Luke Benthart
Wake up, brush teeth, go to school, come back, sleep. Wake up, brush teeth, go to school, come back, sleep. Wake up, brush teeth, go to school, come back, sleep. Wake up, brush teeth, go to school, come back, sleep. Wake up, brush teeth, go to school, come back, sleep. Wake up, brush teeth, go to school, come back, sleep. Wake up, brush teeth, go to school, come back, sleep. Wake up, brush teeth, go to school, come back, sleep. Wake up, brush teeth, go to school, come back, sleep.
That all changed on that fateful day, when I decided to go down this path. This certain path that guided me.
An hour earlier...
My name's Luke Benthart, but you can just call me Luke. I'm 16 years old and I live in the outskirts of Tokyo. I go to a private school called Bachouku High. It's in the center of Tokyo, so it takes me a while to get there, but I like to occupy myself by scrollin' on some good old social media! I'm bullied a lot, so while everyone it living their happy lives, I'm just watching them on social media. But that's okay, since I've got my dog! His name's Charlie! He's a golden retriever, and he's such a good boy! When I was 5, I genuinely believed golden retrievers retrieved gold for you. Yeah... I was an idiot back then.
"Hey, Luke!" A voice called out from a far.
Ugh, it's my bullies... The one on the left, his name is Kenji. The one next to Kenji is called Ongaku. The one next to Ongaku is Kabouka, I know, stupid name, right? The one next to Kabouka is Kitrent. The one who called out to me just now was Ongaku. Watch, they're about to say 'Kenji, Ongaku, Kabouka, Kitrent. Together, we make the K.O.K.K brothers!'
"Kenji, Ongaku, Kabouka, Kitrent. Together, we make the K.O.K.K brothers!" Ongaku exclaimed as the four brothers did a queer pose.
They're all biological brothers, and you can't spot them without each other, it's near impossible. I find it pretty funny the way the group is spelled, because the initials K.O.K.K sounds like a certain word called cock, so I laugh at that sometimes. I will now go over each and every one of the characteristics these boys exhibit.
Kenji is a force not to be reckoned with, as he exhibits a concerning amount of strength. He has the strength to lift up a car with ease. He'll easily beat the shit outta you and give you a run for your money and valuables if you're not careful enough.
Ongaku is the brainy one out of the group. He has an IQ of 150. Despite his limitless knowledge, he still acts like a thug. I doubt he'd actually stand a chance in a real fight. That's the reason he hides behind his brothers while he does the big talking. One could call it 'all bark, no bite'.
Kabouka developed an abnormal amount of speed when he was young, which made him sorta super human. He was able to run several times faster then Usain Bolt, so that's terrifying. He was able to outrun the cops one time with a mask on. Luckily Kabouka doesn't show his speed that much, or the police would be onto him.
Kitrent, the most powerful of them all. He has all of the feats from the above, and he's strategic. He's mostly silent, but when push comes to shove, he would be able to take on a group of 15 or so guys. He mostly doesn't come to school, because their parents don't have as much expectations for him than the other brothers. Don't ask me why that is. Also, if you're wondering, I don't feel bad in the slightest.
"How much money ya' got today, Luke?" Kabouka asks in a greedy, yet smartass tone.
I usually pack around $16.50 so these guys can leave me alone.
"I packed $16.50 like usual..." I respond. "Good. Me and my brothers will only let you off with a slight beating this time." Kabouka says as the four brothers jump on him and start beating the shit out of him.
"We're just gonna carve a little message into your forehead for the final touch, okay?" Kabouka says as he grabs out a small pocket knife.
"Just stay still." He says once more as he carves the word 'loser' into his head with the pocket knife.
I scream. I scream so loud that civillians look over at us. The four brothers get scared to their core and run away, covering their faces with masks.
No one bothers to ever help me, you wanna know why? Because I'm locally known as a loser. I'm a disgrace to humanity, just a leech sticking onto a person.
I tremble down an alley way, blood dripping down my face. I could hear every drop of blood hitting the ground.
Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip.
Painful, how painful...
Maybe I should just end my life. It would be easier for everyone, including me, Mama, Papa, everyone...
I grab the pocket knife that the bullies left when everyone started to notice what they were doing. I lift it up to my neck.
Goodbye, cruel world. It was fun while it lasted, I guess.
"No! Don't end your life yet!" A mysterious voice calls out.
Heh, I must be near dead already, since I'm starting to hear things...
I can't feel the blood on my forehead anymore... This must be how it feels to be seconds away from death.
"I told you to not end your life!" The voice calls again as I see the pocket knife gets cut in a criss cross alignment by two 'slashes' is what I could describe them to be.
The knife falls down onto the ground in 4 pieces, which was caused by the criss cross slash pattern.
I look back up, and stood before me, was what I could only describe as a demon.
Its skin was red, it had sharp, malevolent teeth. Its hair was wavy, and was bright red. It had two horns on both sides of his forehead, along with long, sharp ears. I could imagine he'd be able to hear a kilometre away with those ears. It's eyes pierced my soul. On a closer inspection, it looked like there were two flames ignited inside of the pair of eyes. Its body was muscular, and tinted bright red. It had long, and sharp wings. I thought to myself that I was either dreaming, or a devil came up to drag me to hell if I've already died. Its legs were long, with sharp toenails and fingernails. It had wrist cuffs on both of its hands and feet. Its red tail sitting idle, yet I could still feel a sense of menace to it. Nonetheless, I was scared shitless.
I noticed my wounds had completely healed.
So that's why I stopped feeling the blood?
It smiled at me. I don't know if it was a smile of gratitude, or a smile of evil.
"I'M ALIVE~~~~~~E!!!!" The creature yelled as he jumped at least 50 meters into the air, its wings flapping towards a building.
'What's it going to do?' I thought to myself.
The creature lifted up its right arm, and I could barely see what was in its hands, but it looked like a small orange ball. The demon through it at the building, which made a giant beam once came in contact, and then immediately caught fire.
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" I exclaimed, my voice cracking as the building fell over. I grab my phone to call the police, but within seconds of the building falling over, I hear several hundred people screaming their lungs out, so it'd be pretty useless for me to call the police if everyone else will call them.
The creature lowers itself down to the ground, in front of me. I was genuinely scared for my life, as he went silent for a moment. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" I yell at the creature, demanding answers. "Luke Benthart, right? Thanks for saving me." The creature says, mildly confusing me. "HOW THE FUCK DID I SAVE YOU?! WHAT ARE YOU?! WHY DID YOU OBLITERATE THAT BUILDING?!" I had so many questions flowing out of my mouth, the creature stomped its foot, not saying anything, just silently telling me to shut up.
I shut my mouth.
"One question at a time, please." The creature calmly says. I limit myself to one question at a time, like the creature asked. "What are you?" I say, feeling a tension hanging in the air. "I am a spirit. You may not know this, but naturally, when a spirit is dying, we tend to cling onto people when we're in our final moments of existence. When I clung onto you, I was saved. But now, I'm basically part of you. You are my master. I was saved by you. For that, thank you." The creature says as it bows.
"Secondly, why are you so destructive?"
"I used to be a spirit, so I couldn't physically harm people, but now that I'm part of you, I can cause chaos." The creature smirks.
I wonder if I can befriend this thing and tell it to not be so destructive. For now, I have my own personal body guard that kills thousands.
"Since I'm part of you now, I can read your thoughts." The creature chuckles.
I sigh, "You threw a glowing ball at that building a few minutes ago... Do you got an ability or something?"
"Well, yes, but that's not my unique ability." The creature responds.
"Huh?" I say in confusion.
"I am what as known as a 'Spectral'." The creature adds.
"When spirits cling onto living organisms, we get converted into a physical manifestation. This is what makes us a Spectral." (Edit: A Spectral is basically a guardian spirit, but causes mass destruction and wants to end humanity.)
"Basically, there are 3 types of Spectrals; peaceful, neutral, and destructive. I am a destructice Spectral. Each Spectral comes with a unique ability, and an additional ability. For example, my additional ability is creating those flame balls, which I can only use once a day. There is a way to unlock new abilities. By unlocking new abilities, the user of the Spectral must mentally and physically evolve. This could be by winning fights, achieving something, etc..."
"What's your unique ability?" I ask, wanting a genuine answer as to why this is happening to me.
The creature graps an apple and throws it into the air. The apple then suddenly gets cut in half perfectly.
"Slicing." The creature says, with a menacing grin.
"Well, that's all you really need to know about Spectrals. And if you'll excuse me, I'm going to cause mass murder. And since I'm nice, I'll start with your bullies, that sound okay?" The creature casually says, like it wasn't a sin he was committing.
"No, I won't let you." I say, the wind blowing my hair off my face, allowing the creature to get a full view of me.
"Ah, so you're saying you're going to stop me from committing mass murder?" The creature laughs.
I blankly stare at him, reassuring him that I will stop him from doing what he intends to do.
"Oh, you're serious? Well, one more thing about Spectrals, is that when their master tends to turn on them, they have the full right to teach them a lesson." The creature says, completely changing moods from being ammused to completely serious.
"Just to be fair on you, I won't use any of my abilities. I'll purely use my fists, and my fists alone." The creature said as it got into its fighting stance.
To Be Continued! (In chapter 2!)