility? Footsteps? Who are Kafur and Alvar? What are all of your powers?”, Ver asked as they both realized they never knew the reason they were abducted in the first place nor their names.
“Kafur is the one on the right while Alvar is the one on the left. Kafur can make things disappear as long he touches it/them, but he has to hold his breath as long as he can. Alvar has something called end-han-ses sense. That is what our sisters and brothers said. They put sound-proof headphones and sunglasses on Alvar because they said he might have a sens-tory overload. Mine . . . mine is weird. They said I can control the at-most-here of someone. They just tell me that I can give good or bad luck to someone, but I can’t control it. I’m trying and I still am.”
“Wait, could you be Tyche? The one that was enrolled just last month?”
“Oh?! Do you know about me? Mommy and Daddy said I might find friends who are like me and someone can teach me," Tyche says with a smile as Ver's eyes widen at the realization that the young child in his arms is indeed her.
The Headmaster had informed Ver about her. Since they wanted to advise on how to handle it because it was similar to his ability to influence people's fate, he was going to see her after their school trip. Imagine having good fortune each day (All the gacha pulls you can wins). They can’t tell her about the passing of their senpai. She'd think it was all her fault.
“Yes, I did. I have heard about your sisters and brothers. I was going to visit you after your little trip, but here we are.”
“Ver-hyung, where are our sisters and brothers?! Why did you enter this stinky room?!”, asked Kafur who is getting impatient and irritated with Tyche and Ver's conversation.
"Kafur, it's rude to meddle with Tyche and Ver-hyung. You are familiar with Tyche's thoughts on her control.”, Alvar responds to Kafur's behavior, "So it is evident how thrilled Tyche feels when someone is not scared of her.”
Ver can see Tyche is worried that Kafur and Alvar will argue. Before Ver try to stop them from arguing, Doppio adjusts his grip on Kafur and Alvar making them startle, then smiles at them.
“Oh, this room is a restroom! Kaichou has a terrible stomachache, which is why he didn't look well earlier. He just screamed because he saw a cockroach. They are disgusting creatures, ewww.”
The two boys forgot their argument and simply chuckled in response to Doppio's reply, not realizing that the duke of discipline is laughing alongside them — deceiving them.
“Your sisters and brothers escaped earlier and told us about this place. We don’t know about their condition yet,so let’s get the heck out of here and meet them to give our thanks.”
They were ready to leave until they saw a woman in a lab coat standing next to a man who was lugging a fresh corpse.
“What?! Who are you? How did you get in here?”, the woman grabs her radio and informs her higher-ups of their intrusion.
The man yelled at the group and dropped the corpse, "Ma'am, they have the children with them!"
“Oh shit!”, Doppio cursed as the staff of the place discovered them.
“RUN!”, Ver shouted. In a panic, they gathered the children into their arms and began running.
“Wait, where is the exit again?”, Ver forgets after being discovered. He can’t think anymore after what he has been through on this mission.
“Don’t worry, Kaichou. I remember it!”, Doppio ran in front of Ver and led the way to escape the place.
“DOPPIO! YOU BETTER BE SURE THIS IS THE RIGHT WAY OR ELSE I WILL REJECT YOUR PENTHOUSE REQUEST!”
“Come on Kaichou, you can’t be that hard on me. Just trust me. I am the man of my word.”
Doppio carries Kafur and Alvar in each of his arms like sacks. Ver is carrying Tyche in his arms. Running to escape an illegally run experiment lab by mad scientists, the two are desperate to save the children they were sent to rescue.
“I thought this was supposed to be a simple mission!? Zaion only said to rescue the abducted in this facility. She didn’t mention being the core test subjects nor did she mention a self-destructing building to destroy all the evidence of its existence!”
“Kaichou, what the fuck are you saying?!”
As they were running, the higher-ups activated the self-destruct mechanism before fleeing from the scene. Fortunately, the others at Xsoleil are already at the exit and ready to arrest them. Plus Zaion had mapped out an escape route for them and briefed them on it before they entered the building. Ver and Doppio only needed to evade the crumbling infrastructure and escape with the children to meet everyone outside.
Regretting not working out with Doppio more often, Ver was starting to run out of stamina to keep up with him. Feeling the adrenaline pumping through his veins, hearing his heart beating rapidly in his ear, and the sight of the children’s gory future not leaving his mind. Ver was hanging on to the remaining bits of clarity he had not to stop and puke his lunch. Breathing heavily, he was tempted to stop running but continued pushing toward the exit, for the children's sake.
They turned the final corner and suddenly, there was a bright light several meters ahead.
“The exit’s right there! I told you I remember it!” Doppio gleefully said as he is looking back at Ver. He’s proud of himself for remembering the instructions given by his year mate.
Looking up ahead to the light that is drawing closer and closer with each second they run, the boys felt that final push in their system to give it their all and go through the exit together, and complete the mission as a team. Suddenly, Ver hears crackling and the sound of rumbling behind him, a sense of dread filled his entire being.
Looking back, he sees the floor breaking apart and falling into the dark pits they had just escaped. The cracks he heard were catching up to them at a terrifying pace.
Hearing a sniffle, Ver suddenly looked down and remembered what he was running for, to save a child and give them a future to hope for. A future that would not have happened if the student council had not come to save them from this living hell.
Ver can feel himself losing his speed, his body slowly giving in to the fatigue and stress he had been feeling the whole night.
“Promise me you’ll help him to keep the other children safe.”
Confused, Tyche looks up at Ver wondering what he was saying. Ver could only give a reassuring but sad smile that gave her the feeling of comfort she needed, yet she could still feel a sadness radiating from her rescuer.
Steadily the cracks were starting to appear under Ver’s feet as they pounded against the unstable concrete, moving closer to the exit. Looking ahead, he can see Doppio at the exit with Kafur and Alvar.
“KAICHOU, HURRY UP!”
Less than 10 meters away from the exit, Ver could feel himself sinking from the gravity pulling him down. Accepting his fate, he put his hands under Tyche’s armpits and pushed all the strength he had into a single thrust, throwing her into the first year’s open arms.
Giving Dopi a heart-wrenching grin, he fell back into the darkness that pulled him and the broken concrete flooring beneath him down.
“VER!”