WEE-oww-WEE-oww, WEE-oww-WEE-oww
Sirens wailed through the facility, their shrill cries echoing off the steel walls like desperate screams. Red warning lights flashed in erratic bursts, casting a pulsing crimson glow across the corridors. Suddenly, a crackle erupted from the intercom.
"All units, listen up! TARGET ZERO is making a break for it! I repeat, TARGET ZERO IS MAKING A BREAK FOR IT! Stop him immediately!"
Boots pounded against the metal floors. Guards barked orders. Doors slammed shut. The entire complex moved as one, a chaotic dance disguised as order.
A shadow darted down the hallway, fast, silent, and relentless.
A light-skinned Black teenager, just eighteen but hardened by experiences that belied his age. His sharp features were etched by discipline and hardship. His expressive eyes, darkened to near-black, were piercing and focused, holding a calm, stoic emptiness that made anyone who dared to gaze too long feel uneasy. His hair, short to medium length, was dark and slightly tousled from the chaos, framing a face that seemed too composed for someone soaked in blood and water.
He had a lean, athletic build with just enough bulk, sculpted for speed, precision, and lethal efficiency.
A squad of guards rounded the corner.
"THERE HE IS! OPEN FIRE!"
The boy shot forward like a blur. His heel connected with the first guard's knee—SNAP. Before the man could scream, the boy's elbow crushed his throat. He pivoted, palm striking another guard's chin upward, snapping his neck with surgical precision. A third guard swung a baton, but the boy ducked, twisted beneath it, and unleashed three rapid punches into the man's ribs, collapsing a lung.
One guard attempted to flee, but the boy seized him by the collar, slammed his head into the wall, and let him drop.
More guards burst in, but the boy was already on the move, sprinting through the facility as if he had memorized every single corner of it. Blood splattered against the walls, smearing under his hands as he sliced through the resistance like a hot knife through butter.
He was too quick for anyone to follow.
A guard raised his weapon. Axel pivoted, disarming him in one smooth motion, snapping the rifle in half against his knee, then driving the jagged end into the man's chest.
"Wh-What is he—!?"
"He's a monster!"
"This place really created a monster!"
"Fall back—fall ba—!"
The boy was almost at the final corridor, the humid air rushing past him, the scent of saltwater seeping from the containment tanks. The exit door was just a few meters away. It felt like he could almost reach out and grab the word freedom, which was all he truly desired. But then a calm voice sliced through the chaos.
"Going somewhere, 001?"
A figure stood between him and the exit, hands clasped behind his back, posture straight, lab coat fluttering slightly in the breeze from the half-open emergency door.
Head Instructor Matsuoka Kiyoemon.
His mere presence made the hallway feel colder. Kiyoemon's gaze swept over the dozens of bodies Axel had left in his wake, and he smiled softly, amused, almost proud.
"As expected of the number one in Soul Ocean."
He took a step forward, his shoes tapping lightly on the metal floor.
"Tell me… before you try to leave this place, how was it to feel the thrill of murder once again?"
Kiyoemon's smile widened.
"Before you meet your end at my hands, I'd like to hear you say it. 001… or should I call you by your name?"
He leaned in slightly closer.
"Axel."
Axel lowered his head, shadows cloaking his face. For a moment, the room, lit only by the red sirens, fell silent except for the sound of water dripping from his hair.
Then he slowly raised his gaze. His dark eyes locked onto Kiyoemon with a dead, hollow calm that made even the instructor's breath hitch for a brief moment. His voice was quiet. Cold. Almost devoid of emotion.
"Death is nothing to me. Murder doesn't mean a thing to me."
He walked right past a corpse, not even glancing at it.
"I've taken the lives of over two hundred people, so yeah, I've gotten pretty used to it."
With one more step, Axel's face turned into a hard mask, sharp enough to slice through steel.
"Whether you have a taste for murder or not…"
He raised his chin, his eyes burning with a deadly determination.
"Your death will add to that count, and then my killing spree will finally come to a close. Peace will fill my heart and soul, and I'll finally be cleansed."
Kiyoemon blinked once… then erupted into laughter. A loud, piercing laugh that echoed off the steel walls like shattered glass. He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, still grinning like a maniac.
"My death will add to that count…" he repeated, mocking Axel.
"…and then your killing spree will finally end? Peace will fill your heart and soul? You'll be cleansed?"
He threw his head back and laughed even harder this time. The sirens wailed, water dripped, bodies lay scattered around them… but nothing was louder than Kiyoemon's twisted joy. Finally, he leaned in, his eyes sharp, his smile turning icy.
"Peace? Finally be cleansed?"
His voice rose, venom dripping from every word.
"You're truly pathetic, Axel."
He stepped closer, stopping just a few meters away.
"Do you really think this is a church?"
His tone dripped with mockery, cruel and biting.
"Where someone sprinkles holy water on you… and all your sins just wash away?"
Kiyoemon's face contorted into a sneer.
"Do you think God is waiting behind that exit door with open arms?"
He leaned in, speaking through clenched teeth.
"No, you idiot, that's not how it works. You don't get to walk away clean after everything you've done, after all the things we made you do. You're one of those, and for you, that's truly pathetic. But if you want to show off your actions, then let me see your so-called cleansed soul."
Kiyoemon opened his stance wide, confidence radiating from him.
"Let me see if you can kill the man who created you—"
Kiyoemon's body hit the floor with a metallic thud that echoed down the corridor. His blood began to spread slowly across the cold steel, mingling with the dark pools that had already formed.
Axel didn't glance back.
He stepped over the lifeless body, pushed open the final exit door, and was greeted by a sharp rush of cold night air that felt so real, so alive. For the first time in a decade, he was outside the walls of Soul Ocean.
Axel took off running fast and silent vanishing into the trees that surrounded the facility. Branches whipped past him, and leaves crunched underfoot. The alarms behind him faded into the distance, becoming nothing more than a distant hum.
His breath began to steady. His muscles finally relaxed after years of tension. In his mind, a single thought emerged calm, steady, almost hopeful.
"With that… my escape is complete. A new life of peace… is finally on the horizon."
Axel didn't slow down. He wouldn't stop until the world could no longer see him as the weapon he had been forced to become. Tonight marked the end of his nightmare and the dawn of something new.