Hello everybody. I'm back and ready to give you want! I'm glad to be back this. I just really need something to better occupy my time. Considering I'm not going anywhere. All of you can relate, but let's not dwell on the darkness any more than we have to. This fan-fic will have more chapters than the previous one. Whereas the first Kuzuri story just focused on the first season of the anime, this one will feature more X-Men stories with Kaneki taking his father's place. We will also go back to Tokyo to check and see what our friends at Anteiku are doing. For now. Let's get started with the with the first arc.
Chapter 16 – Plea…Return to action
(Japan, 2000)
A familiar-looking mutant in running from a towering ghoul. Not out of fear of the ghoul, but rather out of concern for the two people he is currently carrying on both his shoulders. A man and a woman, both wearing GCB battle uniforms. He suffers a few blows while running, but shrugs them off as the damage eventually undid themselves. Soon, more Inspectors arrived to see the mutant laying both of his rescues down on the floor. One of the Investigators checks on his comrades.
"You two alright?"
"I managed to get them out in time. The woman got the brunt of it, but I got her out before that monster could kill her."
"Medic, get over here!"
Another Investigator went to his comrades' side as well. A younger Kureo Madou.
"Iba! Kasuka!"
Young Madou then sees the mutant standing between him and the Owl.
"You're…the Wolverine."
"Good eyes, bub. Stay by your comrades."
"But…"
"Nothing."
SNIKT!
"This one's mine."
Madou desire to fight alongside with the Wolverine, but was stopped by a young Shinohara.
"Shinohara…"
"Let him."
Madou was shocked to hear his friend say something like that.
"He's an X-man. They're born to fight monsters like them."
In front of Wolverine were a litany of dead Investigators amidst the wreckage. Wolverine looked at the Owl with deadly intent. The Owl, however, was unfazed by the mutant as it slowly walked toward his enemies.
"Not much of a talker, ain't ya?"
The Owl then began to transform further. This made the Investigators more nervous than before.
"Good. I got nothing more to say to you. Other than this."
The Owl growled at Wolverine.
"You killed Mariko. Your ass is mine."
Wolverine roared as he charged toward the Owl in a bloodthirsty rage. The Owl, likewise, with the two finally meeting by clashing with their respective abilities.
xxxxxx
(Japan, now)
Nighttime. Snow falls in the forests of Tohoku, Honshu. A girl in a school uniform stood in fear as she was heading back home. She hears strange sounds surrounding her, eventually closing in on her. She sees red glowing orbs inch closer to her. Eventually, the source of said orbs revealed themselves. Two ape-like robots inched closer to her, looking at her as if she were prey. The girl feared for her life and ran. She ran as fast as she could, but the robots caught up to her with no problem. However, the robots behind her were not the only ones hunting her. Two more arrived cutting off her route of escape. She stands surrounded, cowering in the cold. One of the robots shoots a dart from its head. It lands on her shoulder, making the girl's mutant abilities manifest by will instead of thought. Armor created by light surrounded her body as she felt a moment of pain. For the one controlling the robots, a moment was all he needed. Behind one of the trees stood a man. He was dark-skinned, short grey puffy hair standing up, in possession of a cybernetic eye, and wearing a long black overcoat. He looks on as the serum within the dart now entered the girl's blood stream.
"There we go."
He looks on with glee as the girl slowly lost consciousness. Her powers diminish as she fell to the ground. The robots stand aside as their master approaches the girl.
"Oh, you're going to be very useful for what I have planned."
xxxxxx
The sun was setting as Xavier comforted a bunch of children who were crying for some reason.
"There there now. Everything is going to be all right."
The children look at Xavier as he wheeled toward them.
"Whatever happened in the past, no one is going to hurt you here."
Xavier then hears another child cry by himself. He turns around to see him, standing alone in the sun beam.
"The same is true for you as well. I am here to…"
The lone boy starts to walk away. Xavier wheeled toward him as fast as his chair could.
"I can't read your thoughts. Why?"
As soon as Xavier caught up with the lone boy, suddenly he was miles away from Xavier before fading into darkness.
xxxxxx
Xavier woke up on his bed with a small amount of sweat on his brow. He rose up, wondering about what his dream meant.
"Why do I keep having this same dream?"
He moved himself to the edge of his bed, grabbed his chair, and sat on it. After changing from his pajamas to his suit, Xavier then wheeled himself to his office. Along the way, he saw his students heading to the dining hall breakfast. He also saw Storm, keeping the students in line.
"Ororo, how are you this morning?"
"Just keeping everyone in line, Charles."
"Just like old times."
Ororo smiled as she carried on with her duties. Later on, he sees Hank as well.
"Hank."
"Charles, good morning."
"What's the lesson plan, today?"
"Chemistry. A lot of the students seem to have no problem following along."
"You'll have to thank Bobby for that."
"Indeed. It's been only nine months since he's left, correct?"
"Yes, it has. He's found happiness with his partner, teaching in one of the auxiliary schools in Austin, if I recall. Since then, the class has been on automatic with the lesson plan, and I check in every once in a while, to see their progress. Still, good to have you here, Hank."
"Likewise, Charles."
As Charles carried on to his office, Scott unknowingly crosses his path.
"Scott?"
He turned around to see the professor behind him.
"Sorry for ignoring you, professor."
"It's quite all right. I imagine you're still trying to find any leads on…?"
"Emma. Yeah…"
Scott sighed as he lamented over on where Emma could be.
"I asked Kurt to see if he's heard anything, but so far…"
"But so far, nothing."
Scott held his head down in worry for Emma.
"Scott, she has psychic abilities almost on par with mine as well as the ability to turn her body into diamond. She can take care of herself."
"I know she can. Hell, maybe she's perfectly all right and I'm freaking out over nothing."
Charles chuckled a little.
"I'd phrase it differently. Have patience."
Scott sighed as he brushed aside his concern once more.
"Fine."
"By the way, how's Kaneki? I understand that you've been…training him in your spare time."
"He can definitely hold his own in the danger room. He told me that he trained under the Iron Fist. Part of the reason why he could take on almost anything in the danger room."
"Sounds promising."
"It's Laura that's worried about him."
"And where is she?"
"Right. I almost forgot. She wanted me to tell you that she's waiting for you in your office."
"Excellent. I'm heading there right now."
Before he wheeled away, Charles spoke to Scott one more time.
"I appreciate that you're here in to help. It's really nice to see you in good spirits."
Scott smiled in response to that comment.
"Likewise, professor."
xxxxxx
Xavier finally made it to his office. Once inside, he sees Laura sitting on one of the chairs in front of his desk.
"Laura."
"Hey Charles."
"So, what brings you here?"
Laura sat silent for a little while before saying what was on her mind.
"It's Kaneki."
"How is he?"
"He's been good. He gets along with the kids here just fine. Some of the teenagers here like to see him do his spray paint art in the rec room…"
"Spray paint?"
"Oh. He does graffiti art. Of course, I told him that he couldn't do any of it on the walls here. He looked a little disappointed. So, we went to the nearest Hobby Lobby and found canvases. And some of them are big. Some of them a quarter the size of billboards."
"You got them for him."
"I wanted too, but they were kind of expensive. Kaneki paid for them instead."
"How?"
"He told me that he sold some of his work online, and that gave him a reserve of cash that kept him secure. Anyhow, he didn't need my help when it came to money."
"And that's when you first felt that you couldn't connect with him?"
Laura sighed.
"More or less. I could tell that he's financially independent. But I still wanted to know him better. So, I watched him work. He did one that felt like something out of a progressive rock album."
"Yes, I presume?"
Both laughed a little.
"It's really kind of amazing to look at. The way he's focused on what he wants to make, how he can get the spray paint flow to be as a narrow or wide as he wants. I'm seeing an artist at work, and it's incredible. Some of the students are asking to make certain works like movie posters or anything that feature the Avengers. Mostly Thor or Iron Man."
"Yes. They really seem to get a…fair amount of attention."
"Anyhow, he says he can't do any of them. But the students here still like to see him do his art."
"What else does he do?"
"He loves to read. Can't get enough of it."
"Ah. A connoisseur of literature."
"Yeah, his spare time is dedicated to nothing but books. He doesn't play video games or watch TV the way normal boys his age does."
"Perhaps for him, this is normal. There's more than one way of life."
"I know…"
Charles examined the look on Laura's face and guessed the real reason why she wanted to connect with Kaneki.
"Laura, did you wanted to talk to Kaneki about…your father?"
(play Goodbye Mariko – The Wolverine OST)
"…Yeah."
Laura had a sad look on her face in response to confessing the crux of her difficulty of forging a meaningful connection with Kaneki.
"He knows our dad better than I did. I still remember the conversation I had with him. About how after the mission, he was going to take me to Japan and be a part of the family he made. And how I was going to have a little brother to love. I still remember…"
Laura flashbacked to when she last seen her father as she left him behind to guide her friends to the safety of the X-Mansion.
"Now that's he's here, I don't know…how to really talk to him. I know he's my brother, but…at the end of the day, he feels like a stranger to me than a blood relation. I don't feel close to him the same way I feel close to almost everyone here in the mansion."
Charles told Laura a little of what happened to Kaneki before he came to the mansion.
"Laura, Kaneki's been through quite a lot before coming here."
"I know that he got our dad's claws because of weapon X. That much I know…"
"It's more than that. He's been through a lot."
"How much?"
Charles hesitated on telling Laura everything that had happened to Kaneki in the last year in Tokyo.
"I have no right to tell you. Only Kaneki can."
Laura now felt inadequate, something she did not feel since seeing her father die in front of her.
"Give him time, Laura. I'm sure he'll feel the need to connect to you."
"Fine. Guess I'll go back to being a glorified babysitter."
"You are so much more than that…"
Just then, the phone on Charles' desk began to ring.
"Please excuse me."
"No problem."
(end music)
As Laura exited Charles' office, he answered his phone.
"This is Charles Xavier speaking."
…
"How can I help you, Mr. Ichiki?"
…
"I see…No, I'm glad you called, sir. Rest assured; my X-Men are more than willing to help you in your time of need. We'll look into it."
…
"Not at all."
Charles hung up first, and took a moment for himself.
"It seems that our part in the 11th ward did not go completely unnoticed. Nonetheless…"
Charles mentally communicated with all of his X-Men, plus one more.
"X-Men, we are needed."
Scott, Ororo, and Hank picked up on Charles' call. As well as Kaneki, who was in the library by himself.
xxxxxx
When Charles arrived at the briefing room, he finds his X-Men waiting for him.
"Professor, what's the mission this time?"
As Charles looked at the room, he finds someone is missing.
"We're missing one more member."
Scott, Ororo, and Hank initially looked confused as they believed that the professor referred to Kurt.
"Um…Charles…"
"I wasn't referring to Kurt, Scott…"
The doors of the briefing room opened once more as Kaneki entered.
"Excellent. Kaneki, good of you to join us."
"Well, I heard the call professor. After that, I came here. Mostly on instinct…"
Scott immediately voiced his concern.
"Professor, I don't believe that this is the right time to get Kaneki involved in a mission right now."
Charles then turned his attention to Scott.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because he hasn't finished his training. He still has a lot to learn before he's a fully-fledged member."
"Normally, I'd agree. But Kaneki does possess a fair amount of…past experience that I believe could be an asset to the X-Men at large."
"It takes more than fighting threats at hand-to-hand combat to do what we do."
"Yes, it does. However, I have confidence that Kaneki can handle his own on the field."
Scott had a nervous look on his face.
"Kaneki, if you accept on going, I have one condition."
"Shoot."
"Scott is team leader. You are to follow his orders at all costs."
A certain feeling just arose within Kaneki. One of discomfort and displeasure. Kaneki shrugged it off as a passing impulse.
"Yes, professor."
"Settled then. Now let's continue."
Charles then presented a picture of a happy schoolgirl holding a cat with several more in the background.
"Last week, a teenage girl, Hisako Ichiki, went missing in Tohoku. The northeastern region in Honshu."
"Back in my country."
Said Kaneki, with Charles continuing on.
"The police have run into some…problems over there. So, the parents have contacted me instead."
Storm asked Charles,
"If they contacted you, does that the girl is a mutant?"
"Yes. She only exhibited her powers one time. When she was very young."
"That's unusual."
Said Hank with Kaneki responding,
"Not that much. I only started to use my claws more frequently last year. Before that, I only showed them to my friend, Hide, back in my freshman year in high school."
"Both of her parents carry the X-gene, but they're recessive. Nevertheless, both Daisuke and Tomoko, her parents, worry that her powers may have something to do with her disappearance."
"And the local police had problems finding her how?"
"Three detectives were assigned to her case, Scott. However, all of them have met an unexpected demise."
Hank then said,
"It sounds like someone doesn't want this girl found."
"Sounds like…a hunter."
As soon as Kaneki heard Ororo say the word hunter, Kaneki felt his blood racing. A fire lit inside of him. Charles continued the mission briefing.
"From what the father told me, Hisako isn't the only missing mutant in the area. There have been several reports that have been left unsolved. Furthermore, I attempted to use Cerebro to scan the area, but something is preventing me from doing so."
"Does that happen time to time, professor?"
"Not without outside interference, Kaneki."
Said Ororo. Hank then asked Charles,
"Professor? Does this mean we have to head back to Japan?"
"I find it hard to believe that all these events are unconnected coincidences. So, yes. I want the X-Men to return to Japan to find this girl. That's another reason why I want Kaneki to take part of the mission."
"All right, professor. I know the area fairly well."
"Do you, Kaneki?"
Asked Ororo.
"Depends on which prefecture where headed for."
"It's a small town between the Yamagata and Miyagi prefectures."
"Yeah. I remember going to Yamagata. I was there for a middle-school field trip. We spent three days there."
"Very well. It's decided. Scott."
Scott nodded to Charles.
"Suit up."
As the X-Men exited the briefing room, each of them returned to their rooms to fit into their uniforms.
"Hey Kaneki."
"Yeah, Scott?"
"When those packages that had your stuff back in Tokyo came here, I've noticed that you had a mask similar to that of your dad's."
Kaneki slightly reacted to the fact that he had something that reminded the team of Wolverine.
"I'm not admonishing you for that, but we do have standard regulation. You can't use the getup you've used back in Tokyo."
"You got something in my size then?"
"We're the X-Men, Kaneki. We've always got something for anybody."
Scott led Kaneki to a nearby closet full of X-Men uniforms of every conceivable size. Kaneki was impressed to see such a size.
"Something for everybody?"
"You know it."
Said Scott with a confident tone. After a while, Charles was the first one to arrive in front of the Blackbird. Storm and Beast soon came shortly.
"We're missing two more. They'll be here shortly."
The hangar doors slid open once more as both Scott and Kaneki entered. Charles, Storm, and Hank were all impressed by how the new member looked in his uniform.
"There's a familiar sight."
"Indeed, professor. For a moment, I thought I had saw an old friend."
"How's it feel, Kaneki?"
Kaneki loosened the turtleneck of his undershirt.
"A little snug, but good. You should look at Scott. He's the one trying to get shoulder pads and tights back in fashion."
Scott laughed a little.
"You got not just his size, but also his…witty repertoire."
Charles then addressed the team.
"It's good to see this team returning to do what we do best. Answering the call for help. Whether it be mutant or human, the X-Men will always do what is right. It may have taken saving what was left of…a memory of a missed friend…However, no matter what challenges are before us, the world needs the X-Men. Now and forever."
The X-Men enter the Blackbird, and then take off. Charles stays at the hangar a little longer to see them off. By the time he wheeled himself to the hangar exit, he sees Laura arriving.
"Laura."
"Where is he?"
"Kaneki, you mean?"
"I just saw the Blackbird take from the basketball court."
Charles took a moment to decide whether to tell her or not.
"He's with Cyclops, Storm, and Beast on a mission."
Laura now had an upset look on her face.
"Why?! Now, of all times?!"
"Laura, please try to understand. This is a mission that requires Kaneki's presence and knowledge."
"But Professor…"
"Laura, I know you are determined to finally forge a bond with your little brother. But first, I need him to do this."
"What do you need him for?"
xxxxxx
(Tokyo)
Anteiku was beginning to open today as Yoshimura cleaned some teacups while Koma and Nishiki were setting up the tables. Nishiki began to feel exhausted from the work.
"Oh man. My back's killing me. Let's take five already."
"You're far too young to be asking for a break this early."
Said Irimi as she cleaned the café windows. Koma agreed with her.
"You know, you could learn a thing or two from Hinami."
Just then, she arrived in the café while holding a potted plant.
"Hey Koma. Think this'll look good by the door?"
"Yeah. It's perfect."
Nishiki looked on at how Hinami was eager to take more responsibilities in the café. Before attempting to get Hinami to validate his laziness.
"Listen Hinami. What do you say we take a break for now?"
"Sure. But let me finish with this window first."
"Aw come on. Just one teeny-tiny break?"
Hetare landed on top of Nishiki's head and tapped on it. Nishiki felt physically hurt by it.
"Where the hell did you come from, you crapatiel?!"
Nishiki struggled to grab Hetare with no avail.
"Oh, come on! You really did crap on me!"
Nishiki continued to complain while Koma looked on his pity.
"Careful Nishiki. He'll crap on your head."
He eventually stopped as he saw it useless to achieve payback on a bird.
"Seriously, where is Touka? Shouldn't she be here?"
"She's at school right now. Studying for entrance exams."
"So, she's decided then?"
"From what she's told me, she's headed for Empire State University."
"Seriously? An American college? There's no way she'll make it through the exams. I'm barely passing, and I'm smarter than her."
"She's made up her mind. If you could help her study, she could stand a chance."
"Maybe a little, but why there?"
Nishiki then had a realization.
"You don't think…?"
Irimi had a smile on her face as she knew why Touka wanted to go to America.
xxxxxx
In a factory facility deep within the snowy mountains, two individuals receive a notification about undesired guests via their surveillance network.
"WARNING. MULTIPLE MUTANT BIOSIGNATURES DEDECTED. GENETIC SCAN COMPLETED."
The screen displayed the specific identities of the biosignatures.
"Bound to happen. We knew they'd come, sooner or later."
"What fun."
The individual cybernetically attached to the computer network noticed something from one of the signatures.
"Interesting. I'm picking up trace amounts of Wolverine's DNA."
"Isn't he supposed to be dead?"
"Nevertheless, it's there."
"Hmm…I seem to recall my news feed giving me a report on a string of incidents that happened in Tokyo last year."
The computer cyborg searched the web and located said articles.
"These the ones?"
The individual with the cybernetic eye snapped his fingers.
"Now I remember. Wolverine had two brats. One was created by our…former colleges in Transigen…but the other…"
"Is it really him?"
"Yes. Ken Kaneki. Confirmed by Kraven the Hunter when he went to fight him six months ago."
"Why's he with the X-Men?"
"Probably has something to do with ghouls, based on what I read."
"Our…customers?"
"Probably. Either way, none of them can know our operations."
Afterwards, a line of robots began to activate.
xxxxxx
Back in Tokyo, lunchbreak had started for a lot of schools. In one, Touka started hers with Yoriko.
"So, you're cutting your hours?"
"Yeah. I need to study."
"Hard to believe that it's been six months since the shop was robbed. The criminals who did it are still out there. Promise me you'll be careful."
"If they try to come back, I'll give them some of this."
Touka rolled up one of her sleeves and flexed her arm. Yoriko laughed a little at how Touka acted like a buff action hero.
"Don't try acting like a tough chick."
"I am a tough chick!"
"Okay then. Tell you what. You get robbed again, and I'll help you take them down…"
Yoriko started laughing some more.
"Sorry. Couldn't say that with a straight face."
A little after, she went to the girl's restroom to wash her hands. When she got out, she saw a group of students gathered around a notice from the government.
"Evacuation drills?"
"Heard the 10th ward been taken over."
"What? You serious?"
"Talk about scary."
"I don't even know why ghouls exist in the first place."
"No joke. They should just die."
"Yeah. Then the mutants next."
"Don't say shit like that!"
"Yeah man. Mutants ain't nothing like ghouls."
Touka looked on for a moment until she went back to her classroom.
xxxxxx
The Blackbird finally arrived in the skies of Honshu. Aboard the jet, Beast makes preparations to get a reading on the territory.
"Now that we're closer, let's see if we can pick up any mutant activity."
Beast took out a tablet that had an USB-like attachment connected to one of its ports.
"We're coming in on our coordinates. Keep an eye out for a landing spot, Storm."
"Roger that, Cyclops."
Kaneki sat next to Beast, looking on in curiosity.
"Is that tablet connected to Cerebro? The layout looks familiar."
"It's a little more than that. But it should allow us to scan for the X-gene."
"How? I mean, for some reason the whole area the professor scanned back in the mansion was a dead zone. You'd think you'll have better luck?"
Beast waited for any results from the scan, only for the tablet to reach the same conclusion. The area could not be scanned. Storm eventually found a place to land the Blackbird. It was a couple of yards away from the Ichiki household. The parents waited outside to greet the X-Men. As the plane finally landed, the team soon exited the jet and walked toward to the house.
"Mr. and Mrs. Ichiki, I presume?"
Asked Cyclops.
"Yes. Thank you for coming. Please, this way."
The parents led the X-Men to where Hisako went missing.
"This is where the police found Hisako's backpack. Where she dropped it."
"The one day she took the bus. The one time."
"Wait, one time?"
Asked Cyclops, to which Tomoko elaborated.
"There was trouble with the car."
"It wouldn't start for some reason. We wanted her to stay home that time, but there was a test she couldn't afford to miss out."
"The other kids saw her at school, but that was the last time she was seen."
"She walked through the woods, and…that was it."
Tomoko cried in her husband's arms. Cyclops spoke to the couple.
"We're sorry to put you through this, but we need to know more…"
"Of course. I understand. It's just we've been careful due to other people going missing lately."
"Others?"
Asked Kaneki.
"I thought you knew."
Everyone then went to the Ichiki household to discuss all of the other missing cases in the region.
"Hisako isn't the only mutant here. The mutant population here isn't big like Tokyo's, but a lot do live here. But a lot of the people here don't…tolerate mutants like in other places."
"Because ghouls don't come here, correct?"
Asked Kaneki.
"That's right. The closest GCB building is about 20 miles from here. It's fair to say that because ghouls don't come to places like here, a lot of the humans that do live here don't see the point of having mutants as well."
"Why would they?"
"As such, there's a lot of reluctance of going to the police to file a missing person report. I think there's a lot of fear that people will find out that their family members are mutants."
"Don't tell me…"
Said Cyclops with Daisuke filling in the details.
"Yes. There's an…atmosphere of genoism here. Almost every accident or bad luck is blamed on mutants."
Tomoko started to cry due to how Hisako would now be treated if she were rescued. Daisuke as well.
"Even though things have changed for the better for mutants outside of our community, time here moves slower. Things are not kind…for people like our daughter."
Just then, the phone inside the house rang. Tomoko ran to answer it. While Daisuke spoke to the X-Men.
"Something is not right here."
Said Cyclops. Beast agreed with him.
"Indeed. Do we know of any anti-mutant groups operating here?"
"Or perhaps…"
Storm and Beast listened to what Kaneki thought.
"Weapon X…"
"Don't jump to conclusions, Kaneki."
"Why not, Storm? They've been active in Tokyo without anyone knowing. Who's to say that they have more hideouts in Japan?"
Daisuke was confused as to what the X-Men were talking about.
"Weapon X?"
"Bunch of bastards who…"
Storm interrupted Kaneki, in order to spare Daisuke the gruesome details her teammate would not hesitate to speak of.
"Weapon X is an underground scientific organization currently hunted down by every major law enforcement agency. But we have no evidence that they are involved."
Just then, hurried footsteps slowly became audible as Tomoko ran to tell most distressing news.
"It's Mr. Fujiwara. He says his grandson just went missing!"
Everyone was in a state of shock over the news. All except Kaneki.
"He's a boy who works in the local shopping district. He went out to make a delivery yesterday, and never came back."
"Is he…?"
Daisuke answered Cyclops' question.
"Yes. He's a mutant. Like all the others."
While Cyclops was determined to find the missing mutants, Kaneki was little more focused to finding the people behind the kidnappings.
xxxxxx
(GCB, Main Headquarters)
At one of the top floors of the building, an Investigation conference is currently held with all the Special Class Investigators attending. All but one, as remarked by Kiyoko Aura.
"Arima isn't here, today."
She was an attractive woman possessing dark blue hair that she ties into a bun using a white ribbon. She also had eyes to match her hair, and a mole just under mouth on the right corner. She dressed in typical Investigation attire, but darker.
"Suppose he's skipping out again?"
"Well, he'd better show this time. It's not every day that the chief calls in all of us."
Said Mougan Tanakamaru. He was a particular sort of man, as he liked to dress in a dapper fashion, while also sporting a pompadour and neat mustache. Despite how he groomed and dressed himself, he was also heavy-built. Which made him someone to always be taken seriously face-to-face. Marude then said,
"You think he gives a shit? He's never been the one to follow protocol. I'd be surprised if he makes it."
"Shinohara just got out of the hospital, alongside with Iwao. If he could make it, then so will Arima."
Said Koori Ui, a young Special Investigator. He was five foot seven, possessing a slim build that failed to feature the limits of his strength, pale skin. But what makes him distinct was his hair. He kept it in a glossy, black bob that fell down near his chin, and yet it stopped near his eyebrows. Shinohara replied to his comment.
"Luckily, Kuroiwa and I could take a licking. We're grateful to be here."
Kuroiwa nodded in agreement. A little after, Bureau Director Yoshitoki Washuu entered the room. All of the Investigators stood up from their seats and saluted him. Aura then spoke to the Director.
"Sorry Chief. Arima isn't here yet."
"We'll start without him then. I now call this meeting to order."
"Yes sir."
Said all of the Investigators simultaneously. Everyone then sat on their seats and began the meeting. The computer monitors automatically turned on, displaying the current status of the city.
"Aogiri has seized control of the 10th ward, but their grip on both the 9th and 11th are still tenuous. Unfortunately, due to the failure of the operation that took place six months ago, our forces are only half their strength. We simply don't possess the manpower we used to keep them at bay. What's preventing Aogiri from completely conquering the areas are…local citizens stepping in."
Director Washuu brought up video footage of ghouls attacking in broad daylight, and being crushed by two individuals. One definitely familiar to Marude.
"Is that…?"
"Yes. In the 9th ward, Aogiri forces are being defeated by the enhanced individual, Daniel Rand. Or as the public know him, the Iron Fist. As well as his students. Some of them mutants."
The Investigators looked on with interest.
"While in the 11th, local mutants are taking to the streets. The majority of their success has been because of this mutant. He is known as Caliban, a mutant with alpha-level psychic abilities."
The footage played as ghouls are running away from Caliban as he used his telekinesis to not only lift objects from the streets and used them as makeshift weapons with his minds, but also ripped their firearms from their hands, and used them against the ghouls. Whatever there was left, the mutants brave enough to fight them trounced them back to the 10th ward.
"Needless to say, because of our failure from six months ago, this is the state they're in."
Tanakamaru twirled his mustache for a bit before speaking to Marude.
"You should've called on me, Marude. I would've gladly kicked their asses for you. Maybe then it wouldn't be this bad."
"Yeah right. You're nothing but talk, Mougan."
The director continued the meeting.
"According to the reports, Aogiri took over the 10th ward with the utilization of illegal technology."
"You mean like the Mark II Sentinel that Investigator Amon reported seeing at the raid?"
Asked Ui.
"Correct. It was destroyed by the X-Men who assisted us in return for allowing them to rescue the mutant of interest, Ken Kaneki."
Marude grunted when he heard that name.
"Who as briefly connected to the murder of Investigator Madou before the existence of an underground organization would be made known to us."
"Right. Weapon X."
Said Shinohara with Kuroiwa replying,
"They were the ones who were successful with creating mutant-ghoul hybrids, correct?"
"Yes. Law enforcement has looked into the matter, and managed to acquire critical information."
"How so?"
Asked Shinohara.
"They got word that an Aogiri group is meeting with a weapons dealer three days from now. The sale will happen around midnight, in the docks of the 8th ward. Specifically, the ruins of the Wing Kong exchange."
Most of the Investigators were surprised to hear those words. Marude, most of all.
"Seriously? Didn't we shut that area away from the public?"
"Unfortunately, the actual blueprints of the building Yen Lo Fei gave to the city turned out to be a fabrication, hiding a myriad of tunnels from which he used for his human trafficking. One of them lead to an underground shipping dock."
"Right. Forgot that detail. Guess that meant that Lo Fei monster must've been dealing with ghouls."
"We don't know that for sure. From what the police have been able to tell us, some of the former employees that worked for Yen Lo Fei must've been approached by the weapon dealers, and hired them for their knowledge of the facility. Specifically, the dock I mentioned. I'm appointing both Shinohara and Iwao to lead a small group of Investigators to aid the police in the sting."
"Yes sir."
Said Shinohara with Iwao nodded in agreement.
"You think they got a connection with Aogiri?"
Asked Marude.
"The possibility cannot be ignored, but there's nothing substantial to look at."
"Let me ask you this, chief."
Said Kyouji Misaka. He was a middle-aged man, skinny and pale with a mummy-like mouth. He had long flowing hair, but also bald at the top of his head. He often liked to wear white Chinese tunics while also sporting a black armlet on his left arm.
"Is it possible that Aogiri have a supplier selling them illegal tech?"
"I do. Hence the sting operation."
"Yes sir."
Director Washuu looked at the monitors and voiced his thoughts on the situation.
"If I was a betting man, I say that Aogiri Tree would be to instantly mobilize to the either the 3rd or 13th ward. Surround and defeat the opposition in the 9th, then take care of the rest."
Ui spoke up and guessed the following train of thought of his superior.
"Do you believe that they intend to take over the city by moving in from the west?"
"It is pure speculation from this point, but I am requesting additional reinforcements from each ward."
Misaka then asked,
"Does that include the 23rd ward as well?"
"Yes. Cochlea is no exception."
"Hmm…if you think that's best."
"We have no choice. The situation demands all hands on deck. We're facing a foe that is hellbent on taking over Tokyo. Whether its threats from the outside or inside, I refuse to lose this city to anyone. The top priority is to wipe out both the Owl and Aogiri Tree."
The meeting finally ended, with each Investigator leaving the room and resuming their respective duties. Both Shinohara and Iwao rode down the elevator to the floor of their respective offices. The two talked about the 8th ward. Iwao spoke first.
"The Wing Kong exchange?"
"More like what's left of it. Maybe there was a reason why they kidnapped Ken Kaneki back there."
"You think we should get Rasputin in on this? That place was his collar."
"If there is a connection linking Aogiri and Weapon X, we'll let him in. Remind me though, what rank is he again?"
"1st class, if I recall."
"Thanks for that. Anyhow, what people do you have in mind for the sting?"
"Gori, for starters."
"She's a good one."
"Indeed. You taking Suzuya?"
"And Takizawa. Might be a good first assignment for him."
"There's no limit on the number of people, right?"
The elevator stopped on the floor they choose.
"Think we ought to keep it small. This is a stealth mission."
"Right."
Just then, Shinohara heard his name being called out.
"Investigator Shinohara. You got mail."
He sees a young man wearing a delivery uniform giving him mail.
"Hey. You got business?"
"Yes sir. Mr. Seido needed a gofer, so here I am."
"Tell him thanks."
"Will do. Have a nice day."
Iwao commented on the young man.
"Let me guess? New part-timer?"
"From the 20th ward. He's a got a good work ethic for someone so young."
He soon exited the building, but not before saying goodbye to the receptionists.
"See you, Hide."
"Take care, ladies."
xxxxxx
The X-Men returned to the Blackbird to retrieve their vehicles to search for Hisako and the rest of the missing mutants. Both Storm and Beast took the Humvee. While Cyclops went for his motorcycle, forgetting that two were actually on-board. As he realized this, he sees Kaneki going for the other one.
"Know how to ride one of those?"
Kaneki got on the bike, turned it on, and rode out of the jet, seemingly with no problem.
"Guess that answers that."
As Kaneki rode for a moment, he stopped to notice that a small panel opened by itself to reveal an earpiece, to which he promptly put on his left ear. All of the X-Men soon gathered outside of the jet, with their respective vehicles. Cyclops spoke with Beast.
"Find out what you can with the boy's family. Me and Kaneki will speak with his boss."
"We'll meet up later to compare notes."
Both Cyclops and Kaneki eventually met with the missing boy's employer.
"Afternoon. How can I help you?"
"We're here because one of your employees went missing."
"Which one?"
Cyclops showed him the picture of the missing grandson.
"Yeah. He definitely works for me."
"You sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. But you got it wrong. He went missing days ago. Not yesterday."
"Wait, really?"
"For real, old man?"
Said Kaneki.
"I sent him to deliver groceries to somebody who lives at the foot of that mountain over there."
The shop owner pointed at the mountain in front of him. Both Cyclops and Kaneki see it as well.
"It was about a week ago, at best. I haven't seen him since."
The shop owner then took a good look at the two.
"You cops? Or GCB?"
Both Cyclops and Kaneki looked at each with confusion.
"What makes you say that?"
"I've been watching the news. I heard about some…underground group trying to make mutant/ghoul weapons. Ghouls are bad enough, but mutants I don't definitely need. They're nothing but bad news."
Cyclops held his outrage back while Kaneki simply had an indifferent look on his face.
"If this kid is missing, that could only mean he was a mutant. If I had known that, I'd never hire him in the first place."
SNIKT!
Both Cyclops and the shop owner were surprised to hear Kaneki's claws appear.
"Sorry about that."
He then retracted his claws.
"Don't know what came over me, honestly."
"Kaneki, don't scare the bigot."
The store owner backed off.
"Hey. Wait a minute. Didn't mean anything by. Anyways, I gotta get back to work. I told you all I know."
"Thank you for your time."
Said Cyclops, barely disguising his bitterness.
"Smell you later."
The shop owner then spoke quietly to himself.
"Great. More muties. Wish the ghouls could eat them instead of regular people."
Cyclops slammed the rim of his motorcycle over the talk.
"Talk about small-town hospitality."
The two then rode off to their next destination. Cyclops was in thought about he how experienced genoism once again.
"Goddamn it. No matter how things change for the better, some things never go away."
Cyclops sped further ahead, inadvertently leaving Kaneki behind.
"Penny for his thoughts."
xxxxxx
Amon stood in front of his old partner's grave. He dusted off some of the mulch that covered his name.
"Progress report. The gourmet is still in hiding. Jason has already been discovered to be dead."
…
"I'm still uncovering any leads on Weapon X on my end."
During the time he spoke to Madou's grave, somebody else also wanted to visit said grave as well.
"There's something else. I've been promoted. I'm a senior Investigator now."
After Amon took a moment of silence to think about what his partner would say, somebody from behind spoke to him.
"Hey."
Amon turned around to see who spoke to him just now.
"You certainly like to visit my father a lot. Right, Kotaro Amon?"
Amon stood slightly confused as to why the young woman in front of her just said his name. As if she knew him. She carried with her a small bouquet of flowers to lay in front of the gravestone.
"Who are you?"
"Guess you haven't heard the news yet. I'm your new partner. Akira Madou."
Amon now stood flabbergasted to see this young woman is her new partner.
"Nice to meet you, Senior Investigator Amon."
xxxxxx
The humvee soon left after Beast and Storm interviewed Mr. Fujiwara. Beast then contacted Cyclops about what he learned.
"Cyclops, do you read?"
"Loud and clear, Beast. What do you got?"
"Well, Mr. Fujiwara did make a missing person report. However, it wasn't him that made the call to the Ichikis."
"What?"
"The family were so ashamed of his condition that they kept it a secret."
"Then who phoned?"
"We don't know. Watch your back out there."
"Got it. Me and Kaneki learned where the boy was taken. It's the mountain."
"The one at the edge of the village?"
"Yeah. He tried to deliver something at the foot of it, and that's where he disappeared. We'll meet you there."
"Roger that."
As soon as Beast hung up. Strom spoke to him for a while.
"You think meeting these people brought back bad memories?"
"Possibly. You could tell?"
"By the voice alone."
The path to the foot of the mountain was not a hard road to take. There was an open field filled with snow as Kaneki and Cyclops rode their way there. Cyclops then said to Kaneki,
"Kaneki, keep your guard up! Turns out the phone call wasn't made by Mr. Fujiwara at all."
"It's a trap then."
"Yeah."
"And we got no choice but to spring it."
Just then, a huge, flying, insect-like drone appeared over the two of them. Within the cockpit of another drone controlling the larger one. It readied the weapons of the larger drone as it locked on the two mutants. Cyclops could see the drone priming its weapons.
(Overdrive – Jojo's Bizarre Adventure OST, play at 0:59)
"Incoming!"
The drone fired its lasers at the two. Luckily, it missed as they rode at high speeds.
"Who do you think is operating this?"
"Let's take it down first!"
The drone continued to fire its weapons at them, but continued to miss. This made Kaneki smile a little.
"This thing must have stormtrooper aim! It can't hit for shit!"
The drone fired some more.
"Heads up! One on your tail!"
"On it!"
Cyclops stopped for one moment, made it stand on one wheel, leaned right for it to turn, and face the drone forwards. He then pressed some buttons on the handle to use the weapons installed on his bike. Cyclops fired a volley of missiles at the drone. Although they hit, it was not enough to take it down. The drone then fired something else from its backside. The shots that landed far from the two X-Men were robots. Humanoid, and armed.
"So, this happens a lot?"
"A lot more than you think, Kaneki."
The robots started firing at the two of them. Cyclops and Kaneki rode off to dodge their fire. They then made a turn in order to ride toward the robots and fight them head on. The robots continued to fire at the two mutants, but continued to miss. Both Cyclops and Kaneki finally got close to them that they could wreck the mechanized stormtroopers. Cyclops used his optic blasts to destroy them…
SNIKT!
While Kaneki used his claws to slice them into bits. One by one, the robots fell to their destruction by the two X-Men. The drone then began charging as Cyclops and Kaneki finished off the last of them.
"Something's happening with that thing!"
Cyclops feared the worst, and shot off a major optic blast at the drone. Although he was successful at destroying the drone, it still fired off a major charged shot at the two mutants. Although it missed, the impact of the blast still affected as they were thrown off their bikes and landed on the ground. Distracted by the charge shot, the drone also released some more robots from its backside. Meanwhile, Beast and Storm were being chased by the same robots fighting Cyclops and Kaneki, but were on motorcycles of their own.
"Storm!"
"I'm on it."
Storm stood up in the humvee via the top hatch, and used her weather manipulation to fire lightning bolts at their mechanical pursuers.
"Nice shot."
Said Beast with Storm replying,
"We're not out of the woods yet."
Storm then manipulated the ice to rise, creating a wall that destroyed the remaining robots chasing them.
"That's all of them. Wait…"
Storm sees one of them flee from the scene.
"We got a runner. I'll go after it. Contact Cyclops."
"On it."
As Storm flew, Beast used the Humvee's onboard computer to do what she asked of him.
"Cyclops, do you read?"
No one replied.
"Scott, are you there?!"
Back at the open field, Cyclops laid on the ground, in a groggy state of mind, disoriented by the impact of the landing. His vision suffered a little as he sees a couple dozen robots on skis coming at them. He then sees Kaneki speaking to him, almost screaming at him before he finally fully regained his faculties.
"Cyclops, get up! We got more those things!"
The robots closed in on the both of them. Cyclops instantly got into action by flicking his hands to summon his finger gauntlet. Mostly rectangular, it was strong enough to Cyclops to engage in hand to hand combat situation like this. Kaneki was a little worried about Cyclops, but puts it aside for the immediate problem. The robots kept on coming for the two of them, but the two X-Men did not let up as Cyclops continued to either punch them or blast them while Kaneki did what he did best, courtesy of his father. The fight went on for a few more minutes before all of the mechanical enemies were finally defeated.
(end music)
Both mutants were half exhausted by the fight, but Kaneki could tell that something was seething within Cyclops. He sees one of the robots still functioning, which made him yell and punches it.
"Cyclops, you got it."
However, he does not stop.
"Hey, it's over."
Kaneki had a feeling that brief encounter with the bigoted shop owner from before must have affected him more than he thought. Within Cyclops' mind, his anger began to rise as he remembered how many times he had to tolerate so many people who thought of him, and anyone else like him, to be a blight. Something to be erased from the world. He hated being in Tohoku, believing that life for mutants haven't changed that much.
"No matter what we do, thing haven't changed that much. Families still ashamed for their children, us getting taken from our homes and nobody gives a crap! DAMN IT! WHY DO I EVEN TRY?!"
At that moment, Cyclops felt someone's hand on his right shoulder.
"Scott! That enough."
Cyclops did so due to Kaneki. For one moment, he felt an old friend speaking to him.
"When I'm the calm and steady one, you know something's wrong."
Cyclops felt embarrassed of himself when Kaneki was the one lecturing him.
"Seriously, Scott. You're team leader. I don't know exactly what it was that made go into a frenzy, but you need to get a grip. Act better than this."
Cyclops took a deep breath.
"You're absolutely right. Sorry."
By then, his visor alerted him of a team call.
"Beast, is that you?"
"Cyclops, thank heavens you answered."
"Sorry about that. Me and Kaneki got held up by the enemy."
"They wouldn't be metal and possess a less than human disposition?"
"You and Storm met them, then?"
"Correct. She spotted a straggler, and decided to follow it."
"We'll meet with you soon."
Cyclops ended the call and spotted his bike, in one piece.
"Kaneki, we got to ride. Now."
"Roger that."
Storm followed the motorcycle robot to a seemingly dead-end. Only to discover that it was actually a tunnel, hidden under a hologram.
"Beast, you read me?"
xxxxxx
Within the hidden facility, the organization responsible for kidnapping the local mutants gathered the data of the fights that just occurred.
"DATA RETRIEVAL, COMPLETE."
"Good. The grunt work's done. Now it's all up to you now. You got everything you need to defeat them."
The cyborg attached to the computer network laughed a little at the upcoming events to happen.
"Now, the fun parts begin. I can't wait for them to scream."
xxxxxx
The vehicles eventually met and travelled the road where the kidnapped mutants might be located. By then, Beast contacted the professor.
"Professor?"
"Yes, Hank? What's the situation?"
"We encountered some…significant antagonism in our efforts to locate Hisako."
"Local genoism?"
"Try killer robots."
Said Cyclops.
"I see…"
"Kaneki once guessed that Weapon X could be behind this."
"Unlikely. They do not use machines as method of enforcement. However, they do have splinter groups that cooperate with them. And one of them does use machines."
"Splinter groups?"
Asked Kaneki.
"Do you mean the U-Men, Hank?"
"Positive, professor. What we've encountered fits their M.O. It's more urgent than ever that we find the Ichiki girl."
"I've been in contact with Phil Coulson, and asked him to keep me appraised of anything associated with Weapon X. Recently, he sent me a file containing all intel S.H.I.E.L.D gathered on them. The one pertaining to the U-Men…disturbs me deeply."
"Do we know anything about the U-Men?"
Asked Kaneki.
"The U-men are similar to Weapon X in some respects. However, the main difference is that while Weapon X experiments on mutants to further their research into the X-gene, the U-Men instead harvests the organ of mutants in order to replicate their powers."
Kaneki was instantly shocked to hear a group like this existing.
"That's terrifying."
"Indeed. They were a group that rose during the interim period after the Chicago massacre but before I formed the X-Men. A number of governments came to them, asking to create super soldiers to fight the ghouls in their respective countries. But after almost every major nation gave mutants their full civil rights, the U.N. decided to charge them for crimes against humanity. They've been hiding since then. Rising only when they've been called to perform a service or…"
"Collaborate with other organizations."
That last sentence Cyclops said solidified Kaneki's resolve.
"If there is a possibility that Weapon X could be involved, it is something we should investigate into. Until we know more, the top priority is to search and rescue Hisako Ichiki."
"Storm located what could be their base. We're all headed to find out."
"Tread with caution, my X-Men."
xxxxxx
Takizawa looked at Suzuya with a look on his face that expressed both annoyance and curiosity. He looked on to see Suzuya adding stitches to his right hand.
"All done."
Suzuya expressed satisfaction in a child-like fashion. Takizawa decided he had enough.
"Do you have any idea how gross that is?"
"What's gross about it?"
"You're giving yourself stitches for no good reason! You're supposed to be an Investigator. Try to act like one."
Suzuya now spoke in a bored tone.
"Wow. You're so annoying."
He then acted in strange fashion that creeped out Takizawa
"How about I sew up that mouth so you'd stop running it, Seido?"
Takizawa immediately got up from his chair to keep away from Suzuya.
"Step off, Juuzo! What, you think because you've been promoted, you're tougher than me? I'm the boss! Don't think that just because we're Investigators means that we're equals."
The door to the office was opened as Shinohara entered, interrupting their fight. He sighs at how the two were getting 'along.'
"Already at each other's throats? Try to play nice, boys."
"Mr. Shinohara…"
"Good to see you, sir. Welcome back."
"Thanks."
"I'm surprised to see you out so soon, sir."
"It'll take a lot more than that to take me down."
"The indomitable Shinohara. You just couldn't stay away."
Said Houji as he came inside the office.
"Thanks for covering for me while I was out, Houji. Where's Amon, by the way?"
"I just received word that he just entered the building now. He should be coming here shortly."
"Good to hear. Guess I won't have to wait long to…"
Just then, the door to Shinohara's office opened once more. Everyone see who was it that entered. First Amon, to Takizawa's delight.
"Amon. Good to see you."
"Investigator Shinohara. Back to duty already?"
"You know it. So, I take it you haven't heard the news?"
"I've…already met the news, so to speak sir."
The next person to enter the office was Akira. Takizawa then had a sour look on his face.
"Good. You're here."
Shinohara stood next to Akira as she introduced herself.
"Akira Madou, Investigator 2nd class. I look forward to be working with you gentlemen. Please bear with me as I get adjusted."
"Don't worry. Your partner will show you the ropes, right Amon?"
"Yes sir."
Takizawa whispered to himself,
"Why'd see have to get assigned to my branch?"
As soon as she sat down on her desk, Shinohara then started speaking to his subordinates.
"Now's that everyone's acquainted, I'll get started on today's agenda. During out Special Investigator meeting summit, we have determined that our next course of action is to concentrate our efforts to eliminate the Owl and Aogiri. Both this branch and the one belonging to Kuroiwa have volunteered to take part in a joint operation with law enforcement."
"Would this have anything to do with Aogiri's use of illegal technology against us, sir?"
"Yes, Investigator Madou. In three days, we'll be participating in a sting operation taking place in the 8th ward?"
"The docks, sir?"
Asked Takizawa.
"Affirmative. The weapon dealers will be meeting with an Aogiri group…in the ruins of the Wing Kong exchange."
All the Investigators in the room were surprised to hear that such an undertaking intends to happen in a location familiar to them.
"Sir?"
"Yes, Investigator Amon?"
"The Wing Kong Exchange, that's the place where Investigator Rasputin uncovered a human trafficking operation, correct?"
"Among other things, yes. That was where 1st class Investigator Piotr Rasputin looked into that was connected to the rise of violence that occurred in both Ikebukuro and Yokohama."
"And…he was there as well."
"Daniel Rand, yes. But that's not what you're referring to, is it?"
Amon felt a sizable measure of anger growing inside of him whenever Kaneki was mentioned. Akira had an idea of what was going through his head.
"Investigator Amon, this is neither the time nor place."
Amon snapped out of his lapse of consciousness and focused on the mission briefing.
"You are…correct, Madou. Apologies. Please continue Mr. Shinohara."
"Thank you. As I was saying, we have reason to believe that the weapon dealers may have employed former employees that once worked under Yen Lo Fei before the place burned down. We came to discover the actual blueprints of the place, and discovered a series of hidden tunnels. One of them leading to an underground ship dock."
Suzuya was amazed to hear such a detail.
"That's crazy. Why would they build something like that?"
Takizawa answered the question in an annoyed tone.
"For the human trafficking, of course."
"That's one reason, of course."
Said Akira with Shinohara asking,
"Care to elaborate, Investigator Madou?"
"Well, a lot of those tunnels were connected to that underground dock. The investigation in the Wing Kong Exchange discovered not only human trafficking, but also a drug smuggling operation as well. Bringing in massive amounts of narcotics to sell into the city. Many yakuza have also been connected to having benefitting from this as well. What makes a matter for the GCB to look into is that same location, which was shut down by us, is to cut the supply of illegal technology Aogiri Tree have been using to kill our fellow comrades. Is that the mission, Investigator Shinohara?"
Shinohara laughed a little as Akira hit the nail right on the head.
"Pretty much."
He then cleared his throat, and spoke to his subordinates in a serious tone.
"It's vital that this sting go off without a hitch. While law enforcement will focus on the smugglers, we will eliminate every Aogiri ghoul that comes. We'll spend the time up to the sting dedicated to research and assisting with the police to finding any and all leads on the weapon dealers in question."
All the Investigators, minus Suzuya, responded in unison,
"Yes sir."
As the meeting ended, Amon passed by Akira as she was reviewing some case files.
"Hey Akira."
"Yes, partner?"
"I noticed how you were acting in front of Takizawa. I know he's not your favorite person, but try to get along with him."
"Okay then. I'll try next time."
Amon cleared his voice a little.
"I don't mean to pull rank, but I am your superior. You need to speak more respectfully."
"I'm not fond of wastefulness. In any capacity. Being polite is one of them. It spends both time and energy."
Amon was taken aback by such a blunt statement from her junior. Akira went on about the time differential between being polite and being straight to the point as Amon continued to be flabbergasted how methodical Akira put into her justification for being rude.
"…in summation, let's not concern ourselves with such trivialities. I'd prefer to put our energy into the investigation itself."
Amon was at a loss for words at first. Then he remembered a conversation he had with Shinohara sometime after the meeting.
flashback
"When talking to her, she'll seem in your face."
"I…see…"
"Don't be so surprised. She is Madou's daughter after all. It'd be kind of weird if she didn't take after old man."
end
Amon cleared his throat once more ask her a question.
"Perhaps…we can better get to know each other another way then. How about we go out to eat? I know this excellent ramen shop."
"Thank you, sir. But I have a personal policy not to eat anything after 9 p.m."
As she left, Amon stood stunned at how the woman unmercifully stonewalled her.
xxxxxx
The X-Men finally arrived at the facility that Storm spotted earlier afternoon. By the time they finally arrived, it was already night.
"What is this place?"
Asked Kaneki with Storm replying,
"Probably a hospital or some kind of medical research facility. Whatever it was, it's completely abandoned."
"This is giving me bad memories…"
"I know, Kaneki. But this place could be the enemy hideout. Keep your guard up, X-Men."
Said Cyclops to the team. After walking for a while longer, Beast noticed something.
"Strange. If this were the enemy stronghold, you'd think there'd be some security. It all seems a bit too easy, if you ask me."
"Anyone feels like we're being watched?"
"You are not alone in feeling that, Kaneki."
"Trap within a trap. How freaking original."
Just then, groaning could be heard. Which compelled Cyclops to stop in his tracks.
"Anyone hear that?"
All of the X-Men eventually see a person ahead of them, seemingly writhing in pain. He also possessed tubes attached to his body.
"Please…help me…please…please…make it stop…it hurts, it hurts…"
The individual kept his face covered with his hand until now. He possessed red eyes while his skin was a dark grey. He also cried while pleading for an unthinkable act to be committed to him.
"Kill me…kill me…"
Kaneki looked at the individual with pity, but also noticed a pierced earing on his left ear. He remembered it from the picture of the grandson of Mr. Fujiwara.
"Cyclops, it's him."
"I know, Kaneki. Come on!"
All of the X-Men ran with Cyclops. All but one. Kaneki sniffed the air and alerted the team about something bad.
"Wait! Don't go near him!"
"Kaneki, what are you talking about?!"
Asked Cyclops before he shifted his attention back to the missing boy. By then, he no longer seemed himself. The boy now underwent a sudden, and gruesome, physical mutation. The scene felt as if it were lifted from the anime movie Akira. The boy now turned into something grotesque, something Gigeresque.
SNIKT!
Kaneki readied himself for a fight. While Cyclops only looked on in fear as he stood, and only stood. In his mind, he flashbacked to when Jean was taken over by the Phoenix force years back. The grotesque mutant began to attack by hitting Cyclops first. Kaneki sped to Cyclops to save his life.
"The hell's wrong with you, Cyclops?! We got no time for stage fright!"
The mutant then attempted to hit Kaneki, but missed and instead felt a metal claw dig into his right arm.
"Kaneki, he's just a kid! DON'T HURT HIM!"
"Not anymore he is."
Said Storm with Beast agreeing.
"I'm afraid she's right, Cyclops."
Beast had a pair of sunglasses that doubled as a genetic scanner that feed him detailed information.
"His genetic structure has been damaged beyond repair."
"No…"
"There's nothing to be done. The boy is beyond our help."
Cyclops looked down in discouragement over what was told to him.
"That's not right…"
Just then, the grotesque mutant hit him and he flew to a nearby wall.
"Cyclops!"
"YOU BASTARD!"
Yelled Kaneki as he leapt unto the mutant that just his comrade. He dug his claws into the rampaging mutant in an attempt to kill him. Storm joined in on the fight.
"Kaneki, get off of him now!"
Storm summoned lightning from her hands and aimed it at the rampaging mutant. Kaneki sees this and immediately gets off. The rampaging mutant screamed in further pain at this.
"I'm sorry! There's nothing any of us can do now! All we can do is try to spare you from the pain!"
The rampaging mutant still got a hit on Storm, despite her continuing her onslaught.
"Storm!"
Beast immediately caught her before she hit the ground. The rampaging mutant aimed his sight at Beast, but Kaneki stabbed it in its right leg, immobilizing it for a while.
"Beast, get some distance!"
"Right!"
Kaneki then said to Cyclops,
"Take the shot! Do it, Cyclops!"
Cyclops hesitated to do so.
"It's now or never, team leader! DO IT!"
Cyclops continued to hesitate until he found something unusual on the rampaging mutant. He found tears on his red eyes. He sees the boy crying out in pain over what he is now. Cyclops knew, at that moment, he had to do what his conscience would forever torment him for. On the left side of his visor, Cyclops did a 180 slide to maximize the scope of his optic blast. He finally fired at the rampaging mutant with a blast so big, it weakened the rampaging mutant to the point that that it reversed his physical mutation. Cyclops ceased with the attack and immediately went to the boy's side. As did the rest of the team.
"Hey. Stay with me."
The boy struggled to breathe. Speaking, more so.
"You shouldn't… feel bad…You had to do it."
Cyclops languished over that last comment.
"It's…too late…for me…but…the others here…they still…have…time…"
The boy spoke his last words.
"Save them…"
Although the boy forgave the X-Men for what they had to do to him, it did not make his death easier to watch. As the boy passed away, Beast spoke out loud his thoughts.
"What did they hope to accomplish here?"
"Open your eyes, Hank. They want to create mutants that kill mutants. And so far, we're playing right into their hands."
"So, let's not."
Said Kaneki, as he caught everyone's attention.
"We honor that kid's last wish. Despite what we did to him."
Cyclops got up and said,
"You're right. Let's keep moving."
xxxxxx
Touka stopped for a moment to stretch her muscles as she was walking back home from the library with Yoriko.
"Thanks for studying with me."
"I'm always happy to. Just call me anytime, Touka."
"Okay. I gotta study super hard to make up for lost time."
Yoriko was impressed to see how determined her friend acted. Curious as well.
"Why are you so gung-ho about studying all of a sudden?"
Touka blushed a little at the question.
"Uh…well, it's because…"
"You already chose a college to go to? Which one?"
Touka paused as she felt embarrassed at the school of her choosing.
"Come on, Touka. Don't keep me hanging."
"…I was thinking…Empire State University."
Yoriko was swept off the floor when Touka said the name of an American college.
"FOR REAL?! You're leaving here while you go have the American college experience?! Why?"
Yoriko got in Touka's face during that last question.
"Chill out already!"
Yoriko backed off as soon as she remembered one of her…co-workers.
"Is it because of him?"
Touka was confused at first as to what Yoriko spoke about.
"You know who I mean. That mutant guy who was over the news six months ago."
Touka blushed at the insinuation her friend was making.
"Whoa. It's nothing like that!"
"Yeah right! Why else go all the way to America other than him?"
"I told you already! He's not my boyfriend!"
"You can lie to everyone else, but you can't lie to yourself."
Sometime after, the two girls went their own separate ways. But not before Yoriko gave one final thumb's up to Touka. Touka stayed where she stood, somber about her choice to go to college in America. In New York City. Wondering why she wanted to go near where Kaneki was.
xxxxxx
The X-Men continued further into the facility until they found something strange and slightly horrific. Both Storm and Beat commented on the appearance of wheat they were seeing.
"This place seems huge."
"And seemingly deserted. There must've been dozens of people here before we came."
"Maybe the U-Men recalled them all when we came to Tohoku."
Said Kaneki, providing a hypothesis. Cyclops looked around the room to see nothing but glass tube containing a green, bioluminescent liquid.
"Hank, what do you think this is?"
"Some sort of…operating room. I doubt this room was used to save lives."
Beast walked toward what seemed to be a computer terminal surrounded by cryo-pods. Kaneki caught up behind him to look at the pods.
"Place feels like something out of an Isaac Asimov novel."
"Which one?"
"Foundation."
Beast smiled at Kaneki's love for books. Kaneki took a closer look at one of the pods.
"That girl…"
Kaneki eventually discovered it to be the person the X-Men were looking for.
"Cyclops, Storm, it's her!"
"Who?"
"Hisako! She's in here."
Both Cyclops and Storm ran to the pod Kaneki stood next to. Inside of it was someone dear to Cyclops.
"Emma!"
And we end things here. New chapter will come soon. Some time before the end of next month, hopefully. Like I said before, I'm not going anywhere. So, you'll have a lot to look forward to. Thank you to all my followers for reading. Spread the word to those who will like fan-fics like this. Don't forget to leave a review after reading. And…stay safe out there. You're not alone in this. #StayHomeWithMe