Bullets of Rage

Chapter 5: Kallen's First Mission

Kallen stood there with a blank face.

The Demon Eyes?

Kallen used his coat sleeve to wipe off the sweat from his forehead. The flames Rei was creating were just too hot for Kallen to handle. It was way too hot for Kallen to bear, so he had to get a good distance between them. Kallen jumped a few feet away from him as he drew one of his pistols, and began firing rapidly, but to no avail. As the bullets neared Rei, they simply melted in midair.

Kallen scowled and put his pistol away as he slowly raised his fists, looking uncertain. Rei smirked and with lightning-fast speed, disappeared and reappeared before Kallen, slamming a fiery fist into his stomach. Kallen fell to his knees and coughed up blood before falling to the ground, clutching his stomach. Rei readied a large ball of fire, and began to throw it at him... when an almost eerie bone chilling cold filled the room.

Then a breeze flew by Rei, putting out all his flames and the ball of fire. Kallen struggled to look up... and saw Myria Hart, her arm outstretched and hand open. She stared at Rei and Rei stared back.

"Y-you?" muttered Kallen.

Myria looked at Kallen for a second or two then turned back to Rei.

"Rei." she said simply, her voice seeming to make the air colder. "Madam Rozalin has requested that the battle end. She has seen enough."

Rei kept a straight face and glanced at Kallen before he began to leave.

"W-wait..." Kallen struggled to say. "What did you mean? What is the Demon Eyes?"

Myria seemed to react to this. Her eyes widened slightly as she glared at Rei. "Rei! What did you say to him?!" She snapped rather harshly

"Nothing," replied Rei in his monotone voice. "I simply said we all had two special abilities instead of one, and I only told him the name."

"Rei, you know as well as I do that even speaking the name may cause unnecessary things to occur! We need to make sure he's ready before telling him!"

Kallen still lied down on the ground holding his stomach. "W-wait... what is the Demon-"

"Do not speak the name!" Myria quickly interrupted quickly. "Forget that name!"

Kallen appeared confused as he coughed up more blood. Then he felt Myria pick him up and carry him away as he fell unconscious...

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Kallen slowly opened his eyes. He looked at his surroundings and realized he was lying in a blue blanketed bed. He looked over at a desk and saw his clothing there.

"W-wait..." Kallen muttered. "If my clothing is right there.... then..."

Kallen lifted up the blanket and sighed. He was still wearing his shorts. But he also realized his torso was wrapped in bandages and remembered the fight with Rei. Kallen clenched his fist.

I couldn't land even a single blow... Kallen thought. At this rate, there's no way I'm going to avenge my parents... I'm sorry, Mother... Father... I'm such a failure...

Just as Kallen finished that thought, the door to his room opened. Appearing through it was that one girl. What was her name...? Oh, right, wasn't it Erika Lief?

Erika noticed Kallen was awake and ran over to his left side of the bed. She knelt by his bed and looked him in the eye, cupping his left hand in between hers. Kallen could feel her trembling slightly.

"Mr. Kallen!" she suddenly cried out, making Kallen jump slightly.

"Y-yes?" asked Kallen nervously. "And don't call me 'mister', just call me Kallen."

"Okay, mist- I mean, Kallen. And... I'm surprised your awake. Rei hit you really hard."

"Oh yeah," said Kallen reliving the memory in his head. "That guy's gonna have to watch his back from now on... But why is that surprising?"

"Well, you took quite the beating." she said looking away. "You must've recovered much faster than we anticipated."

"Really?" Kallen thought back to the strange ability Rei said he had possessed, but for some reason couldn't remember the name. Kallen shrugged and looked back at Erika. "Well, I guess I would be surprised too. Anyway, where are all the others?"

Erika stood up, recovering her composure. "Well, Rei and Asuna have gone out on a mission."

"A mission?"

"Yes! You see, here at the Black Cross HQ we have a very advanced computer system. We use this system to search for any sightings of potential demons, then we send out two or more members, depending on how dangerous it is"

"I see... what about the others?"

"Michael and Myria are most likely serving Madam Rozalin. As for our madam, she wants you to come see her."

"See her? Why?"

"I do not know. Madam Rozalin did not inform of why."

"I see... Alright. I'll go see her."

"Thank you, mister Kallen. Please follow me."

Kallen sighed as Erika called him "mister" and got out of bed to follow
Erika, but suddenly stopped before leaving the room.

"What is it mister Kallen?" Asked Erika.

"Well... Don't you think I should get dressed first?" Kallen replied plainly. Erika slowly realized that the only clothing Kalllen was wearing was a pair of shorts, and a blush covered her face.

"O-Oh! Of course, m-mister K-Kallen!" She stuttered.

Erika rushed out of the room with a bright red face. Kallen raised a single eyebrow before getting dressed and leaving the room as well. As he exited the room, he was greeted by Erika and she began to lead him down the hall. After a short while, they reached the room that Rozalin must have awaited in. Erika bowed to Kallen as she opened the door and gestured for Kallen to enter. He did so, and immediately saw Rozalin sitting upon her red velvet chair, her hands under her chin. She saw Kallen and smiled.

"Hello Kallen," she greeted. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, Rozalin. I barely feel any pain anymore."

"That's good. You recover rather quickly. As Erika probably already explained, we have a very advanced computer system. You also probably know that Rei and Asuna have left on a mission."

"Yeah, Erika told me that, too."

"Good. And seeing as how you have fully recovered, I have a mission for you as well."

"A mission?"

"Yes, and you will be accompanied by a partner, as is how it works here. As you probably know, New Domino City has a large number of demons masquerading as humans. You remember the one who know killed you?"

"Yeah, I'd never forget that face. Why do you ask?"

"Because your first mission as a Black Cross exorcist will be to eliminate that same demon."

Kallen was mildly surprised. He looked at the ground, then regained his composure as he grinned.

"Sounds good," Kallen replied. "I'd be happy to take my revenge on him..."

"Good. You and your partner will depart tomorrow."

"Okay. Wait... Who's my partner?"

Rozalin looked away and smiled. "You'll find out tomorrow"