Chapter 3 of Diamond in the Rough.
Enjoy:)
The car ride with Thomas and Subaru was quiet. Despite the peace it brought, their manager was still not used to it just yet as normally they would fight and squabble about the littilest things to which she had to yell at them to knock it off.
But at least now the two of them are starting to act like partners, it'll be good for the company image. Especially since Subaru has his temper under control these day, despite the outburst in the conference room regarding Gregory Sunshine, and Thomas had started to become more open to his partner and less stingy.
As Subaru looked out the window, his fist on his chin with a look of boredom on it, Thomas turns his head to face him.
"So, what do you think Gregory will do?" the stoic white haired boy asked.
Subaru whips his head around, "Huh? What do you mean?"
"What strategy do you think Gregory will pull next? With everything we've learned thus far is that he can make other NEXT lose control of their abilities, and that someone broke him out of prison and he's now walking around the city somewhere." Thomas continued.
"Eventually he'll strike."
Subaru looked down for a mere second, then leans back while placing his arms behind his head, "Well to be honest, I haven't gotten jack squat what he might do," he sighs in defeat, "but it'll be a problem if he really is working for Ouroboros. Knowing he's out there has everyone on edge."
Thomas nodded, "Agreed, and considering his ability and what happened to Golden Ryan back in his old home when he fought Gregory, there's not doubt that he'll cause massive damage to the city if we're not careful."
Subaru sits up and pounds his fist into his hand, "Yeah, but we'll kick his ass! We took down those Ouroboros creeps a while ago, and now that we're stronger than ever, we can take him if he dares messes with us!" Subaru enthusiastically exclaimed.
Thomas lifts his finger to Subaru, making the hot headed boy blink in confusion.
"I wouldn't get to confident if I were you. Fugan and Mugan were able to be defeated because we managed to make them use their own power against them, Gregory Sunshine is a different story. He has the ability to make Next lose control of their powers, so inevitably he can use our NEXT abilities against us if we were to fight, and if we're that unlucky we could end up causing severe damage to the city and its people." Thomas explained.
Subaru tilts his head, "What kind of damage?"
Thomas continued, "You know how he made Golden Ryan lose control of his gravity powers and caused him to make a building collapse on him? Not only did he almost get him killed, that could have killed any civilians if they were too close to the area and destroyed an entire community in property damage."
Subaru started to realize what his partner meant, he gently slaps his forehead, "Oh man! That's right!"
Thomas hardened his Turqoise eyes, "Which is why we need to think about what kind of damage our powers can cause and how it can harm or kill us and those around us, so we can know how Gregory will use them if we get caught by him."
Their manager, hearing the whole conversation, was stunned.
"Hey, Thomas!" she exclaimed, "why are you suddenly coming up with all of this!? You shouldn't be worried about Gregory, he hasn't even shown up yet! You and Mr. Black are finally getting recognition as heroes and finally gave our company more opportunities for more collaborations! There's no reason to talk about something like this!"
Subaru looked at their manager in disbelief, "Why not? This is serious and Thomas has a point! While I'm glad we're being seen as heroes, Gregory is still out there and can cause problems any second and can be a member of Ouroboros! And given that he has the power to mess with our Next abilities, any collaborations with other companies can be risky!"
"What are you talking about?!" their manager snapped.
Subaru continued, "Let's say we were to host an event with one of the other heroes like Fire Emblem or Ryan, and than Gregory shows up and makes Fire Emblem lose control of his flames and burns everything around him or burn someone. Or if he makes Ryan lose control of his powers again, he can collapse and entire building on people," Subaru looks at Thomas.
"And if Thomas tries to use his telepathatic abilities to stop anything to fall on others, Gregory could easily make Thomas lose his strength and cause him to drop parts of the building."
Thomas's eyes widened at the realization, then he continued the conversation, "That's true, and with your powers Subaru, your shield was able to block anything and protect others. But if Gregory makes you lose control, what if he makes you use your shield to block any exists for civilians to escape, or trap the other heroes and the shield makes their own powers come back onto them..."
Subaru connected the dots as his eyes widened in horror, "Or he makes my shield disappear if I'm shielding people from a falling building and they get hurt...or worse..." he spoke barely in a whisper.
Their manager, hearing their theories of what could happen if Gregory shows up to an event and makes them lose control of their powers made her blood run cold as her mind began to race. Every worst case scenario and the consequences that would follow made her grip the steering wheel.
"Oh God! If that were happen, there will be lawsuits from people if their loved ones were casualties in any attack he starts, and our company will be held liable if buildings are destroyed and people end up killed! We could lose everything, even if it was Gregory's fault because it'll be your powers that would cause it!" she exclaimed.
Subaru glared at her, unamused that she is only thinking about the company and their image instead of the people who could get hurt. Thomas places his hand on Subaru's shoulder to calm him down.
The fear and anger from everyone in the car stopped when their manager suddenly swerved her car, sheer panic rose on her face as it nearly fell off the side of the bridge. Subaru's face was comically smushed on the window, while Thomas was sitting up, recovering from the shock.
"Hey! What happened?!" Subaru thundered.
Their manager, still breathing heavily, looked at them in shock, "I just saw something huge in front of the car!"
Thomas and Subaru blinked, "Do you think it's a bear?" Subaru asked.
"Unlikely, they don't come out of hibernation for another month," Thomas explained.
Their manager continued, "It didn't get a clear look at it, but it was huge!"
Something huge landed on top of the car, causing their manager to scream and Subaru and Thomas readying themselves for whatever is out there.
"What the heck is it!?" Subaru cried out.
Thomas narrows his eyes, seeing the large dents on the car roof, "I don't know," his eyes began to glow, "but we're gonna find out."
Subaru looks at Thomas, nodding as his eyes also began to glow. The teens ran out the car, leaving their manager scrambling as she yelled out for them to get back in the car, but with no luck.
As Thomas and Subaru ran to the back of the car, they were both stunned at what they've saw.
The creature before them was larger than any bear, had sharp claws and a reptile like tail. The boys turned pale as the creature turned its head, a horrendous rat like human face was barring its sharp fangs at them as it let out a terrible growl.
"Holy shit!" Subaru yelled out in shock.
Thomas, despite fearing at what he's seeing, he immediately got into a battle stance with Subaru following suit. The beast fully turns around and jumps off the car, crawling towards the boys hissing as its red eyes glowed with an unsatiable bloodlust.
"What the hell is that thing, Thomas?!"
"I have no idea, but whatever it is, we need to stop it now!"
Their manager got out of the car to see what was happening and order the boys to come back, "Boys get back in the-" she let out a blood curdling scream that caught the creature's attention. As it started to charge at the blonde woman, a patterned hexagonal shield stood between the beast and their manager as it striked.
The petrified woman was nearly nose to nose with the angry creature, only to faint moments later.
Subaru cursed under his breath as he looks at his partner, with the serious teen looking back, "Subaru! Get her out of here!"
Subaru looked at Thomas like he was crazy, "What! No way! I'm not leaving you alone with that..whatever that is!"
The creature lets out a roar, making them wince. Thomas became irritated, "You need to get her to safety!" he ordered, "call the police and the other heroes! I'll hold it off!"
"But-"
"Just trust me, I'm your partner aren't I?"
Subaru was silent for a moment, but then nodded his head, "Alright, but you better be careful and not get yourself killed! I won't forgive you if you do anything stupid!"
Thomas smirks, "Yeah, that would usually be your thing."
Subaru's eyes flared with anger at that comment, "Hey you jerk! I'll get you for that!"
Thomas turns his attention back to the beast and began to telepathically rip a tree from the ground. As the beast was distracted, Subaru wasted no time to rush to their unconscious manager and picked her up bridal style, he activates his powers and creates a sled like shield to go down the hill with.
Luckily the city wasn't to far, he could get him and his manager to safety. But still feels guilty for leaving Thomas behind, but he knew there was no time to waste, he gets on the sled with his manager and they began to go down the hill.
Thomas whacks the tree at the creature, angering it as it roared at the white haired boy.
"You want to fight something! Come fight me!" Thomas roared.
The beast roars and charges at Thomas, but the young boy was able to dodge the giant claw and began to use his powers. However, the young hero knew that if he didn't do something soon that monster will eventually get him.
And if it goes into the city...
"Damnit! I don't know how to contain it! But I have to keep it busy so it won't go into Sternbild!"
He closes his eyes.
"Subaru, I hope you make it to the city alright and get help!"
Subaru screamed as the sled he created continued to speed down the hill. As he tries to balance hold each side of the sled, he was holding the still unconscious manager between his legs so she wouldn't fall out. He was dodging every rock, bush and tiny animal he could as he headed to the city in great speed.
Subaru's eyes were wide as the wind blew into them.
"Damnit! To fast!" he cries.
He immediately lifted one side seeing a large rock, squealing the whole time. He looks out in the distance, and to his temporary relief, the city was getting closer.
Subaru knew he needed to call the heroes, "I gotta call them!"
As he activated his bracelet, he shouted into it.
"GUYS! IT'S ME! SUBARU!"
The other heroes winced from the other side.
"Hey! turn down the volume, would you?!" Ryan shouted.
"That was loud!" Ivan complained.
"Oh my poor ears!" Nathan cried.
"Why are you screaming?" Laura asked.
"Huh?! Subaru?! What's wrong?!" Kotetsu spoke out.
Finally, someone willing to talk!
"Guys! You got to come quick! Thomas and I were attacked by some kind weird animal!" Subaru explained while sliding down.
"An animal?!" Keith asked.
"It can't be a bear, it's to early for them to come out!" Karina added.
"It was no bear!" Subaru continued, "It was!-"
Subaru went through a bush, cutting his communications off for a bit.
"Huh?! What is it?!" Ryan asked, leading him to turn to his partner and shrug in confusion whilst saying, "Maybe the bears decided to come early this year?"
The communication came back up, leaving a scratched up, twig and bush covered and dirty Subaru and his unfortunate manager to finally answer the question.
"It was a monster! Like something from the horror movies!"
"A monster?" Barnaby spoke, "What did it look like?"
Subaru became agitated, "You know!? Like in those scary movies like werewolves, Frankenstein that kind of monster! But more scary!"
"Subaru! Where are you and Thomas now?!" Kotetsu ordered.
Subaru continued, "I'm sledding down a hill to the city with my manager! Thomas stayed back to fight that thing, I need you guys to come help us! That thing looks like it can kill-"
Subaru's eyes widened as he saw that he was sledding down to the train tracks. Right about to where Subaru is about to cross.
Subaru yelled out as his life flashes before his eyes, and his manager was finally waking up as the wind blew her face cold. She saw that she was moving but had no idea why.
"Huh? What's going-" she was interrupted by the loud horn sound of the train she and Subaru were about to crash into.
She and Subaru screamed as they headed towards their end.
"SKY HIGH!"
A male voice boomed, and a gust of wind rises that causes the young hero and his manager to fly up. They were immediately caught in the arms of both Sky High and Fire Emblem, Subaru blinked quickly until he let out a sigh of relief.
"Are you alright, Mr. Black!?" Sky High asked in concern as he held the boy.
Meanwhile, Fire Emblem inspected the blonde woman. He looked at her in pity as he looked at her hair, "Oh honey, looks like we're having a bad hair day." he spoke, "I can tell you where the best salon is when you recover!"
As the partners set them down, Subaru looked at them with gratitude, "Thanks for saving us! I owe you one!"
Sky High saluted him, "There's no need to thank us! We're just glad you're safe!"
Fire Emblem placed his hands on his hips, "Now what in the world is going on here, Black honey? What this about a monster now?"
It wasn't long until Blue Rose and Golden Ryan came to the scene on their motorbikes, Rock Bison and Origami Cyclone running through the tree's, Dragon Kid and Magical Cat running off the truck.
And Finally, Tiger and Barnaby showing up on the motorcycle.
Barnaby and Tiger walked over to the others, lifting their helmets.
"Subaru, what happened?!" Kotetsu asked in a serious tone.
"We just asked him the same question, Tiger honey!" Fire Emblem explained.
Blue Rose came forward, "Oh wow, you're a mess."
Golden Ryan leans down to inspect him, "No kidding, what did the other guy look like? Did you and Thomas finally throw hands? Because from the looks of it, it looks like he won."
Subaru started to get irritated, and at Ryan's and everyone's comments about his ragid look, at everyone talking all at once, "Everyone! We don't have time! We got to save Thomas!"
Barnaby stepped forward, "What happened to Thomas?"
Suddenly, Subaru's manager barged into the conversation, "He's facing a monster! It's something I've never seen before! It was horrible!" she cried out, she looks at Subaru with a hint of a glare.
"Why did you leave Thomas behind?!" she demanded.
Subaru looked at her with an insulted look, "He told me to get you to safety! I didn't want to leave him behind!"
"He's your partner! You're suppose to fight with him, not run away! Do you know how bad this will look to the press if anything bad happened to him when you two look like you're finally getting along as partners!" she shouted angrily.
Subaru was taken aback, both hurt and angry at her accusation, he then shouted back, "We are actually getting along! And he told me to get out of there and call the others for help, he trusted me as his partner to do that so we can go and save him! And I also saved you from getting cut by that monster back there and took you with me while you were passed out! So a little gratitude is appreciated!"
The argument was awkward for the heroes, until Barnaby spoke, "So where can we find Thomas?"
Subaru blinked, quickly jolting up and pointed to the direction, "Over there at that mountain road! We have to hurry!"
Kotetsu nodded, "Right! Let's go Bunny!"
"On it!" Barnaby answered.
Rock Bison hits his fists together, "Right, let's do this!"
"Right!" Origami Cyclone answered as he followed his partner.
Everyone started to race up the hill on their feet, flight and motorbikes.
Thomas was thrown against the walls of the mountain as the creature slammed him with its tail. He falls the ground hard, grunting and coughing up blood that streamed down his lip like the wound on his forehead and body.
Thomas did everything he could, he used his ability to throw boulders at the beast, move the road to make it lose balance, hit and kick it, until he finally tied it up with the road fence with his powers.
Only for the animal to break out of it and slam Thomas.
The animal began to corner the boy, meanwhile Thomas glare at it. Was this really it for him? Is he about to die? It made him sad to think about it, he was finally a hero and now he was going to die young. Many things raced in his mind, his new co workers who have started to become close to him, especially Subaru who he at first detested up until their fight with Fugan and Mugan, he has now started to trust him and started to get along with him.
Hopefully his new partner will be better, but he's going to miss the hot-headed boy.
"So, it looks like this is it." he spoke to himself in his head.
The creature was closing in on him.
One more thing came into his mind, with his impending death making him realize something big. Now that he's dying, he will be reunited with his parents who have passed from the car accident when he was ten, he missed them so much, but then another thing came to his mind.
His sister, Ruby.
The memories of his sister both filled him with joy and sorrow as he remembered how they played together, protecting each other when they were at the orphanage, to the events where his sister was taken from him after that horrible incident where she was shot in her leg when they both attempted to escape the orphanage when the director told him a family wanted to adopt her. Separating the siblings as no one wanted to adopt a Next child, meanwhile Ruby had a chance as she was a normal girl.
It was seven years since he last saw her, would she be fifteen by now? He missed her so much. Deep down he would hope to reunite with her, but also thought if she hated him for what happened, other thoughts of his sister came to his mind, was she adopted by a loving family? Does she have friends at the school she's at? Does she remember him? is she happy?"
Tears started to form in his eyes, "Ruby..." he whispered.
The animal roared, as it was about to devour Thomas.
SLICE!
Thomas didn't know what happened. He closed his eyes as he was about to be eaten, but hazily opened them to see two figures standing side by side. What caught his attention was the shadow of a giant weapon held by one of them.
The beast was screeching as its ear was sliced off, blood gushing from the wound as it violently waved its body around.
"Out of all these things we took out, this is ugliest one yet! and looks like the bitchiest to!" One of them spoke with disdain, it was a female voice. She looked around to see the damaged area in shock.
"And it looks like it's gotten started on ripping everything apart!"
"No kidding," another woman spoke, she stepped forward, "And this one is worse than the last. You know what we need to do." she brings out her hand, sprouting out claws from her glove.
She wore a suit that mixed with black and royal blue, her cat like mask match as her aqua blue eyes gleamed at the creature, her eyelashes long and curled.
The girl behind her swirls a giant scythe, getting into a battle stance as her magenta hair blew from the wind it made. She grinned mischievously.
"Right, business as usual! Time to get butchering!"
The creature roared and charged at the women. Both jumped in different directions, both landing of each side of the creature, both getting their weapons ready with the cat like woman taking out a whip while her partner ready's her scythe.
The animal lets out an angry roar. The magenta haired girl charged with full force as she swings the metal scythe at it, but the creature dodged and nearly hit the woman with its tail. She fell back and backflipped to land safely, she looks around and see's that the creature wasn't going to go down easily.
"Oh shit, this one's going to be hard!" she said.
Moments later, the other woman was leaping in the air as she used her whip to grab the beast. She looks at her partner, holding on with all her might.
"Reaper, I got it!" she exclaimed, "now's your chance!"
But before the colorful woman, Reaper, could do anything, the creature pulled on the whip and flung the other woman over. Her partner went wide-eyed in fear.
"Luna!" she ran to catch the woman, until she landed on her feet.
She stood up and smiled, but her partner was still worried as she went over to her, "Are you okay, Luny?!" she cried out.
Her partner smiled, "I'm fine, luckily I always land on my feet!"
Both women looked at the monster, who was ready to kill them. Reaper's lavender eyes were filled with anger, she grips the scythe.
"Looks like we'll have to go nuclear on this one. We'll have to tie it down before we can finish it off." she spoke.
The Scythe suddenly started melting in her hands. it became a gooey like substances and started to spread until it changed shape in its owners hands, it was now a long whip with spikes covering it.
Her partner readied hers, "You ready, little Reaper?" she asked playfully.
Reaper smirked, "Always when you're with me, kitty!"
The animal charged at them again, lifting its claws at the women as they dodged. This time the cat like woman, Luna, lets out a roar, her eyes glowed a light blue as her pupils slit like a feline's with her teeth starting to show fangs. She claws at the creature face, blood splattering as she leaves a nasty mark, while she kicks it on the ribs.
Meanwhile Reaper goes in, but the beast managed to grab her hands. She smirks, "Oh, you wanna play mercy? Be my guest, but you're the one who's gonna yell out uncle!"
They started a battle of who will overthrow who, until Reaper headbutts the creature and makes its nose bleed. Reaper rubbed the spot on her head and groaned.
"Oh damn that hurt!" she yelled out.
Luna checked out the monster, and saw it was already weakened. She knew this was their chance and looked at her partner.
"You ready to finish this?" she asks.
"Right!"
The women charged in unison, jumping into the air and they wrapped their whips around the tumbling creature, with Reapers spiked whip around its neck. They finally managed to tie the beast down, Reaper had a smirk on her dark painted lips.
"Get back, Luna! It's gonna get messy!"
The sharp blades tightened as she readied her grip, she pulls the whip. Blood splattered everywhere as the creatures head was rolling down the road.
Both women were exhausted, but where satisfied. Luna looked at her partner.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
Reaper wipes her nose and grins, giving her a thumbs up, "A okay! We got the bastard!"
Luna smiled, then something caught the corner of her eye. She saw a white haired boy unconscious on the road, she gets up to see if he was okay as she felt his pulse.
He was breathing, thank god.
Reaper blinked, "Hey Luna! Everything okay?!"
Luna turns her head, "There's a boy here! I think it attacked him before we got here!"
Her eyes widened, "Oh shit! Is he dead?!"
"No! He's still alive! He's hurt though!"
The metal whip started forming back into a scythe in Reaper's hand as she walked towards Luna and Thomas. As the two women inspected him, Reaper was surprised to see that someone actually survived an attack from the animal.
"Yeesh, poor kid looks like he's been through hell." Reaper commented.
"...If that's the case then this is bad." Luna spoke more seriously.
Reaper whips her head around and stares, "Seriously?! You think they've actually came all the way here?!"
"It's a possibility, they were scattered since that day. If we're seeing one here, that means there's others hiding." Luna explained.
Reaper narrows her eyes, "Oh damnit! That can make us lose track! And we don't have time!"
Luna shakes her head, "No we don't, which is why we need to get to that lab and find those documents soon!"
"Right!"
Both came out of their thoughts as they've heard voices from the distance. They became alarmed and knew they had to leave immediately, especially with the sounds of police sirens coming closer to them.
"Shit! Time to go!" Reaper alerted.
After sitting Thomas up, they vanished.
Sky High and Fire Emblem landed on the destroyed road. Looking around in shock, Fire Emblem was even more surprised.
"What the hell happened here?!" Fire Emblem bellowed.
Sky High saw Thomas and immediately ran towards him, gently lifting him, "Thomas! Thomas! Are you alright?!"
Thomas lets out a groan, slowly opening his eyes to the familiar figures, "S-Sky?" he uttered.
Fire Emblem kneeled beside Sky High, "It's alright, sugar! Tell us what happened, and who did this to you?"
Before long the other heroes showed up, with Subaru rushing through them to get to his partner.
"THOMAS!"
He went between the older heroes, grabbing Thomas by his shoulder, "Thomas! Speak to me! Are you okay?!"
Thomas hissed from Subaru's grip, "That hurts." he spoke.
Subaru blinked, then quickly losened his grip, "Oh! Sorry!"
Kotetsu and Barnaby rushed over, the vetaren hero was stunned at what he saw. Barnaby was also just as shocked.
"What happened here?" Barnaby asked.
Kotetsu looked around, "I don't know, but it must have been-" Kotetsu's eyes widened seeing a bloodstain on the road, as his eyes followed the trail, he followed where it led to a bloody furry corpse. He turned pale and covered his mouth, his ember eyes widening in horror.
Barnaby followed his partner, "Kotetsu, what's wrong?"
Barnaby became startled at what he saw. When he turns to Kotetsu seeing his face pale, Barnaby quickly grabbed Kotetsu's hand for support, he immediately called the others for help.
"Guys! We found something!"
Blue Rose was walking the far side of the road when she heard Barnaby's call. As she turned around she felt something hit her boot, she blinked from confusion and looked down to see what it was.
She screamed as the head of a rat like monster was staring back at her.
End of chapter 3!
Poor Thomas though, at least he got out this alive. And now you've all been formally introduced to my OC's Reaper and Luna! And there's monsters in Sternbild now along with Ouroboros having the Next enhancing drug? The heroes will have a lot on their plates!
Chapter four is in progress now, feel free to leave a review!
Till next time!