Chapter 22: She's Gonna Carry That Weight
My name is Nisa. In case you didn't know, I'm Gamindustri's one and only keeper of Justice. Currently, I have a promising young adventurer under my wing. Someone I can train, for the future of this world. Being the one and only hero of the world does get lonely, you know. But she isn't the first person I've ever worked with. Before her, there was another.
This is the story of how I lost her. My partner in crime. My friend…
Lastation, Night. Several Years Ago…
Nisa stood on a rooftop, keeping watch over the streets below. Her phone was in hand, ready to answer a call on short notice. As soon as it vibrated, she picked up.
"Talk to me!", Nisa answered.
"The suspects are on the move. I tagged their vehicle. Get ready to tail them. I'll be right behind you!", the voice on the phone said. "And don't even think about engaging them without me!"
"Oh come now. You can count on me!", Nisa nodded before closing. She suddenly spotted a truck with a hastily drawn dragon symbol on the roof. With a smirk, the blue-haired woman leapt from rooftop to rooftop as she followed the marked target.
It was nothing out of the ordinary. We were cracking down on a lead to someone selling pirated hardware. Someone who has been on the run for months. But we weren't prepared for what we were going to face. Perhaps if we had simply spent more time gathering intel, it would have made a difference...
Nisa followed the truck through the city all the way over to one of the many warehouses at the edge of town. Following her partner's orders, she waited before going in.
"Are you ready for this?", a voice called out.
Nisa turned around and nodded at her partner. "Spike, what's the plan?" Spike fashioned a black karate gi with a white belt and boots. Her hair was short, red and spiky.
"We're gonna go in and hit 'em nice and quick", Spike replied, punching her palm. "Think you can keep up?"
Nisa smirked back at her partner. "Whoever gets the target first, the other one pays for din- hey! That's cheating!"
While Nisa was speaking, Spike was already on her way into the warehouse. She smashed through a window on the roof and made her way inside. Nisa followed shortly after.
"What the hell was that?!", one of the suspects shouted.
"Aw, crap! We're busted! Run away!", another one said.
"Not so fast!", Spike shouted. She put her hands together and charged an energy blast for a few seconds before unleashing it upon the black market traders. "Turtle Wave! Haaaaaa!", Spike growled. The red wave of energy destroyed some crates of contraband and knocked out nearby traders. Those who managed not to get hit had their exit blocked by Nisa.
"Hands up and surrender! Justice has finally caught up with you!", Nisa announced.
The suspects cowered in fear until someone spoke up. "Wait a minute. You mean the only thing trying to stop us is this crazy chick?" The mobsters all exchanged looks with each other and eyed Nisa up and down.
"Well, you could either deal with me or the one who can fire energy blasts. Take your pick!", Nisa replied, confidently.
"What kind of choices are those? Of course we're gonna pick the washboard with no powers!", one of the gangsters called out.
A glint shone in Nisa's eyes and she reached into her bag for a moment before beginning to unleash a barrage of knives upon the unsuspecting enemies. At this point, the illegal traders were trapped inside, having to deal with either one or the other of the duo of crime fighters.
Though most of them panicked and scattered around the warehouse, one of them was completely composed amidst the panic. Her skin was dark and she wore a white tank-top, jeans, and a cowboy hat. "You homies are pathetic! Lemme show y'all how it's done!", she said. She grabbed a crowbar and began prying open one of the crates.
"You there! Don't move!", Spike called out, "Or I'll shoot!"
"Yeah? Well go ahead, hotshot!", the thug barked, "I ain't scared of y'all!" This was followed by her pointing in different directions with her hands. Right, jump, right, left, jump… She continued this in sequence before finishing by pointing at Spike.
Having seen enough, Spike blasted the thug with another energy blast. The attack struck the thug directly, causing an explosion upon impact. Smoke clouded Spike's vision for a few seconds. When it cleared, the thug was revealed to be standing there as she was before, completely unscathed.
"What the- ...How?!", Spike muttered.
"In-freaking-vincibility, amiga!", the thug grinned.
Spike felt a chill go up her spine and began to feel uneasy. "You… who are you?"
The thug pulled reached into the now open crate next to her and pulled out a rocket launcher. She yelled, "I'm Rockstar, baby!", before firing the weapon.
Spike leapt out of the way, able to avoid being hit directly. The explosion sent her flying, crashing into several crates. She groaned and rubbed her head before kicking up into the air and landing back on her feet.
"That not enough for you?", Rockstar called out. "Give me a second. I've gotta 'nother gift for ya, comin' right up!"
Spike dove for cover, out of Rockstar's sight. She took a second to think to herself. "She has to reload… that's when I'll attack!" Spike peered over one of the crates to locate where the attacker was going to aim for next. An idea popped into her head, and she grabbed a piece of debris. She threw it away from herself, attracting Rockstar's attention. Just as Spike predicted, the thug unleashed a rocket towards the noise created by Spike's diversion.
Spike leapt on top of a crate and unleashed a barrage of energy blasts towards Rockstar, determined to end this there and now.
"Spike, what're you doing?!", Nisa called out. "You're going to bring the whole place down!"
"This one's different! She's loaded with heavy firearms!", Spike shouted back. She stopped firing her attacks to take a look at the results of her attack. Panting could be heard coming from the dust cloud emanating from the target location, until Rockstar became visible.
"Heh… that's some real good stuff you got there", Rockstar taunted. Spike's attacks seemed to have some effect, though not as much as she would have liked. "Got me right as my invincibility ended…"
Not wasting another second, Spike dashed up towards Rockstar and tackled her down onto the ground. She struggled for a few moments to finally get her in an arm lock to restrict the thug in place.
"Police brutality! Police brutality!", Rockstar groaned.
"We're not cops", Spike muttered. "This is the end of the line for you."
"You're not even cops? ...The hell are you trying so hard for then?", the thug asked.
"You're selling illegal consoles to would-be criminals. Are you really going to try to justify that?", Spike replied.
Rockstar squirmed within Spike's grasp. "I freakin' hate you goody-two-shoes types. Always butting your heads in other people's business... Cash is cash, dammit!"
"You wouldn't have to worry about anything if you did the right thing!", Spike said.
"Screw that, I do what I want!", Rockstar growled.
"You forfeited that right when you decided to break the law!", Spike shouted.
Rockstar grew silent for a few moments and stopped squirming. "Wanna know what else I'm gonna break?" Spike stared down at her in confusion. Rockstar turned her head so that she could see Spike. "...This whole damn warehouse!"
Suddenly, explosions started going off in every direction. In a matter of moments, the whole place was in complete ground shaking chaos. Rockstar took advantage of how disoriented Spike was and was able to free herself from her grasp, disappearing into the smoke.
Spike shook her head to try to recalibrate her senses. Debris was flying everywhere and it was getting harder to see by the second.
Nisa remained at the entrance, looking around for her partner. "Spike! We need to get out of-!" Before she could finish, the whole roof came down. Nisa dove out through the exit just in time into safety. A cloud of dust enveloped the area making it hard to see anything. Nisa pulled her goggles down from her forehead and over her eyes.
A few moments passed. Nisa waited for the chaos to die down before going into what was left of the warehouse. Firemen, ambulances and police officers quickly arrived at the scene and began hosing down the place and looking for survivors in the debris. The blue-haired girl called out to her partner, but received no response.
"Spike? Spike! Where are you…?", Nisa cried out. She looked around and began to panic more and more when her words received no response. A firefighter walked up to Nisa and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Ma'am, it's not safe here. Please stand clear while we clean up the area", the firefighter said.
"But my friend is here somewhere!", Nisa replied frantically.
"Don't worry, ma'am, just leave it to us professionals", the firefighter reassured her.
Nisa took a deep breath and sighed before walking over to the sidewalk while the emergency responders did their thing. The black market traders who were fine were taken in by the police while the injured were loaded onto ambulances. Nisa kept watch to see if Spike was ever found. She waited, and waited, and waited… but to no avail.
Minutes turned into hours. Hours became days. Days became a week. After all that time, Spike was never found. Not even her body was found. To this day, I have no idea what happened. She just… vanished. That other girl she was fighting, Rockstar, was also nowhere to be found.
Regardless of this outcome, I can't let this get me down. Spike wouldn't want me to fall into despair. At this point, how could I? I'm part of a wonderful party at the moment, and we're on a pretty important quest.
Still, I can't help but feel… off. This is my first time returning to Lastation since Spike's disappearance. My brain tells me to let it go, but my heart hopes for something different. Hoping that she's out there, somewhere…
The party, now consisting of IF, Nisa, Compa, RED, MAGES., and Vio, finally arrived to Lastation by boat. The boat ride was pretty uneventful, save for an incident where an adventure was somehow flung overboard and promptly rescued. Upon reaching land, everyone decided to discuss their next move at the docks.
"Let's just go straight to the guild and speak with their leader. Hopefully they have some info we can use", Nisa announced to the group.
"Alright, then. You guys take a bus or something. I'll go on ahead on my bike", IF replied. She turned to look at Compa, hoping to take her along.
"Let me come with you, then. That way, we'll already have the info by the time everyone else catches up to us", Nisa said.
IF turned to look at Nisa for a moment before finally replying. "...Sure, why not?"
"Excellent! I don't think I've ever had the chance to ride on your bike yet!", Nisa smiled.
"If we're taking turns riding with Iffy, I call next!", RED butted in.
"I'm not giving out rides, you know", IF sighed. "Come on, Nisa. Let's go."
The two girls leaped onto IF's bike and set off into the streets of Lastation, leaving the rest of the party behind to use public transportation.
"Lastation, huh… pretty industrial for a city", IF said.
"The people of Lastation take their work very seriously", Nisa replied. Though, as a result, they're pretty isolated when it comes to the other nations. They'd rather do everything without any sort of help from them."
"Sounds pretty stubborn to me. Though, I guess I'm sort of like that sometimes", IF chuckled. The pair got caught at a red light. As they waited for the light to turn green, someone approached them. The stranger grabbed IF and punched her right in the face before pulling her off the bike.
"H-hey, what do you think you're doing?!", Nisa shouted. Instead of a reply, she received an elbow to the face, knocking her off the bike. The stranger laughed as she rode off through the red light.
"Thanks for the ride, homie!", the stranger said.
Nisa reached out towards the thug. "Get back here! This is grand… theft…", Nisa shouted, but stopped when she recognized who the thief was. "Rockstar… that's her!"
CHAPTER 22… SHE'S GONNA CARRY THAT WEIGHT... END.