5 - The Dagger That Changes Everything

[KRAKOW]

“God fucking damn it...”

Mukawa hadn’t left the compound for days. All he did was walk around the place and ponder. Ponder over the many things he could’ve done differently and honestly should’ve done differently. Overthink about every single detail, every little occurrence, every piece of iron in this lengthy chain of events. All of these thoughts played a tune and they danced on a stage set by despair and hopelessness.

“Mukawa?” Kana asked, approaching him with a small cup in her hand. “Take this. Will help you knock yourself out a little.”

“Didn’t say I felt thirsty.” Mukawa stood up from the armchair and reached for the white and blue cup. He looked inside, seeing a darkish liquid that resembled black tea. But something seemed off about it, at least in his eyes.

“Drink it anyways.” Kana said, subtly giving away her intentions.

“So you did add something inside. What is it?” Mukawa asked, growing more and more frustrated. “Don’t say it’s sugar or salt though.”

“Drink it.”

“My God why are you so fucking stubborn?!” Mukawa said, knocking the cup over, spilling the hot liquid all over the floor and parts of the armchair. It clattered against the small silver plate it was on and spun in place. Kana didn’t look shocked, just disappointed, even feeling pitiful.

“My bad.” Mukawa finally said, breaking the grueling silence.

“It had sedatives in it.” Kana said. “We tried to get you to calm down. You broke your favorite mug too.”

“Nothing I’m unfamiliar with. We’ve been under worse stress, this is nothing.” Mukawa said. “This isn’t a lost cause. For sure. You know, it’s not like the only person capable of standing up to Kaito just slipped out of our possession. It’s not like that crystal was our only chance.”

“There’s more that can be done.” Haruki said, entering the dimly lit room alongside Asami and Sofia. “You said something about the strongholds, right?”

“As if they can do something.” Kana said. “They’re in the same boat as us.”

“Meaning?”

“Waiting for the two remaining powerhouses to duke it out probably. After that, swoop in and take action.” Kana sighed.

“No, there’s gotta be something.” Mukawa said. “Something that we can do. Someone we can talk to. Gotta get in touch with the strongholds, establish a deeper bond. Work off of it and try to plan something.”

“Plan this and that, organize this and that.” Haruki said. “How many more times are we gonna try and fail?”

“As long as we fucking need to!” Mukawa yelled, standing up. “And if anyone here wants to simply accept things as they are and mop around while the world goes to shit, you’re more than welcome to fuck off!”

“We have enough in the gas tank for one more plan.” Mukawa said, finally calming down after taking a deep breath.

“Our only hope is Otto’s parting gift.” Sofia said. ”We have to essentially recreate Otto’s plan.”

“We haven’t even tested if that gift works yet.” Kana objected. “What if it’s incompatible? What if straight up kills whoever uses it?”

“Too many unknowns, no chance to test it.” Mukawa said. “Considering that it’s the culmination of Otto’s plan, it should do what it's intended to do without an issue.”

“On the other hand, it will have to deal with an ability as bullshit as Kaito Kamiki’s.”

“Otto’s parting gift can only replicate a single soul expression and only one time. No sacrifices, no resets, just a one time use tool. We found it on the battlefield in D.C., it was miraculously still there when we arrived.”

“Otto told me that if he were to fail, the burden of keeping the world together would be mine. I’d have to be the one busting my ass to find a way to kill that monster. He told me that even if he were to die, he’d make sure I have something to work with. I became a failsafe for a plan that, if failed, would spell utter devastation.”

“He left me the perfect tool for the job.”

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“The guys over at the strongholds are too scared to invite us over.” Haruki said, calibrating a notebook on the small wooden coffee table. “If you want to, I can connect you to them.”

“Do it. I think I know how to negotiate with them.” Mukawa approached the notebook.

Haruki initiated the connection. A few seconds later, Mukawa found himself in a call, and heard a voice that was his last hope.

“What brings you to us?”

“Cool intro. Never been used before, I bet.” Mukawa said. “I’m here to talk about business. And cooperation against an asshole who wants the world to burn.”

“There are...two of what you just described.” Mansa’s voice said. “I am sure you are familiar with the instability of the Eura stronghold. The Heisei is already involved.”

“Good grief, they shove their noses everywhere.”

“Elena Thomas, the old head of the stronghold, was quite fond of Kaito Kamiki. So now, there is not only a battle of survival between us and him, but a battle of dominance between him and Eura.”

“Proves why Kaito Kamiki is a much more dangerous threat. He's diving head first into the creepiest place out there.” Mukawa said.

“They both are very dangerous threats.” Mansa said. “A mouse sees both a lion and a wolf as an equal threat.”

“Well, we aren't mice, we can think for ourselves. In the likely event that the two sides enter conflict, I have full confidence that the Heisei victorious, simply because of their fancy new supersoldier. Except unlike the Eura stronghold, we have a way of dealing with Kaito that he doesn’t know about.” Mukawa said. “All this time he’s been avoiding Otto Richter as to not have his own ability used against him. He had the advantage of having intel on Otto. But he doesn’t have that intel on us.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“We can do what Otto wanted to do.” Mukawa said. “While you guys were playing with your dicks, we were retrieving this little thing.”

Mukawa pulled out a silver dagger. It looked like a drastically shrunken version of the replicator, and it only had one slot for a gemstone. Its handle was wrapped with black cloth and the blade was surprisingly sharp. Mansa was surprised on the other end of the call, and so were the other heads. Discussion erupted for a few seconds before Mukawa was given a response.

“You claim that this item...can do what Otto Richter's Replicator could?” Mansa said.

"Correct!" Mukawa said, spinning the dagger around in his hand. "Pretty cool, right?"

"This..." Mansa seemed greatly impressed. "Perhaps our chances of emerging victorious against him are not as bleak as we believed them to be."

“Say, how would you fare against him if he were to attack you, let's say, right now?” Mukawa asked.

“We’d perish.”

“That’s just great.” Mukawa sighed. “What do you think our odds will be if my group joined forces with your group? With all of us participating in combat and utilizing the dagger.”

“We’d perish.”

“Got it. So we need more manpower and time.” Mukawa said. “I’ll take care of that. You guys...uhh...stay alive, I guess. I’ll think of something.”

“We will keep in touch.” Mansa said. “Also, one more thing if you want more manpower.”

“Go on.”

“The old Captain-Commander of the Heisei is alive.” Mansa said. “He has been in touch with me, although I have not informed him of these plans. Make good use of him. I will send you his location.”

“Got it.” Mukawa said, terminating the connection. He took a deep breath.

“You heard the man.” Mukawa told his group. “We’re going to wherever the hell he is. I say we get ready to fight too, wouldn't wanna get ambushed now would we?"

Everyone nodded.

“Great.” Mukawa said. “That’s our work done for today. I’d like some me time now. That’s a fancy way of saying leave the room and let me suffer in peace.”

Everyone complied with that request, even Asami, who wanted to stay by Mukawa’s side for longer. Except for Haruki.

“Are your ears that clogged up?” Mukawa asked. “Hurts you that much to let me be for a while?”

“You know better than anyone what type of situation this is.” Haruki said. “And you know that if you miscalculate this time, there won’t be any more chances.”

“Yeah, I know. My intrusive thoughts tell me that all the time.”

“And you don’t have a powerhouse like Otto Richter or the Adler Group to back you up. It's just...us now.”

“I know. But there’s a chance we find a powerhouse.”

“That Sakuto Hitori again?” Haruki asked, almost disappointed. “Would he even listen to you?”

“If you have a better option, speak your soul.” Mukawa sighed. Haruki sighed, turned away and left the room, and Mukawa closed his eyes.

“Everything is like this because I left him alive. Because I didn't dispose of him after Otto copied his ability.”

“How wonderful.”

"..."

“I just hate it when people die.”

“I’m sure I can convince him. He probably doesn’t even know who he’s fighting for. The moment he finds out about Kaito’s plan, he’ll align himself with me and help me out, right?”

“I’m sure of it.”

"If I play my cards right, he won't be the only one assisting me either."

He opened his eyes again and stared at the ceiling.

"Come on then, Eura." Mukawa talked to himself. "Go put up a fight and leave that asshole Kaito barely alive. I'm sure you have plenty of monsters on your side."