Just a lot of Bad News...
Alexander and the opposing Marine Captain, Yuuki, were both situated in separate corners of the gymnasium. Just like the rest of the gym this was a terribly taken care of room. The lights were broken and destroyed. The only light they had was from a large hole in the ceiling. The floor was covered in dirt and mud and it looked like it was never cleaned. Rina kept having to check her leg as she could swear that a centipede or a cockroach was crawling up it.
Alexander was hunched forward in his chair. His head was hung between his shoulders, his mind was jumping around and probably focusing more on what Veri Fresh said then on the upcoming fight. Rina was worried as well, Veri Fresh had told everyone, but Alexander to get out of the room. He didn't want anyone else hearing the news, whatever it was. Rina felt kind of left out, since Alexander had heard about it and she was a dozen times more mature and level-headed then him, but looking at him now she felt kind of relieved. Alexander seemed to be really bothered by it.
His opponent, Yuuki, was sitting in the opposite corner. He had a smug grin as he stared over at Alexander, his focus completely on the fight. His large blade was tied to his back, he didn't seem to be worried about killing Alexander at all. As a matter of fact, Rina doubted that the thought had even crossed his mind. He was probably wishing he could kill him right now. Rina had no idea why he hated them so much, but he certainly did seem to have some sort of vendetta cut out for them.
The gong sounded. Yuuki didn't waste a single moment, he rocketed up from his seat. His seat was tossed a few feet away. Alexander was slowly, it took him a few moments to snap out of his fog and get onto his feet. Alexander couldn't even brace himself by the time Yuuki had already closed the distance. Yuuki brought the blunt end of his large blade smashing around and into Alexander's face knocking him down onto the ground. Alexander let out a brief moan as Yuuki brought himself around and prepared for another attack. He brought his sword around and aimed it downwards, bringing downwards at his opponent.
Alexander scrambled forward barely avoiding the downwards slash. He twisted around still on the ground as Yuuki lifted his sword up once more and back down at him. Alexander's entire body shifted into iron. Alexander brought his two hands together catching the blade. Yuuki glared down at him, his teeth grinding together, "I was a Marine for twenty years before I was promoted! I traveled around the world trying my god damn best! And then you waltz in and get promoted in less then a year! You become a captain in two months! And before that you were just freakin' washing floors! I was an all-around better candidate for Marine captain rank then you! And on top of that you can pick up a phone and just make a call to a REAR ADMIRAL! THAT SHOULD BE ME!" Yuuki slowly began applying more and more force onto Alexander. Alexander was in a terrible position to deflect the sword, much less move out of the way. He was flat on his back with a giant sword mere inches away from his face.
"Hey, listen," groaned Alexander as he tried to push the sword further away from his gut, "if you want Veri Fresh, you can have him. He's a bit of a freak! Honestly, you'd probably be doing me a favor if you take him off of my hands!" Yuuki ignored Alexander as he lifted his blade back up into the air and brought it right back down aiming for Alexander's neck. Alexander reached out and punched Yuuki in the stomach, temporarily halting his attack just long enough for Alexander to get back up onto this feet and back off.
Yuuki muttered something he twisted his sword around brought the hilt forward in a thrust. This was the first time Alexander paid attention to the hilt but at the end of it was not only a sharp point, but also a hook similar to a fishing hook. If the point went in the hook would make it a pain to get out. Alexander stepped back, but underestimated the long reach of the weapon. Yuuki moved his hand back closer to the blade to extend its reach. The point came smashing into Alexander's gut and if it wasn't for Alexander's iron body, the point would've easily have pierced his skin and killed him right there.
Alexander collapsed onto the ground. He was moving more sluggishly than normal. Ordinarily, he would've done won the fight especially against someone of this physical level, but his thoughts were still elsewhere. He couldn't focus on this fight. Veri Fresh's words were still ingrained in his mind.
(-Yesterday in the Marine Captain's room-)
"Okay, now that that is settled," shouted Veri Fresh effectively getting both Alexander's and Yuuki's attention, "I would have to ask that everybody, but Alexander leaves the room. I have some personal matters I need to talk to him with. And talking over the Den-Den Mushi certainly beats the time of a mail bird. So, please everyone leave."
Rina and Specter immediately backed off and turned towards the door. Neither of them wanting to go against a Rear Admiral, but Yuuki remained planted in his seat, "SIR! No offense, but this is my Marine Base and I am of the same rank as him! I thoroughly believe anything that can be said in his presence can very well be said in mine as well!"
Veri Fresh sighed, some Marines were just harder to deal with than others. "Please leave the room. Some things of the Marines just aren't meant for everyone...and this is one of those matters." Yuuki huffed as he stood up, he made his point there was no use in further arguing with a Rear Admiral. He worked hard to become a Marine Captain and he wasn't about to lose it due to some stupid insubordination. He left the room in a huff. Specter quickly followed.
Rina hung in the doorway for a few more seconds. If it was meant for Alexander and Alexander only, it must be something to do with the fact that the Marines were manufacturing humans. She was still on the fence about that and wanted to know more about it. As a Marine it was her job to promote justice, so if she doubted that what they were doing was for justice then she should do something to stop it. But if she stopped the Marines from creating these half-humans, half-weapons...what about Alexander? He was her captain...if this fact got out what would happen to him? If they stopped this Homunculus project thing, what would happen to Alexander.
Rina brought her head and noticed that Alexander was still patiently waiting for Rina to leave. Rina quickly bowed her head and left, she figured if this was something she was meant to hear Veri Fresh would've asked her to stay too or Alexander will tell her about it later. She took a quiet leave and closed the door behind her, but all the while they took she stayed right by the door trying her best to resist from listening in on their conversation. But she couldn't hear anything more then a couple of muffled words.
Veri Fresh started talking, "Alexander, I suppose I should start with some lighter news and then get into the stuff you probably don't want to hear about. Pura Pupuran, that weird girl you and Rina captured from Taka's organization during your last mission is being moved to an island for interrogation and questioning. I believe you may be able to garner some knowledge from it so I suggest you go there. I'll give you the directions if you want to." Veri Fresh still wasn't too enthusiastic on this matter, Alexander had never seen anybody do any form of interrogation, but still it was his choice.
"Thank you very much, sir," spoke Alexander enthusiastically. It wasn't very promising information as questioning never got very far most of the time. Rina would also be happy, she seemed pretty keen on her own mission about Pura Pupuran. Maybe they'd manage to dig that up as well. "It seems like things are starting to go my way now!" shouted Alexander with a thumbs up to the sky.
"Alexander..." muttered Veri Fresh his normal upbeat tone completely gone from his voice, "now onto the fact that will probably wipe that smile from your face. This is the reason I asked everyone to leave...the Marines aren't very good at leaving well enough alone, so after you they created a couple other artificial humans using the very same method that created you. For the sake of this conversation let's call them Mr. B and Mrs. C..."
"What does this have to do with me?" asked Alexander rudely. He had a little inkling that they would be others like him. Why would the Marines stop? This was a project to create the perfect Marine and as much as Alexander regretted saying it, he was far from that ideal Marine. They would create another ten or twenty until they got the ultimate human.
"A couple of months ago Mrs. C was assassinated...before you even set sail another one of your kind was killed," said Veri Fresh. With a heavy sigh he continued, "ordinarily we would've ignored this and chalked it up to bad luck, she was a Marine after all and in some corners of the world that is enough to have you killed...but then some of our scientists who worked on this Homunculus project started getting killed. We believe someone is out there trying to kill them...and since you are the flagship of this project within the Marines...you may be targeted as well."
"Right..." muttered Alexander. Again it wasn't any surprise, this project was a natural dividing line amongst the Marines who heard about it. Some of them believed that creating humans was wrong and others saw it as the next advancement among healing techniques and deserved more funding. Alexander turned back and faced the door, "what about the people who are with me?"
"They have no official ties to you," said Veri Fresh with a low voice, "they are your ship mates nothing more. Right now if they killed them, they might as well murder half of the Marines. Besides since this occurred we have hidden all possible hints that might lead to anyone believing you to be one of them. We are hiding you from all of their sights...okay? But keep your eyes out and try to stay alive."
Alexander nodded. Why does it seem like whenever he gets good news, bad news is always right behind it. He just got Rina and Specter on his crew, that seemed like good new, but now someone is trying to kill him. Life of a Marine, no?
"By the way," continued Veri Fresh, "About Specter. I'm going to trust your judgement on whether or not you should tell him...about your condition, but I highly advise against it and you should only do it if you trust him one-hundred percent. If his tongue slips even once on the outside world about your condition that will undo all of our hard work, got it?" Alexander agreed and hung up.
(-back in the gymnasium-)
Alexander was helpless before Yuuki's unrelenting attacks. Alexander was barely paying attention to Yuuki's rapid slashes and thrusts with his large weapon. A normal human probably would've had their guts ripped out twice and their arms sliced off three times. He just wasn't paying attention, his thoughts were on the assassin and also Taka. The interrogation was an important thing for him to go to, but what kind of questions was he going to ask her. He knew nothing about Taka, their protocol, or about their plans...what kind of questions do you ask?
Yuuki brought his sword around and down aiming for Alexander's neck. He was still lost in his thought so counterattacking or even dodging seemed impossible. "ALEXANDER!" screamed a woman's voice. Alexander pivoted about and brought his arm straight up and blocked the swing from Yuuki's blade. Yuuki grunted and began to insult Alexander from where he stood. Akane was over at the door looking on at the fight, "I've come to say good-bye!" Alexander's eyes were wide, he couldn't believe that Akane stayed. He thought she left when Yuuki told him about her. He didn't think he would see her again.
"What?" shouted Alexander as he couldn't hear anything over Yuuki shouting in his ear. Akane shouted again, but Alexander still couldn't hear her over Yuuki. Finally Alexander paused and turned around, "WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP!" shouted Alexander as he swung his iron fist into Yuuki's gut and knocking him down to the ground, Yuuki's eyes were wide as he passed out from the power behind that punch. "Finally...now what did you say?" asked Alexander as he ran over to Akane.
OKAY! Big news all around! Honestly, I really, really, REALLY didn't think this arc would take as long as it did…or did it just seem like a long arc? Anyways, we now found out about the other Iron Hammer of Justices! Or the homunculus. Or the Justice Initiative. It has several names. Feel free to submit your own! On top of that it seems Alexander is being hunted! Things just seem to be going downhill for the crew.