40 Ceremony Preparation

Ed headed for a local clothing store. He bought the type of clothes he usually enjoyed wearing. Black jeans, boots, and a long-sleeve shirt. He also bought some black and green cloth. He kept the clothes in a bag since he was still wearing the exo suit.

Next, he headed for the local market. He looked around at the various fish and meats on sale. Then, something special caught his eye. He walked over to a man selling caged rabbits. 'Come to think of it. I've never actually used living flesh when creating my limbs or adding flesh to Dupe in experiments. Surely it would be better quality than dead flesh?'

He paid the man for a rabbit and carried it away in the cage. He had swiped plenty of money off those generous Sinless members. Even if he hadn't, his powers were perfect for creating counterfeit money.

'One last thing to do before heading back.' He bought some paper supplies and ink. Then he melted the ink onto the many sheets of paper. It was a nearly perfect copy of Roger's suicide note with the additional image of a man hanging himself. He swung by Roger's hotel and saw the police were already hanging around outside investigating.

He grinned as he covered his head with a self-created hood. He walked the streets for over two hours while dropping the fliers he created. It was dark out by the time he finished. The news of the old man's suicide and the mayor being the cause rapidly spread throughout the city. Almost every bar, business, and street had some fliers about it.

He returned to his hotel and saw Yuki brushing the blond woman's hair. They appeared to have just gotten out of the shower. Some water was still dripping from Yuki's long hair despite it being covered by a towel. He pulled off his hood while smiling. "Ready?" He asked.

The blond woman glanced at him confused. She didn't seem to recognize him at all. He did a quick scan of her with his mana and surveyed her body. The diluted water mana hadn't killed any more braincells. However, her body cells were still changing. It would seem her body was slightly stronger than before, though not by much.

"You're sure you can't fix her brain?" Yuki questioned while biting her lip.

He thought for a moment before speaking. "It's not impossible, but the risks would be even greater than the mana-powder experiment. I'd have to inject her with another person's braincell neurons. I haven't the slightest clues of the repercussions of such an act. Probably death since I doubt the cells would be compatible. I could also inject an animal's neurons. That would be even more likely to kill her."

"...Forget it then." She sighed.

"I'll get started on her hands." He walked forward with the rabbit cage. He began to melt bits of the rabbit's skin, bone, and flesh as he reformed them and attached them to the blond woman. He had become far more proficient in such things when he created his own limbs from dead mutant flesh in the past. It was only a few minutes before he finished. The rabbit laid dead in the cage with a big chunk of it missing. The blond woman had new hands that were completely functional. He had even matched the skin color exactly by mixing in some of her loose skin he had removed from the prior experiment.

"How's it feel?" He questioned.

The woman played with her new hands. Squeezing them shut, fiddling her fingers, and waving them back and forth. She appeared like an innocent child as she smiled, "Good!"

"Glad to hear it." He replied. He couldn't help but get distracted by her childlike behavior. 'I wonder what would happen if I transplanted an adult's brain into a child's body? That might make for a fun experiment someday.'

Ed took over the bed to relax. "I think I'll take tomorrow off. It'll be my last vacation day for a while once the ceremony starts in two days." He quickly fell asleep.

The next day. When he awoke, Yuki and the blond woman were gone. He chose not to worry about it. It was his day off and he'd be damned if anything was going to ruin it! 'Now, let's see... What should I do today?' He lazily laid there for nearly an hour. 'I've got no clue what I want to do...'

He yawned and stretched as he forced himself out of bed. 'I guess I'm one of those workaholics with no hobbies. No, wait. I have hobbies. I like experimenting on people! Wait, I used to like building machines... In the future, I should really capture some potential espers and study their psychological states before and after awakening. I've changed so much since mine that I find it hard to believe my mental state is unrelated to my awakening. Especially after seeing the effect of mana on an ordinary human's brain.'

He walked out onto the back balcony and lazily hung over the rails while watching the street traffic. After watching for a few minutes, he spotted a gleaming object amidst the crowd. A bald man was walking the streets while wearing a red jumpsuit and yellow cape. He looked ridiculous, but the crowd respectfully moved out of his way as he walked.

Ed's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before he quickly calmed himself down. 'So, OP Baldy came after all. I expected as much. He's either here for his daughter, to capture me at the ceremony, or perhaps both. Fortunately, I believe preparation is the key to a good plan. Granted, plans rarely go the way you expect them. I should prepare a backup plan just in case...'

With those thoughts in mind, he went back inside. He dressed in his new clothes. Then he took the extra materials he had bought and created a mask. The black mask was similar to the one he had created when he was a Sinless member. Instead of red stripes, it had a dark green tree design on it. The branches and leaves took up the forehead area. A trunk ran down the middle of the mask, dividing it in two. Then the roots spread out near the chin. Some green leaves were also scattered throughout the rest of the mask. Normally this type of image would appear peaceful, but the black contrast of the rest of the mask suggested otherwise.

He opened the crate he took from Sinless and carried all the mana powders with him. Then he exited the hotel and ducked into a nearby alleyway. He walked for several streets while making sure he wasn't being followed. He watched a nearby street for several minutes until there was nearly no one around. Then, he made a dash for the middle of the street when he was sure no one was watching. He quickly lifted a manhole cover and grabbed ahold of the ladder beneath it. Then he lowered the manhole cover back down and climbed down the ladder.

He frowned while looking around the sewers. 'Smells like shit. I just bought these clothes too.' He began to walk the sewers while keeping a careful watch on his surroundings. 'The sewers are a prime hiding place for sinner groups and other illegal activities. I'm not so naive as to think that the hunters really managed to eliminate all sinners from this city.'

He wandered the sewers underneath the city square and sprinkled bits of wind and fire mana-powder across the ground. Soon, he completely ran out of those powders. Then he took larger clumps of dark mana-powder and light mana-powder and set them in the wall every dozen steps or so. He ran out of those powders as well. Lastly, he placed all of the lightning mana-powder beneath the very center of the city square. He left a small device next to the pile. 'I really need to thank Sinless for the knowledge they passed me. The mana-wave receivers and transmitters are just as valuable as the mana-collars they were originally designed for.'

He carefully left the sewers and returned to his hotel. He proceeded to wash his awful smelling clothes before lying down once again. 'Didn't run into a single sinner in the sewers. Odd. Did the hunters really manage to clean up the whole city?'

He slowly relaxed and fell asleep. He hadn't gotten much sleep in the past few months and was more than happy to indulge in it now while he still had the chance. When he awoke, it was still dark out. The sun would likely be up in an hour or so. He looked around and saw Yuki sleeping next to him. The blond woman was nowhere in sight.

He grabbed a bottle of wine and relaxed as he watched the sunrise. Today was the dawn of the rest of his life. His rise to power. He drank the wine straight from the bottle and grimaced. 'Sour. I thought Roger said he made good wine? Or perhaps my taste is just bad. I've never really drank before.' He felt relaxed as he waited.

Soon, it was almost time. He woke Yuki up and had her change into a white sundress he had bought for her. It had a matching sun hat to go with it. She was more than delighted to wear some better clothes. She had been stuck wearing the ugly hospital gown previously.

"Where's the blond?" Ed asked.

"I took her to a mental institute to see if they could help her." She replied.

He frowned when he heard that. "What a waste. I wanted to observe a bit longer. Why'd you have to go and take her to a hellish place like that?"

"Hellish place?! They're trying to help her!" She angrily argued.

"Naive." He shook his head while sighing. "Those places are practically guaranteed to be abusive. You'd have been better off letting her fend for herself. She probably could have become a stripper or something at least."

"You!" She yelled. "Do you have to be such an asshole?!"

"I do." He nodded. "Otherwise, I'd be quite worried that I'd be far too popular with women. I'm such a great catch after all."

"Narcissist." She snorted.

"Maybe, haha!" He laughed. 'I wonder if Dupe's sense of humor is rubbing off on me a bit. Or perhaps I'm just coming out of my shell.'

"Let's go." He said. "We need to get to the ceremony. It starts soon and I'm the guest of honor after all."

"And why should I have to bother wasting my time to go with you?" She argued with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Because your father is almost guaranteed to be there." He replied.

"Really?!" She questioned with excitement on her face.

"Yup." He nodded. "So, let's go."

The two prepared to leave. Ed looked at the exo suit hesitantly, but ultimately chose to leave it behind. He didn't want to have an obvious connection to Sinless during the ceremony. He wore his clothes he bought previously. He kept his new mask hooked to his belt. He would need it during the ceremony. Yuki quickly brushed her hair before they left.

The duo headed out onto the streets. There were large crowds of people heading towards the city square. It made it hard for them to navigate past them.

Ed turned to Yuki. "Can you use your snow to get these people to move?"

"I can't just go using my powers on them for such a selfish reason!" She shook her head. "It would be illegal."

"Forget it then." He sighed. He knelt down and pointed to his back. "Grab on."

"What?" She questioned while looking confused.

"Wrap your arms around my neck and hold on."

She hesitated a moment before nodding and doing so. Some passerby gave them funny looks. It looked like a girlfriend was hugging her boyfriend and he was about to give her a piggyback ride.

He stood up. "Hold on tight and watch out for the flames."

"Flames? AHHH!!!" She screamed in horror as fire burst out from Ed's feet and hands. He soured into the skies like a rocket as she held on for dear life.

He flew horizontally threw the skies. His control had only gotten better since the whole nightmare fiasco. He glanced at his feet and grinned. He had reformed his shows before taking off so they wouldn't get burnt. He'd simply reform them again once he landed.

A large crowd had gathered before the city square. They looked like a sea of people with no end. Even Ed couldn't see the end of them despite flying in the sky. He made for quite the appearance as he soared past them all and landed on the stage. The mayor was an old man with a white mustache. A fairly stereotypical look for mayors. He jumped back in fright when Ed landed on the stage.

"Sorry for the flashy entrance." He smiled. "I'm not late, right?"

It took the mayor a moment to recognize him before nodding in excitement. "Excellent! I was afraid you wouldn't come when I heard you disappeared from the hospital! You're not late at all. We still have a while before we begin."

"Ahem!" A voice interrupted. Mr. Sai stood there with his arms crossed while glaring at Ed.

"Oh, allow me to introduce you." The mayor smiled. "This is the famous OP Baldy! He agreed to participate in our ceremony."

Mr. Sai stared a moment before his eyes widened in surprise. "Yuki! What are you doing with him? I've been looking for you everywhere ever since a tracking esper told me you were in Macon."

Yuki looked at the man with confusion in her eyes. She glanced at Ed for confirmation and he nodded. She bowed respectfully, "Greetings father! Forgive me, but I've lost my memory!"

"Oh?" Mr. Sai rose an eyebrow before nodding. "Was it the nightmare that caused it? Don't worry. I'll find somebody to take a look at you." He glared at Ed again. "As for you. You're under arrest. I'll be taking you to the cage."

"What could I possibly be under arrest for?" He questioned.

"Same as your father. Desertion. Enrolling in a hunter academy is the same as enrolling in the military. Don't think you'll get out of this so easily. Plus, I know you've joined a sinner group. We'll have a specialized esper interview you and investigate your crimes. Then we'll press the appropriate charges afterwards."

Ed frowned. A glint of anger appeared in his eyes at the mention of his father's charges. However, he quickly calmed down and gave a bright smile. "You'll at least let me participate in the ceremony, right?"

"Hah?!" OP Baldy yelled. "As if I'd let you! Do you think I'm stupid?"

Yuki looked back and forth between the two and hesitated a moment. Then she grabbed Ed's hand. She looked into her father's eyes and pleaded. "Daddy. Just let him finish the ceremony first. All these people came here for it."

Her father's eyes widened in surprise. It was unusual for his daughter to disobey him. Granted, she currently had amnesia. His eyes softened just a bit and he nodded. "Fine, but I'm arresting him afterwards." He stepped back a bit and kept careful watch over the two.

"Are you sure you won't regret that?" Ed whispered to Yuki. "You know I plan on using this to create my own organization."

"I don't know." She shook her head. "I just felt like it was the right thing to do. Not just for you, but also for all these people that came to see the ceremony."

"I see." He nodded while squeezing her hand. A slight trace of guilt squeezed its way into his heart. He quickly snuffed the guilt out as his eyes hardened in resolve. The mayor's speech was about to begin.