Chapter 3: Athena and friends…WTH?
One week flew by.
During that short time, life, as always, continued for the boys.
They called their parents. They wandered around Japan, taking in the sights and sounds.
Then, on the fourth day, two encounters happened. One would affect their immediate future. The other…Well, let's say the other would get them into a load of trouble.
The first encounter…
*****************************
Outside a bakery store, Ryan hummed happily to himself, clutching a bag of groceries. Next to him, Andro provided a surly counterpoint, weighed down by an even larger load.
"Ryan, I think you should more of the goods."
The fighter snorted.
"Andro, you agreed to carry the damn portion you were gonna eat! No one asked you to load yourself down with this canned crap."
"Hey! These sausages are great! I tried a couple, and just couldn't stop…"
"You're hopeless."
"It's my money."
"Technically, it belongs to all of us, due to bets we placed on ourselves."
"Yeah, but it's MY share!"
Things were starting to get ugly, when a small kid cannoned into Ryan's feet. With a curse, the fighter went down, goods tumbling all around him.
Andro began to laugh…Until the same thing happened to him, as a young man in a blue coat crashed into him.
For a moment, all was confusion, as Andro and Ryan tried to hold on to their goods, against the very force of gravity. They failed utterly, sending cans bouncing everywhere.
With a snarl, Ryan got up, and prepared to deal a Wave Cannon to the little kid, consequences be damned. Next to him, Andro was already on his feet, hands at his sides. This was the youth's most dangerous pose. It meant that he could barely restrain himself from grabbing the blades.
"Who the hell are you?" Ryan snapped, blue light beginning to glow in his eyes.
The kid who had knocked him down simply blinked at him, adjusting his bright orange cap.
"Eeek! Kensou, help!"
The one called Kensou was in a similar dilemma, engaged in a stare down with Andro. You could almost see the tension between them.
If it could have, a tumbleweed would have rolled past, just to make a point.
"So you're Kensou," Andro said, in a voice that promised death.
"I always like to know the name of my victims."
For his own part, Kensou stared straight back.
"I don't need to know yours, lowlife scum."
Ryan sighed, and pushed between the two. "Calm down, you two. That ain't civil, Andro. Please put the blades away."
Grudgingly, Andro did as he was told.
Meanwhile, the little kid stretched out a hand, waiting for someone to shake it. "My name is Bao. It's nice to meet you."
Realizing that no one was paying attention to him, he looked away, and stormed off to sulk. No one noticed.
"BAO! KENSOU!! Where are those two…"
At that moment, a cute, short-haired girl ran over, waving her arms in their approximate direction.
Even though Ryan had never seen her before, he recognized her face.
"Athena Asamiya!!!'
The girl spun, staring at Ryan.
"Yes, that's me! Have you ever been to my concerts?"
"Uh…Yes."
"Oh, so you're one of my friends!"
Actually, her music was the 'in' thing in Singapore. Almost every girl in Ryan's class had an album of her music. Every boy, on the other hand…
Ryan was jerked out his musings by a sharp, painful kick, and a light cough from Andro.
"THESE are the Psycho Soldiers, dumbass,"
Andro hissed, just barely audible. "We're fighting against them. NEXT WEEK."
"Shut up," Ryan hissed back.
He suddenly realized the amount of trouble he was in. Somehow, his mind was taking a new turn entirely.
"She's cute, you know," It whispered, sliding at the edge of his consciousness. "Isn't she your type?"
"F*ck off." Ryan politely admonished, sliding away from that train of thought. It was getting a bit disturbing. Besides, he had a more important situation at hand.
"I'm sorry, but we're kind of busy here. ("Very," Andro deadpanned.) We'll just get our groceries, and go…"
"Oh, don't worry, we'll help you."
"Athena-sama…" Kensou protested, shooting a glare at Andro.
"Don't be rude. Of course we'll help these nice people with their stuff."
The boys did a record job of packing, hurriedly shoveling everything back into bags in the rush to get away.
"Thank you very much and…"The rest of the words were lost in their flight from the area.
"Bye!" Athena waved to the boys, as they ran off. Then, she turned to Kensou. "Did you catch their names?"
Kensou shrugged. "Not really. I don't remember. Not that I wanted to, anyway."
"Baka!"
***Thud***
"Ouch."
"Where's Bao?"
"Off sulking somewhere."
*******************
The second encounter…
Chan leaned against a pillar, tapping his foot on the ground.
"Where are Andro and Ryan? They were supposed to be here an hour ago!"
He was getting seriously irritated. Those two were…He couldn't think of any word to say.
Just to make matters worse, it began to rain.
Cursing the two and the world in general, he headed for the nearest shelter, quickly ducking underneath the ricky roof. For a moment, he seriously envied Ogion, who was probably nice and warm in the damn hotel…
Suddenly, he heard a shrill scream, and a feminine cry for help.
"Aww…Hell," Chan mumbled, running off in that direction. Why did these things happen to him? Then, he turned the corner into an alleyway, and was suddenly very grateful he had come to help.
Several forms were crouched over that of a young girl's, who was presumably the victim. Even from his position, the young man could instantly understand their intentions. The very sight made Chan's blood boil.
Of course, that was no reason to do what he did next. What he did was completely inexcusable.
So, why did Chan call out World-Eater, and combo the nearest thug to oblivion? Also, why did he pull out his handgun, and give another one five Mage Cannon shots? And why oh why did he draw all his power back into himself, and fling a massive ray of energy, that was probably seen from outer space?
He didn't know.
All Chan knew was that, when the dust settled, and the momentarily-evaporated rain began pouring down once more, was that it felt good.
And then…
***Click***
Chan turned around, to see the last of the lowlife scum holding a gun to the girl's head.
"Don't…Don't move, weirdo! Drop that gun you have!"
Chan sighed. He flipped his handgun into his hand…And pointed it straight at the thug.
"I got a better idea. YOU drop the gun, and YOU'LL walk out of here on your own power."
"What makes you think I won't kill her?"
"What makes you think I won't kill you?"
But still, despite all his bravado, Chan was beginning to feel nervous. Unless the man did drop the weapon, the chances of the girl's survival were unlikely.
The girl, for her own part, was near panic. Her blue hair rippled as she tried to struggle free. Idly, Chan wondered just why so many people in Japan had blue hair, and where she was from. The red bodysuit she wore looked expensive, though definitely not good shelter against the rain.
The man, completely ignorant of the situation, shoved the barrel of his gun against the girl's head. His finger tightened on the trigger-
-and his eyes lolled back into his head. The man slid to the floor in a boneless heap, gushing blood from nose and eyes. He evidently had a massive cerebral hemorrhage, killing him.
Chan couldn't do that. He was definitely going to have a talk with Ogion about this…Later.
He stretched out an arm, and helped the girl to her feet.
"Well…uh…Hi."
"Who are you?"
"I should be asking that question. My name's Chan. I'm…visiting Japan. And you're…"
"Kula." Kula tentatively smiled. "I'm…I'm looking for my friends. Have you seen them?" She shivered in the cold rain, and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Thank you for your help...I'm really grateful."
Chan began to feel the rush of blood to his head.
Somewhere else, Ogion fell to the floor, sustaining a serious nosebleed.
Chan spun the weapon, and slid it back into his holster, attempting to play it cool. "What do they look like?"
"Oh, two other girls. One has black hair, and her name's Diane. She has a rather funny voice. The other one's called Foxy. She's blond, and carries a long needle with her. Both of them are always nice to me."
"Sorry. I haven't seen them…But I'm sure they'll turn up."
Kula nodded…then sneezed.
"Is something wrong?"
"Well…It's a bit damp."
Chan slipped off his jacket, and draped it over Kula, ignoring her protests.
"Here, take this. No, no, where I live, it's sometimes worse than this. Relax."
Once more, Kula let off a devastating smile.
"Thank you…again."
*******************
Ogion, lying on the floor of the hotel room, began crawling towards the medicine cabinet.
"Must…get…insulin…Damn psychic link…"
*******************
"KULLLAAAAA!!!!!!!"
A voice rang out in the distance.
Two women ran to the shelter. The first, presumably Diana, hugged Kula, and promptly began fussing over her.
"Kula! You shouldn't be wandering around in this weather…You could catch a cold…What are you doing here, anyway?"
The other woman subtly shifted in position, placing herself between Kula and Chan. "Well now, and who are you?"
Chan raised both hands in the universal symbol of peace.
"Whoah, my name's Chan. I was just passing by when…"
"I was in trouble, and he helped me," Kula chirped, voice muffled by Diana.
"He also gave me this jacket."
Instantly, the mood of the area changed.
Foxy shook Chan's hand.
"So, you helped our little sister. We're really grateful."
When she let go, Chan winced, trying to work some life back into the appendage. Christ, but her grip was strong.
Diana took a look at Chan.
"Wait! You're one of the fighters in the DHS team!"
A chill ran through Chan, as well as the sudden urge to escape.
How does she know?
"Yes…Well, it's not really important…"
From the corner of his eye, he saw Foxy shift behind him, hand resting on the nasty rapier at her side…
"CHHANNN!!!"
Ryan and Andro had finally arrived. Thanking God for their timely arrival, Chan said, "My teammates are here. If you would excuse me?"
He promptly snuck back off into the rain, quickly vanishing from sight.
*******************
"Kula. Did you manage to get the tracker on him?"
Kula nodded.
"But why did you want me to do that? He seemed like such a nice man!"
"I know. But he might be K'. Did he exhibit any sign of flame powers when running to your rescue?"
"No. But there was something. Some massive thing that helped him…"
"Sounds like Maxima."
"But it was just barely visible…"
Diana decided to let the matter drop.
"Okay, little sister. We'll take your word for it. Still, we'll monitor them. We have to be careful."
*******************
"Ryan! Andro! Thank god you're here!"
Ryan patted Chan on the back.
"Sorry we're late. We had some…trouble."
Andro snorted. "Hmmph."
"By the way, what happened to your jacket?"
Chan groaned. There was no avoiding it. He told them everything, from beginning to the end, as they walked back to the hotel.
By the time they reached the doorstep…
"You're a lucky guy, Chan! ***Nudge, nudge*** Is she pretty?"
"Shut up, pervert."
"When's the wedding?"
"Ryan…"
"You gave here your coat? Aww…That's so sweet."
"You two…"
Chan drew the handgun, and, very calmly, loaded it.
The comments stopped very soon.
*********************
Somewhere else, in an internet café, K' looked up from the computer,
"Funny…I felt that someone's talking 'bout me."
He turned his attention back to the screen.
"Oh, well. Back to Neopets."
A pause.
"Die, Clown, DIE!"
(Well, this chapter is mainly a background one, giving the story SOME elements of a plot. Also, let's just call thi the "Mandatory WAFF Chapter". Hey, who knows? Athena/Ryan, Kula/Chan? Aarrggh…***Dies of nosebleed**** Some characters are probably OOC, but not by much. Any suggestions are welcome, so please R&R.)