Editor's comments and actions are denoted by [brackets]. Sound effects are written {like this}. (Parenthesis) indicate side notes in the dialogue bubble or the mangaka's note. And finally, italics are thoughts.

In the south warehouse district again. Shen-Long cradles Shin-Lu's limp body.

Shen-Long: Shin-Lu!! Shin-Lu~!! ...Neechan!! [Neechan means older sister.]

Shin-Lu: ...n...

Shen-Long breathes a sigh of relief. Across the warehouse, angry guerrillas begin pouring in. They're greeted by the sight of Shen-Long cradling Shin-Lu amongst piles of bloodied human remains.

Guerrilla: Wh...! What's this!?

Guerrilla: Ugh~... Horrible...~

{sound f/x bicha: splash of stepping in blood}

Guerrilla: ...What in the world could have killed in such a horrible way...

Guerrilla: It was him. That brat killed them all by himself...

Guerrilla: He's got special powers...... Knew it, they're not human, to do such a thing to others...

Guerrilla: Ug...

{sound f/x ja: a guerrilla hissing}

Guerrilla: Fire! Shoot him down!!

{sound f/x gaga: machine gun fire}

{sound f/x gyuiii: Shen-Long's barrier catching the bullets}

With his power, Shen-Long erects a barrier around himself and uses it to crush the bullets into powder.

{sound f/x kin: high pitched squeal}

Shen-Long: I hate you. Humans like you...

{sound f/x ga: metal doors slamming down}

{sound f/x gon: doors locking shut}

Guerrillas: !!

{sound f/x goooo: big menacing atmosphere}

Shen-Long: Even if I kill you all, it won't be enough.

Elsewhere, Kai sprints down the warehouse's corridors.

{sound f/x kan: the sound of Kai's running footsteps}

Kai: This is different than my usual clairvoyance!! To be able to see like that... Did something happen to Shin-Lu!?

{sound f/x bishi: the wall cracking}

{sound f/x don: the wall exploding}

Kai: !!

Kai whips around just as a severed, dripping mass comes flying through the wall.

{sound f/x doga: loud crash}

{sound f/x zuzu: the mass dripping to the ground}

{sound f/x do: Kai's loud heartbeat}

On close inspection, the mass turns out to be a brutally mangled human torso.

Kai: That... that bloody covered mass...... No way it's human...

{sound f/x shua: mist coming through the hole in the wall}

Through the hole in the wall, Kai can only watch in horror as Shen-Long dissolves a Guerrilla's body with a blast of power.

Guerrilla: (AHHHHH)

{sound f/x bushu: the Guerrilla's body being fried by power}

Kai: Stop this~!! Shen-Long!!

{sound f/x bishu: flying blood}

{sound f/x dan: the Guerrilla's brutalized form hitting the ground}

Guerrilla: AGH~...

Shen-Long: ...Kai...

Kai: These... horrible things. What are you doing, Shen-Long!

Shen-Long: ......... ............

{sound f/x ka: Shen-Long flushing in anger}

Shen-Long: Was that... "What are you doing?" You, too, what have you been doing until now!!

Kai: ......!

Back at Ashurum, Eiji reads to a small girl lying in a large bed.

Eiji: "When they entered the Candy House, piles of milk or sugar covered pancakes, apples, walnuts, grapes, and all sorts of delicious things lined up on the table. After they had finished eating the treats, they laid down on a lovely bed of clean white sheets that the old woman prepared for them. It just felt like being in heaven."

Girl: I wish there was really a witch's "Candy House."

Eiji: Hikaru really likes the story of "Hansel and Gretel," don't you. Is that because you like the "Candy House?"

Hikaru: Uh-uh. Well... there's that but. "Gretel" has an "Oniichan," right? That's why. [Oniichan means older brother, but can also refer to males older than the speaker.]

Eiji: Next time, should I make it for you? The "Candy House."

Hikaru: Really!? Eiji-oniichan!

Hikaru clutches a bear with Kai's dogtags around the neck. Eiji points to a corner of the room for her.

Eiji: Right over there... I'll make it the same size as this bed, I promise.

Hikaru: Wow! I'm so happy! Can you make it in time for the next time Oniichan comes to visit Hikaru? And then Oniichan and I can......

Eiji: You and Kai? It's too bad, but I'm afraid that's impossible.

Hikaru looks saddened and tried to hold back her tears.

Hikaru: Ah... Oniichan...... Is he busy with work?

{sound f/x jiwa: Hikaru's tears welling up}

Eiji: [smiling] Kai's so weak again sweet things he might die. If he enters a "Candy House," he'll faint away. (You can bet on it.)

Hikaru stares at the little "Candy House" that Eiji's created before giggling.

{sound f/x pu: Hikaru giggling}

Hikaru: Oniichan, right? Before, he was cooling Hikaru's cocoa for her but he got sick from that. [giggling]

Eiji: Next time I come I'll bring Kai along, so I'll play the "evil witch" for you.

{sound f/x kacha: Eiji picking up his glasses}

Eiji: I'll be the villain that captures the lost siblings in the "Candy House."

Hikaru: ...Eiji-oniichan'll be the "evil witch"???

Eiji: That's right.

Hikaru: [giggling] I don't think it's like you. Eiji-oniichan isn't like the bad guy at all.

{sound f/x kako: click of high heels against the floor}

Eiji: Is that right?

{sound f/x pushi: the door sliding open}

Eiji: Then, should Doctor Chigaya play the "evil witch" for you?

A sexy, and rather angry looking female doctor glares back at Eiji.

Chigaya: That would be an honor.

Hikaru: !

Eiji: [smiling] Are you irritated, Doctor?

Chigaya: .........

{sound f/x gya: Hikaru's small, scared shriek}

Chigaya: You have visitors in your office, Eiji. You should at least go greet them.

Eiji: Sorry.

{sound f/x katan: Eiji's chair getting pushed as he stands}

Eiji: I don't bring my pager into this room. It's annoying, isn't it?

Hikaru: Eiji-oniichan's going back?

Eiji: I'll come back. I already promised.

Chigaya: Hikaru, you have your afternoon medicine and check-up.

Hikaru waves her teddy bear's paw at Eiji.

{sound f/x shuua: Eiji putting his coat on}

{sound f/x kan: light pouring into the room from all directions}

Eiji: (Hm) "Hansel and Gretel" huh... Siblings caught in the prison of the "Candy House"...

In Eiji's office, two men stand waiting for him.

Eiji: I am terribly sorry that I have kept you waiting.

Back in the warehouse district, Shen-Long still angrily awaits Kai's response.

Kai: ......

Shen-Long: Are you deaf!! I'm asking what you were doing throwing away the mission, Kai!! You won't answer me. You left Shin-Lu in danger...

Kai envisions Ruri's body.

Guerrilla: Ue...gu...

Shen-Long turns on the mostly dead body of the guerrilla from earlier.

Shen-Long: Che~ WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE!!

{sound f/x zuo: the sudden swish of Shen-Long's power}

{sound fx bashu: the guerrilla spitting apart}

{sound f/x biku: Kai jumping back from the flying blood in surprise}

{sound f/x ga: Kai grabbing Shen-Long's shoulder}

Kai: That's enough already, Shen-Long!! We weren't given orders to kill anyone besides people with powers!

{sound f/x baki: Shen-Long punching Kai}

Shen-Long: You, too! After I'm done killing these guys, next'll be your turn~!!

{sound f/x zaa: the swirl of Shen-Long's power}

Shen-Long uses his power to further destroy the remains of the guerrillas. Back at Ashurum, Eiji speaks with the two men from earlier in a large conference room.

Eiji: There is no danger. Presently, we at "Ashurum" are taking in numbers of power users, as you can see according to the report's data. From our protected power users, we use our staff, though few in number, to support the military and police. Those powers themselves include electrical power, levitation, flight, and short distance teleportation. If you were to ask these dangerous people, they would rather not have these powers. Inside of a society that does not accept them, they would just like to be left alone.

Man: It is impossible for society to leave alone mutants who display their abnormal powers. This is not a question of the law. Conservatively speaking, the citizens' consciousness will not be changed so easily.

Eiji: The conditions for the outbreak of special power users is still in a new phase of research, but for now I can say that their power is not dangerous. They are, to the end, human. One day suddenly their power was awakened, but it is the same as coming into any other normal ability. Actually, the conclusion to the question "what should I do" does not come easily to these power users when they come into their own.

Man: That's true, but we in the government employ many people with special powers. We don't wish for "Ashurum's" power to grow unnecessarily large.

Eiji: Of course. And so the instant that unrelated power users awaken, they're treated like a monster by the surrounding humans and they become an object of discrimination. And then they become socially estranged and gradually lose a chance of being socially adjusted. Please have complete confidence in us.

Back in the warehouses, a bloodied but still rather whole guerrilla runs from Shen-Long.

Guerrilla: Ahh... ee...

{sound f/x da: the Guerrilla running away}

Guerrilla: (WAAAA)

Shen-Long: Where are you planning...

{sound f/x kyua: Shen-Long's power building}

Shen-Long: to run to~!!

{sound f/x go: his power releasing}

{sound f/x hyuu: whoosh of Shen-Long's power}

{sound f/x do: explosion}

Shen-Long watches in shock as Kai protects the guerrilla from Shen-Long's blast with a barrier of his own.

Shen-Long: !!

Kai: Shen-Long!! If you do things like this, you'll only make people with special powers more hated!!

Shen-Long: ...... It's disgusting. For you to say something like that... And still you're weak!! And still you don't even have the power to save yourself! You only say naïve things like "I don't want to hurt people!"

{sound f/x ka: Shen-Long lighting up with power}

{sound f/x doga: crash of his power exploding}

Shen-Long: Don't interfere!! Kai!!

{sound f/x fo: Kai's power charging}

Shen-Long watches in shock as Kai actually begins to raise his power in return.

Shen-Long: !

Back at Ashurum, Eiji says goodbye to his governmental guests.

Man: Thank you for taking time out even though we didn't have an appointment.

Eiji: No... Please don't worry about it. Feel free to just drop by at any time. I'm used to it.

Man: [trying to decide if he was insulted or not] ......

Assistant: cough...

{sound f/x piii: beep from Eiji's desk}

Eiji: It's me. ———I understand. Chris, Tsubaki, you two withdraw and come back here.

{sound f/x pi: beep}

{sound f/x piiii: high pitched beep}

On Eiji's computer screen, the file for Ruri Hisaichi is deleted.

Eiji: Two o'clock, huh... Operation finished in the morning... return back. ...was how it was supposed to be.

{sound f/x katan: Eiji setting his glasses down}

Eiji: My, my... Can't be helped, those two—— I split the teams so that there wouldn't be trouble. Looks like it was useless...

Back in the warehouses, Shen-Long waves about one arm, covered in blood.

{sound f/x pota: dripping blood}

Shen-Long: Hm... You finally see how to use real power.

{sound f/x bi: Shen-Long whipping blood off of his arm}

{sound f/x oo: wind howling through}

Shen-Long: That's great, Kai... It's miserable being helpless. I'll teach you that.

Kai stares back at Shen-Long.

Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Manga belongs to Yuiga Satoru, G Fantasy Comics, and Enix, taken from the E'S, Volume 1 manga, ISBN4-87025-596-0. Not like the story makes sense if you haven't read the manga anyway. Romanized and translated into English very badly by Mina-P, with desperately needed help, as always, by Mako-chan. Any comments or corrections can be mailed to Mina-P at Minako@senshigakuen.com.

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