Chapter 4: Convergence Point

This chapter was originally going to be two parts, but I decided to combine them since they ended up being on the short side.

Also, as I forgot to mention this earlier, but to 98kazar, yes, there will be some drawings of Axl Trigger. It took me a while to revise his design, but I have him done now, and art of him will be posted when he appears in the story.

Luna watched her target from just outside the classroom doorway. She knew him well- he was the most beloved student in the class without ever even trying. Slight frame, girlish face, and a humble attitude didn't seem like something that'd make anyone popular, much less a guy. And yet everyone loved him a hundred times more than her. She wasn't jealous at how effortlessly he made friends, no, she had to take responsibility for her own shortcomings instead of envying others. But that didn't mean she couldn't ask for help.

Tsukasa, ever polite, thanked the teacher. "I see, so that's how you do it. Thank you, sir."

The teacher waved away the thanks, "It's no problem. It's my job after all. Do you all understand it now?"

The girl, a tiny thing with wavy chestnut hair and brown eyes as wide and scared as a doe, was doing her best to hide behind Tsukasa, gave a squeak at being addressed. Embarrassment flushed her cheeks and she looked caught between indignant and terrified. Luna recognized her: Azumi, a girl with a surprisingly fiery personality despite all appearances. It was a shame she suffered from nearly crippling social anxiety.

Tsukasa stepped between the teacher and Azumi and drew the attention to himself, so smooth and natural that neither noticed what he'd done, "I understand it completely thanks to you. Azumi, you didn't have to wait for me; I know you already understand this stuff, so it must be boring to wait for me."

Azumi swallowed the chance to salvage her pride almost ravenously, "Y-You're the one who was so dumb you didn't even understand such a simple lesson! I…I did my best to explain it to you, but no, you didn't get it!"

"Good thing I understand it now, right?"

"Y-Yeah!"

The teacher, looking hopelessly lost, excused himself with only a cursory reminded for someone to close the door when they left. The moment he was gone Azumi's mask fell to pieces and she gave a shuttering breath of relief. Luna poked her head in and saw Tsukasa hand over the notes he'd taken during the teacher's explanation without a word, even as the girl grew so red she threatened to combust then and there. She flushed and stormed away, pride still hurting just a bit, but not as much as it could have been.

At the doorway Azumi paused. She refused to look back and Luna had been forced to back away so she couldn't see Tsukasa anymore. But the girl still stuttered, "T-Thanks, Tsukasa." And all but ran away.

It was a very mundane issue that Azumi had, made complicated since her nature wouldn't have let her ask for help from anyone. She would have simply let the problem go on instead of doing anything, unsure in her studies and unable to keep up. Without a single word exchanged between the two, Tsukasa had seen what was happening and arranged for it to be corrected without the teacher ever knowing she'd been struggling.

Yes, Tsukasa could read people to such an uncanny degree it would have been slightly scary if he wasn't so unquestionably nice. He knew everyone's opinions and unvoiced wants with just a glance and a few scattered words and then flawlessly used that to his advantage. Not to hurt anyone, but to reach the optimal result for as many people as possible. He never used his skills to benefit himself from what Luna could see, and that complete disregard for bettering his own reputation combined with his outstanding social skills was what made him so popular.

Luna needed that skill now.

"Tsukasa, I need your help," Luna demanded, serious enough that the green haired boy could only blink at her, a bit taken aback he'd been confronted before he'd even closed the door to the classroom.

But, despite all of Tsukasa's talent, he was a simple soul and didn't ask questions, "Sure, what do you need?"

"You were Hoshikawa's friend when he still came to school, correct?"

"Hoshikawa?"

"Subaru."

"Oh!" Tsukasa confirmed, but sobered immediately, "Oh you mean Subaru. Um, I wouldn't say we were friends…"

"But you two got along, correct?" Luna pressed. No, she didn't even need that much, just someone who knew absolutely anything about the brunet in question. "He tolerated you at the very least, correct?"

"Yeah, we talked sometimes." Tsukasa gave her a confused look, though Luna could see him already trying to put the pieces together, "That's a weird way to say it, but sure, I guess. Why do you ask?"

There were several ways Luna could have used to describe what had happened. She could lay all the blame at Subaru's feet, but Tsukasa was simple, not stupid, and would know if she lied. The truth dressed up as prettily as possible, then. "Recently I have…offended Hoshikawa."

"Offended?"

"It was in his best interests!" Realizing how desperate and guilty she sounded, Luna coughed and regained her cool. "All I wanted was to negotiate what it would take for him to come back to school, but he…didn't like my methods and now we're on poor terms."

"Define 'poor terms'." It took a moment for Tsukasa to say that, and Luna felt her heart drop a tiny bit.

"Hoshikawa said that the best thing I could do would be to…never speak to him again."

"I never knew him really well, but that doesn't sound like Subaru at all. Sure, he's gotten pretty cold now, but I don't think he'd tell you that for no reason." Tsukasa paused, maybe to think, maybe for effect, but it made Luna squirm under the weight of it all since there was only one question he could ask. "What did you do?"

And there was the heart of the matter and the deadly question. A simple four words, but they slid under Luna's skin and into her heart, snaking around it and squeezing until she reminded herself Tsukasa hadn't outright said he wouldn't help just yet. He was curious, yes, just curious which could be directed to sympathise with her if she was careful.

"I tried to make- persuade him to come to school. I've tried several times, using a different method each time, and he still won't come back. Subaru got…sick of my efforts." Simple and the truth, if not a bit short.

Tsukasa had caught her mistake, and Luna knew someone like him could never understand that sometimes force was needed. She hadn't gone that overboard, restraint was completely rational for someone who hadn't shown up for months! There were better ways she could have handled it now that she looked back but asking her parents for ideas was completely out of the question. That logic didn't stop him from sounding disappointed when he next spoke, as if he already knew what she'd done without having to ask. As if she was predictable in the worst possible way. "So, what actually happened? You seem pretty bothered by this, and I can't-"

"What happened is none of your business."

Luna was surprised with how short and irritated her own voice was, and nearly didn't recognize it. It was openly hostile and filled with a simmering anger that'd been weaponized, and the tone matched perfectly with that which echoed in her memories. It was jarring and worrying, but Luna couldn't stop, couldn't show she'd been affected by something she'd said herself, and continued, this time sounding like herself: "All you need to know is Hoshikawa is really mad at me. I've tried saying sorry, but he won't accept it and he called it fake. So I need your help in telling me what to do to make him forgive me."

"He won't accept an apology…?" Tsukasa muttered thoughtfully. Luna looked at him with a frown, and he waved away her query at his musings, "No, no, it's nothing. Maybe you just need to apologize differently?"

"I'll have you know my parents have taught me the perfect way to apologize to amend any situation." Polite, but no ground could be given that hadn't already been decided on beforehand or you would be toppled in an instant.

"Well…Subaru's a bit different, right?" Tsukasa ventured, and Luna nodded. That she could at least agree on. "So maybe if I see what you did I can see why he's being picky. Sound good?"

"…Fine, I'll show you exactly what I did."

Luna cleared her throat and then adjusted herself. Back straight, shoulders square and stiff, gaze unwavering and voice carefully neutral, she began: "Subaru Hoshikawa, I apologize for the way I acted the other day. I deeply regret my actions and admit that they were wrong, and hope that you can find it in yourself to forgive me. Please."

Tsukasa stared at her for a long moment, as if expecting more. Right as Luna grew unnerved by his silence, he sighed, deep and full of expectations of suffering soon to occur. "So that's why he didn't accept it."

Luna really wanted to be flustered and indignant, but it was hard to act when the icy dread of a realization was creeping through her chest. Once could just be chance, said to hurt her, but for Tsukasa to agree..? "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Tsukasa ignored her question entirely and looked at the blonde girl. It wasn't a normal look, but an intense one filled with judgment and something dangerously close to distaste. It was unnerving, and Luna froze and Tsukasa spoke, "Luna, do you actually want to make up with Subaru? Because, to me, it really seems like you don't."

"I…I do! Honest!"

"Isn't bringing Subaru back all just boost your own reputation? I won't help you do that."

Tsukasa was leaving, Luna realized, and suddenly she was afraid. She didn't know what to do and never would at this rate. She'd never make amends and never make herself better then…!

"It's not that!" Luna nearly shouted the words, and for a second she looked around for anyone who'd been drawn to the noise. No one had but Tsukasa had at least stopped. He hadn't turned around, but he'd stopped and was waiting.

"Not anymore, at least…It was at the start, I'll admit that. But I never thought that I'd…" Luna didn't know how to phrase it, how to dress it up pretty. It went against everything she'd been taught, but she stopped thinking and simply spoke. "That I'd mess everything up so badly. When Hoshikawa said that the most I could ever do for him would be to do nothing at all, to never see him again, I realized he meant it. He really meant it, Tsukasa. He really hates me. I've realized just how much I've messed up if I've made someone hate me without knowing it."

"You can't apologize to someone expecting them to always forgive you, Luna." They were words spoken from experience, but instead of empathizing, Tsukasa seemed disinterred.

"I know that, but…I just want him to know I get what he was saying now. I thought he was wrong, I thought he was just making things up, but when I look around, I realize…I realize not a lot of people actually like me. So if I can't make even this better, then how am I supposed to…?" Supposed to become the amazing person she liked to pretend she was? Supposed to even be a decent person if she couldn't even apologize correctly?

"Luna."

"I know! I know it's dumb to care about this so much. Hoshikawa is just my classmate and one I don't even know that well, but he's right! He's right, and I hate that! I hate it because I don't want to be anything like…"

"Luna."

Luna was afraid to look at him, to see his disgust. She was weak, crying over something like this and she could hear the voices ringing in her ears, whispering, muttering: "How pathetic. You must become stronger if you ever want to accomplish anything." She was failing at it all, reaching too far beyond herself and losing her grip on everything as a result. She couldn't be everything, so maybe it'd be best if never bothered-

When she looked up, Tsukasa was there with a smile smiled, easy and relaxed and looked just the tiniest bit amused, "So, what do you need help with?"

Luna realized that she only had to reach as far as someone else was willing to extend their hand.

When someone rang his doorbell, Subaru thought for sure it was Luna again. He tried to ignore it, but it went on and on, ringing throughout the house. The brunet quickly grew sick of it and stalked down to the door and flung it open without looking outside.

"Just what do you want!?"

Tsukasa blinked at him, shocked.

Subaru mentally stumbled. Why did he make the stupid (childish) assumption that someone at his door had to be Luna? There were other people who visited besides her. What if it'd been someone important from his mother's work, or Amachi? And now, Tsukasa, who'd never done anything to him was looking at him, face shifting from surprise to hurt.

"Tsukasa, I thought that…"

Tsukasa shifted nervously, voice filled with poorly masked hurt. "Oh, um, if you don't want to be disturbed, I guess I can…"

Subaru felt terrible. Not only had he been rude to Tsukasa at the Zero Blade sighting, but he'd just yelled in his face like he had done something wrong. If he was Luna it'd be different, but Tsukasa was nothing but nice to everyone, so Subaru didn't really think about why the boy was here. "No! No, I'm sorry, I thought you were…Um…"

"I was?"

"Someone else. Someone who's been harassing me a lot lately." Subaru didn't need to drag Tsukasa or anyone else into his problems. He could handle them fine. "What...why are you here? Usually, you always have things to do on the weekend."

"Well, I had something planned with a few others and I was going to invite you to come along. It's fine if you don't want to, honest!" Tsukasa assured, but his cheeriness was forced and fake and painful to watch. "I know things must have been hard for you last week," 'when you were rude to me' Subaru's mind filled in, even if Tsukasa was too polite to say it, "so I thought I could help, but…if you're too busy, then that's…fine."

Subaru, lonely and filled with guilt, didn't really think and simple agreed, "Let's go."

Tsukasa lite up at that, so happy over such a small thing and Subaru couldn't help but feel some warmth that he'd been able to salvage the situation so easily.

"I wasn't doing anything anyway." Subaru justified, more to himself than Tsukasa, though it was true.

Despite barely knowing each other, Tsukasa easily launched into a conversation with Subaru. It wasn't about anything in particular. Though it inevitably was drawn back to Zero Blade's sudden appearance and exploits with the sheer fantastical nature of it all, the conversation freely drifted from topic to topic with no aim. It was all shallow, all pointless and things Subaru would forget within the hour, but it was nice. There were no pressures placed on him by Tsukasa to know the latest trends or shows, no worry over his current emotional state, and it eased the growing loneliness in his soul Subaru hadn't even realized had gotten so large.

Subaru didn't think to question Tsukasa about what they were planning on doing even once.

Subaru stared at Luna for a long moment, disgust rising with a sense of betrayal. "I'm leaving."

He ignored how her face fell at that and stalked away. Would she never get it, never understand anything? How low was she willing to sink to get him back to school, using Tsukasa, someone too nice to ever say no? Someone stopped him with a hand on his arm, grip solid and as unbreakable as iron. Subaru whirling around and expected to see Luna's goon, but instead saw Tsukasa.

The boy smiled like the sun, even as he refused to let go, "Please just listen to what Luna has to say this one time, Subaru."

"I've already listened to her often enough."

"Just one last time, please?"

They weren't friends, not even close and would probably never be. But Tsukasa was the only person who Subaru had ever met who understood that fact and was still willing to let Subaru haunt his shadow whenever bitter loneliness squeezed his heart a bit too hard. Subaru knew he hadn't been any fun to be around for months now, but Tsukasa didn't seem to mind. Tsukasa had never asked for anything from the brunet, so maybe…

"Just once."

Tsukasa's face lite up brilliantly and he let go of Subaru's arm. "Thank you." He turned to leave the two alone, no further comment given.

From there on out, everything fell on Luna.

"What do you want?" Subaru demanded. Just because he agreed to listen didn't mean he was obligated to be nice.

"You two must be good friends if you're willing to put up with me just because he asked."

"We aren't really friends. I just respect him." Subaru said more automatically than anything else because that was the safe thing to say. He didn't know what to do anymore with just one sentence. He never expected for Luna to admit, however indirectly, that she was a bother and to actually mean it. "And if he's helping you then I'll play along for now."

"…I see." Luna's voice was soft and understanding, without any of the ridged confidence Subaru had always heard in it. It was strange, wrong, for her to sound so…so vulnerable and weak to anyone. Could she actually…?

"Subaru…I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you."

It was real. True regret and sorrow danced in the syllables, and its words held real meaning. It meant something important, and it terrified Subaru that someone he'd thought hopelessly stubborn like Luna could ever regret something so much she would actually back down. He rejected it, but it was weak to even his own ears. "That's…it's alright. Like I said, as long as you and I…then…"

Subaru couldn't find it in himself to stop it, and Luna continued, earnest. "You know, you were right, Subaru. No one's ever made me have to think that...No one besides my parents have ever told me that I was wrong. And you were right, again. I am pretty selfish, and, when I think about it…Not a whole lot of people in our class actually like me. If they did then I wouldn't have to work so hard to build my reputation…I think I've always known that but, I ignored it. I ignored it and look where it got me: I've been nothing but terrible to you and I didn't even think for a second I couldn't be right the whole time."

Luna bowed politely to him, "Thank you for being yourself, Hoshikawa, and again, I'm sorry for how I've treated you. I think that being around you would be nice, but I understand if you would still prefer we never spoke again."

"One week."

The words slipped from Subaru's lips before he could think. But when Luna looked at him, surprised and with a tiny fragment of hope embedded there somewhere, he knew he'd made the right choice. He could have stormed away and sulked before forgetting the entire ordeal, but…

But he was sick of always feeling a little bit empty all the time.

"Give me a week to…to cool off. I can't be nice to you now since everything just happened. But if you give me a week I think I could…start over."

Luna looked like he'd made her week before quickly composing herself, "Thank you, Hoshikawa."

"I should at least try…" Or he'd feel terribly guilty, but Luna didn't need to know that he was doing this for purely selfish reasons. The thoughts were heavy and dark, so Subaru struggled to shift the topic instead of simply leaving. A moment before he could say anything, Luna's Transer rang. The two of them jumped a little and Luna looked a bit embarrassed but ejected the earpiece and answered anyway.

Subaru shuffled restlessly, feeling awkward and out of place as Luna talked to whoever was on the other end. Suddenly, her voice picked up, and the blonde sounded alarmed. "He's gone out? But he was so tired before this! No, no, I get it…But I'm worried Gonta will get in trouble and walk into traffic or something with how spacy he's been lately. Wait there, I'll come to you. Goodbye, Kizamaro."

Luna had to leave then, clearly worried. Subaru was feeling generous and walked with her, listening to her ramble about Gonta's deteriorating health all the way to the Skyway station. He didn't have any words of comfort, but he was sure Luna didn't even want his opinion, but a person to vent her worries to. It didn't sound nearly as bad as she was making it anyway: Gonta had been losing energy for most of the week with a tendency to space out and walk right into walls. It would have been funny if it didn't present the very real problem of him walking right out into traffic, as Luna repeatedly mentioned.

Subaru didn't care all that much about any of them, so when Luna said her goodbyes to him at the station entrance, he just nodded. She looked disappointed for all of a second before determination won over and she rushed inside.

Suddenly without anything to do, Subaru found himself drifting around the surrounding area. It wasn't much, but he felt like something sweet and bought an overly sugary dessert. Treat in hand, Subaru sat down and finally took a moment to think about what had happened between himself and Luna. She cared about this too much and he had a feeling there was something he wasn't seeing. Why would anyone try so hard to make up with someone they never knew in the first place? Her apology left a bad taste in his mouth, but not like when he was disgusted with her. No, this felt deeper, twisting his insides into knots. It was-

Without warning, the peaceful rumbling of the city shattered with a terrible sound of screeching metal. The world below looked up just in time to watch the departing Skyway cars buckle in the middle, one of its supports shredded unnaturally. A sharp V now hung, suspended in the air and the world below cried out and pointed dramatically, worried but also helpless to do anything.

Minutes must have passed, stretched to eternity. The police arrived at some point and set a perimeter, rescuers had climbed the railing the Skyway cart connected to and were pulling people out and to safety. But none of that mattered to Subaru. Because, through his Visualizer, he could see it. Blurry waves he'd learned were viruses hoarding around the controls, eating away at the programming like acid, and acting with unnatural intent. Viruses were never organized, only able to swarm in a vaguely cohesive charge that deleted the viruses themselves as well as whatever they were targeting. Yet this was anything but, with no viruses even attempting to cannibalize each other, no incidental deletion, just a single-minded attack.

It was organized.

The Skyway suddenly turned on and surged forward. The dipping carts were pulled up and taunt, and for a second the entire thing lurched as if would move. Only, the support in the back had locked tight. Panic spread and the surrounding world exploded with noise and screams as the strain quickly became too much and a cart ripped in at the end. Subaru's world whited-out, narrowed, and muted. It was an awkward time, and the tram was practically empty. Because of that, nearly everyone had gotten out in only a few minutes. Except not everyone. For when the cart ripped, a small form tumbled helplessly, missing any handholds, and was suddenly surrounded in nothing but open air.

Luna was falling to her death.

And Subaru could do nothing.

It happened fast and without warning. One second the rescue workers were pulling people up the rope ladder, and then the next the world heaved beneath their feet for the second time.

Luna was cradled in strong arms, her side injured in the fall making it painful to breathe deeply and too risky to climb by herself. The situation was extreme- two Skyway carts buckled and slanted at nearly sixty degrees –but under control and quickly being solved. They were afraid of the carts falling, yes, but for now ,the two other supports and the cart's own pressure was holding things up.

Luna really hadn't expected her day to take such a drastic turn, but, just as when she'd left Subaru, she was determined. Things had gone better than she'd ever dared hope, as Tsukasa, for all his supportiveness, hadn't been able to do more than slightly ease her fears. But he'd been right that the best thing she could do was to be open, honest, and let her softer emotions lead. It was frightening to do with someone who'd held her in contempt, and yet she must have done something right for him to even give her a chance. Just a few minutes ago she'd been happy, filled with fire born from success and confident in her abilities once again. She was already on track to salvage everything, and she wasn't about to let this deter her.

Taking this as a sign or something would be silly.

The world tilted again, the dipping bottom of the cart pulling up abruptly. The man holding her fell and Luna tumbled to the ground, stopping only when she hit the far wall. A wall that should've still be still bowing downward, but was now perfectly level, as if nothing had happened… She blinked dumbly at the sudden shift and pulled her face up, looking around and too stunned to realize what she was hearing. It was loud, grating, growing, and-

A dozen feet in front of her, between her and the other passengers, the windows shattered, the walls tore, and she couldn't process what was happening. It was impossible, something that simple couldn't, she refused to believe it-!

The Skyway cart tore in two and the floor dropped out from Luna's feet.

Luna hit something. A chair, a pole, some luggage, whatever it was, it knocked the air form her, stunned her, and the rest of that tight world slipped past before she could breathe again. When she focused again, it was on the sky, cut into two slices by a thick metal bar. The moment crystalized, and to her right ,a Skyway cart and a third swung freely and abnormally slowly, like a red pendulum. On her right two thirds of the cart tilted awkwardly down, and she could see a person who'd nearly tumbled off the ripped edge being hauled up by the same man who'd held her.

It was impossibly selfish, but in that moment Luna felt oddly betrayed. A distance of twenty feet separated them, but she'd wished he'd somehow caught her.

'Why did you let me fall?'

There was nothing he could have done, but in that moment, Luna cursed him.

The moment shattered, broke to pieces, and she was falling once again. The wind stole her breath, her hearing, and all sense of touch except for the feeling of life slipping past her hands. So Luna willingly gave it her sight, closing her eyes and pretending she was in a dream. A dream where she was falling, not to the unforgiving ground, but into the warm embrace of her parents that she could barely recall.

She must have died, because she could feel that embrace around her. It wasn't as warm, wasn't as soft, and she was being carried instead of hugged, but she could feel hands supporting her back, scooped under her knees, and the sensation of falling ceased. Luna opened her eyes to the sight of golden wings of falling hair.

She must have died, for Luna was sure an angel had just caught her.

The relief Subaru felt was a nearly physical thing. Somehow Zero Blade had appeared at the last possible second, manifesting midair next to Luna's falling form and scooping her up. He'd absorbed the impact flawlessly, taking a knee and absorbing enough of the force with his own body that Luna hardly even shifted. It was a sight out of a movie, with red armor that vaguely resembled a knight and golden hair that settled flawlessly instead of turning into one tangled knot like it should have.

"You're alright now." Zero Blade said, calm and collected like he hadn't just dropped at least a hundred feet.

It was no wonder Luna's face lit up like the sun, red spilling into her cheeks so fast Subaru could see it happen even from where he was. She was trying to shy away from her savior and get a better look at him at the same time, stuttering and looking terrible embarrassed. Zero Blade himself looked smug and overly pleased with himself, brushing off anything Luna was trying to say to him and, once again, seeming to talk to himself. It was for this reason he didn't realize what was happening until the scream of tortured metal hit like a wave. By then it was too late, Zero Blade had just enough time to look up and-

The Skyway cart fell and crushed Zero Blade and Luna.

Subaru couldn't breathe. It was such a…such a sudden demise his mind refused to process it. The cart had landed perfectly flat; meaning all that was left under it was…something terrible Subaru couldn't even imagine. Something bloody, redder than even the armor the failed hero wore, a distant part of him thought, dropping into cynicism before he broke then and there. There really wasn't anything special-

There was nothing flashy about it, and yet it was stunning all the same. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Zero Blade walked from the wreckage. Walked through it, passing through the wall of metal easily, almost carelessly, and looking slightly irritated at worst. Luna, in contrast, was wall-eyed and hugging her fellow blond very much for her life, shivering as her body impossibly passed through solid objects. It made getting her to let go when he set her down a chore. A chore that took long enough that at least one of the circling cops broke formation and stormed up.

Or maybe not an actual cop, off-green trench coat certainly not part of the uniform. It took him only a few seconds to be within striking distance of Zero Blade, and the world seemed to tense as he reached out. Except his had went right past the red warrior, grabbed Luna's arm, and yanked the stunned and slightly shaking girl away and behind him, his body between Zero Blade and her, as if he were shielding her.

Zero Blade either didn't notice or didn't care and crossed his arms, looking up at the detective with a challenging stare, "Excuse you."

"Excuse yourself first." The man said, and Zero Blade looked a bit taken aback, "I'm detective Goyoda, and I'd like to know what the heck you think you've been doing all this time? Do you have any idea how-"

Zero Blade, several inches shorter than Goyoda, still somehow managed to get up in the detective's face and yell back at him, "What am I doing? What the hell is this city doing!? How could something this insane even happen in the first place? What shoddy metal are you using for it to suddenly give way like that?"

"That isn't what I was-!"

"And the heck have you even been doing this whole time? A whole lot of nothing, that's what! The security for Skyways sucks, by the way. A dozen viruses ate through the firewalls before I could do anything! I thought something big like a Skyway was supposed to be strong."

The borderline non sequitur Goyoda normally would have ignored was so oddly worded he just had to know, "Viruses? You mean you can see them?"

"Of course." Zero Blade waved the disbelief away, sounding as if the detective was the crazy one. He gestured vaguely to the cars parked some distance away and baffled onlookers, "Though all I'm seeing right now is a whole lot of police incompetence."

"What were we supposed to do?"

"I don't know, figure it out. That's your job, not mine."

It was such an…ignorant and arrogant response that Goyoda had heard so many times that the sheer normality of it all gave him a feeling vaguely similar to vertigo. Before he really noticed, he was reciting the same response he gave everyone who ever made the mistake of complaining to his face, "You can't just say 'we should do more' and then give us nothing to go on. It isn't that simple!"

"Maybe get out some of those old jump nets that the firemen used to use?"

That was an ungodly terrible idea. And such an idiotically childish one at that, "…Those haven't been used since the 1980s. Just how old are the cartoons you watch?"

"C-Cartoons? I don't-!" Zero Blade sputtered, feeling indignant. He was far too old to be (caught) watching something as kiddy as cartoons! "At least it would've been something in case someone fell!"

'No, it would have been literally worse.' Goyoda thought, and realized that, while he wasn't dealing with the worst-case scenario, it was pretty close to it. After all, how much damage could someone as powerful as Zero Blade do by sheer accident simply because he clearly didn't understand how the world worked? What if he had instead jumped up to catch that girl instead of matching her fall? He'd almost surely have killed her when he abruptly reversed her momentum. Shattered her spine, pulverized her bones and organs!

An ignorant child was before him, and another shivering behind him, and he wondered exactly when the world had gone mad, "Do you have any idea how unsafe those things ever were?"

"Well, then it's a good thing I'm here, huh?"

Zero Blade was ungodly cocky, and that combined with the sheer power the kid had rubbed Goyoda in all the wrong ways. "A whole lot of good you'll be doing since you aren't even paying attention to the cart right above your head."

"Eh, Zero will tell me if something happens."

And mental issues were suddenly very viable. Fantastic. "Zero? Now you're referring to yourself in the third person."

"Hey, I can do whatever I want…What are you doing?" Zero Blade looked at the handcuff suddenly on him. Which was latched just above his elbow, since the bracers were too thick to even think of fitting a cuff around.

"Pretty much anyone with any sort of power has business with you," Goyoda grossly understated, and was unsurprised when the blond looked unimpressed. He probably didn't consider anyone a threat to him with the power that had been dropped in his lap. "And since you can cloak yourself somehow, this is the only way I can make sure you don't slip away."

"So what, are you going to lead me back to your office like this? With no warrant?"

The girl Goyoda had shielded stilled, but the detective ignored it, "You're an exception."

"Boy, I sure feel special."

"Whatever tech you're using is very, very, illegal. The cloaking alone is war-level, and when you take into account the strength enhancements, ability to rapid-travel across the world though an unknown means, levitation tech, and solid-energy weapons that's beyond anything anyone's ever seen, and you're a walking armory of illegal tech. It's important we learn where you got all that, because someone somewhere has broken every international law relating to war-level tech to date with you."

"Sucks for your superiors because this isn't anything any secret organization gave me." Zero Blade sucked in a breath dramatically, "I got it from a basically magical energy-alien who combines with me in a way that is not unlike a knock-off transformation sequence in order to save his not-buddy who stole a key to literally blow up the world from their immortal king. Or former king, since they've both kind of betrayed him. Which is good for us, I guess."

It was said with a perfectly serious poker face and Goyoda would've been impressed with the story if he hadn't dealt with plenty of crazy in his life. Instead, he just felt annoyed and knew life was going to get worse for whoever tried to get information out of Zero Blade.

"Looks like you're a real smartass."

Zero Blade shrugged before gesturing to a slightly dazed Luna no one had bothered to collect yet. Probably because it meant getting near him and everyone was afraid he'd get stabby if he felt surrounded, "That's some damn harsh language to be using around kids. You might set an even worse example than you already have."

Goyoda looked like he was about to have an aneurism on the spot.

Luna threw herself into the conversation, abruptly and without a care, "You can't arrest Sir Zero Blade! He saved my life and I'm sure he's helped a lot of people!"

"Sir? Since when…?"

"I know he's done a lot here, but the laws are-"

Two voices spoke up simultaneously, but Luna only homed in on one of them and rounded on the detective, ignoring her own pain and still riding the high of her survival, "Well then the laws are stupid! Sir Zero Blade is a hero, a knight! And he's done nothing wrong whatsoever and you want to arrest him like a criminal!"

'Sir' Zero Blade cocked his head, curious and confused that he'd actually missed something, "Seriously? Sir?"

He was, of course, ignored.

"He's dangerous and we need to know where he got that technology! Anyone who's manufacturing tech that powerful and giving to children is clearly insane and-"

"It's from basically magic energy-aliens, don't you pay attention?" The 'child' in question waved his hand casually, as if that dismissed the issue, "And what's with the whole 'sir' thing?"

"O-Oh! Oh well, you're like," Luna flushed, bluster gone when she realized she had her savior's attention. Was it her, or were his eyes unnaturally intense? "Well, you're like a knight!"

"Uh-huh." The 'knight' drawled, sounding unimpressed. He was pretty sure he knew what this was, but already? Really?

"I mean you have the armor, and a sword, and you…you saved…me."

Luna was really blushing now, and Zero Blade would've had to been blind to not see that she, almost surely an elementary school girl, had a crush on him. What the heck, wasn't she still supposed to think guys were gross? He certainly didn't care for the girls in his own class who had started throwing themselves at certain guys, much less a kid barely older than his sister! Ok, that was a bit of an exaggerating, but still. Now he just felt like a creep.

He would've told her as much if he hadn't felt a vaguely annoying tugging at his arm. Oh right, he was technically being arrested. The pulling continued and Zero Blade realized the detective was probably trying to drag him along and overpower him with his superior height. Except the red warrior was far stronger and weighed a lot more with the armor, and what would have pulled most anyone his age clean off their feet was an annoying sensation at best.

Goyoda somehow managed to not look visibly flustered when his efforts failed and did his best to cover it up, "This is a waste of time, you're coming with me."

Luna was enraged, going so far as to stamp her foot and seethe, "W-Wait, you can't just-! How dare you! You don't even have a warrant!"

"No, no, no." As hilarious as it would have been to watch the so-called detective get verbally lashed by a girl not even five-foot, Zero Blade decided he'd show this man his place himself, thank you very much, "The incompetent police man here is right."

"Detective."

"You say that like I care. Anyway, he's right. The law always goes after heroes because they're all jealous, you know. Heroes get all the cool weapons and do all the cool things, and we don't have to answer to anyone. We're above the law and all that. The only problem here is that, well…"

Zero Blade suddenly pulled his arm through the solid cuff like it was just a hologram. There was no sign of damage, it hadn't been unlocked, hadn't been tampered with, and yet the red warrior was free. Goyoda made a mad swipe for the cocky blond…and his hand went right through and he nearly fell on his face. In fact, he was half-standing in the blond when he recovered and jerked back in shock. It was like he wasn't even there, a hologram maybe? But when..?

Zero Blade plucked the cuffs right out of the detective's hands and tossed them around, proving he very much was real and solid…only when he wanted to be. "The law, quite literally, can't touch me."

"You're not clever." The detective's deadpan could have flattened mountains.

"That look on your face a moment ago says otherwise." Zero Blade dropped the cuffs back into Goyoda's hands and gave his shoulder a condescending pat. He was real, he was solid, there was actual weight behind that gesture, and yet the next second the blond stepped through Goyoda as if he were less than a breath. "Good luck catching me when I'm literally untouchable unless I say so."

Goyoda glared hard at the teen, doing his best to ignore the hero-worship practically rolling off the girl beside him. He hadn't disappeared when he'd pulled that stunt, but the detective had seen, for the briefest moment, a slight flicker and fading to his form. The blond had looked ever so slightly translucent for just a moment, and anyone else would've said he'd switched places with a hologram and cloaked. Except the man had felt something off when it'd happened. Nothing terrible, just a faint tingling, but just enough to make him consider the possibility that maybe, just maybe, Zero Blade wasn't using cloaking and holograms at all. After all, he reported actually seeing viruses, and then there was the matter of crisscrossing the world in a matter of an hour…

It was insane, impossible really, but it explained a few things he'd never liked dismissing as technical tricks. Well, Zero Blade was a fairly impulsive teenager, so it was worth a shot.

Goyoda said, without a hint of anything except absolute certainty, "You're manipulating your own state of matter, aren't you?"

Zero Blade whirled and gaped at him. "How the hell did you figure that out?"

"Just a guess, but it's always nice when such a simple trick works."

"You…! You piece of- yes I know, shut up. Like, right now." And once again Zero Blade was suddenly seemingly talking to himself. Except now that Goyoda was less than ten feet from him, he could see the slight silt of his head to one side, listening. The teen, suddenly visibly flushed with embarrassment, rounded on the detective and pointed at him, "It's not like that helps you in any way shape or form!"

"Actually, now that we know that we can start developing counter-measures against you." In theory. 'Manipulating matter' was an ungodly vague description to go off of, and possible not even what was actually happening since he seriously doubted a teenager knew the ins and outs of theoretical physics. But Goyoda had faith in those who did the more technical things to figure something out, even if this information only made his stomach sink even more. Just what could this kid not break into if he wanted?

"Oooh, I'm so threatened by some washed-up…Areyoukidding-!"

Goyoda must've suddenly been hit by a miniature truck, because when Zero Blade shoved him he soared nearly thirty feet away. Something was seriously bruised, maybe cracked even, but he didn't care, even as he flew back through the air and realized he was going to fall hard. He couldn't care because something more important happened in that moment of suspension, that moment of clarity when everything went wrong.

Zero Blade was abducted.

Goyoda could only watch as Zero Blade was snatched up by a blur of blue and white. Caught mid-turn in his attempt to counter, the red warrior was carried into the sky with no way to do anything but squirm. The detective landed just as hard as he thought he would, twisting his wrist terribly, but it didn't matter and he was staggering to look up. The literally blue man that had grabbed the teen suddenly threw his prey away and the green blade awkwardly positioned to stab him missed widely. He darted to the side on ivory wings that glittered unnaturally, dangerously, dressed in a blue bodysuit that bled to black armor on his legs.

The detective thought Zero Blade could fly, but apparently, that wasn't the case and the blond continued to fall, looking around wildly for purchase. His winged attacker (who had a swan helmet, what the hell?) twisted effortlessly in the air, and suddenly those unnaturally bright feathers were flying at Zero Blade. The blond pulled another sword hilt from literally nowhere and held it out. Green gushed from its sides as if it had detonated, and a makeshift wall intercepted the feathers. They hissed as their tips melted and dulled when they deflected off it, down to the streets below where they still buried themselves several inches into the concrete.

Luna cowered and screamed, echoing the panicked crowd, but all the feathers had missed her. By a wide enough margin it was clear she wasn't a target, but close enough that it was just as clear she could have very easily been collateral. Feathers continued peppering the area like a machinegun, targeting Zero Blade the entire time he fell and continued to rain over the area. Luna looked around wildly, terrified to move, but screeching as one missed her foot by an inch. Taking a wild chance, she ran off in the direction that seemed to have the fewest feathers.

Goyoda was forced to retreat to cover around a corner or become a pincushion himself. He didn't hear any pained screams, so he took that as a good sign and waited for the impacts to stop before risking a look out.

Well, at least he had his proof of there being a third party.

Tamotsu had landed on a Wave Road (finally!) and glared at who could only be Cygnus if the swan motif was any indication. Cygnus something or other, if what Zero had told him about naming EM changes held true among non-traitors to the crown or whatever, "So, finally decided to fight me, eh? Wasn't feeling up for it on the Wave Road?"

Cygnus twisted his mostly-human face into an ugly mockery of an expression that might have resembled a sneer. Except his eyes were too wide, almost glassy-looking beads, and his mouth stretched too far to be normal. His skin looked overstretched and waxy with forced perfection, like a doll, "I can assure you, Zero, that this will be quick."

"Oh it will be, I know that." Tamotsu grinned wickedly at the FM, "I won't even waste time asking you to let that person go, Cygnus."

It was pointless and Zero's timely reminder of that fact wasn't needed. There was too much on the line for the enemy to just give up like that, and Cygnus seemed confident. But Tamotsu had been training hard and the attacks he'd been bombarded with were weak and slow. Or he was just that strong already.

Tamotsu grinned wildly. He liked that thought.

"My name is Cygnus Wing now."

"Whatev-"

And then a freight train of red and heat hit the blond. Except instead of knocking him to the side and away so he could breathe, it grabbed him by the head and slammed him back towards the Wave Road. Zero changed his state before he hit, and Tamotsu hoped to God and back that there wasn't anyone standing below him when he hit the pavement and it cracked ominously. There was no pain, Zero made sure of that, but icy terror slowed time when he saw whatever had tried to attack him falling through the road and right on top of him. A meteor of red and fire and death if he didn't get a handle on the situation.

Tamotsu rolled out of the way and used the shockwave behind him to propel himself in the air. Except a hand half as big as his entire body grabbed his leg with bone-crushing force and swung his body into the ground. Rock exploded around him, enveloping his spinning sight with nothing but crumbled ground and choking dust. Vertigo and almost complete numbness that soaked his limbs meant Tamotsu didn't realize he was being picked up until he was even with his attacker's face. He was looking at a…bull? Yes, a metal bull dyed pure red and so hot that the air surrounding it wavered.

Somewhere above him and filled with pride and self-satisfaction, Cygnus taunted.

"And his name is Ox Fire."