THE CHEESE IS AFTER ME! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Chapter 2: Seek the Truth, not answers
"But how did you do that? You should be a pancake. That's not humanly possible." She questioned him, still looking him over. His long hair was slicked back, gelled so the brown was almost black. In fact, she could only really tell his hair was the same old brown from the dried sides and back of his head. His beltless coat was unbuttoned, but hung mainly closed. She could tell he was wearing a black shirt, belt, and pants tucked into black leather military boots. She could only guess the two straps over each thigh were for holsters.

"Rika, all your questions will be answered, but it is imperative that you come with me now. There's more people involved than you think right now, and you are in danger. Please allow me to take you somewhere safe so you can listen to what you need to hear."

Just then, they both watched a white man round the corner. He appeared to be in his mid to late thirties, with black hair and a gray suit. He called out, "Ms. Nonaka! Step away from that man and come with me please."

She looked at Ryo, and he looked back. He didn't say a thing, but she immediately heard his voice in her head saying, 'Don't do it. He is your enemy.' He continued to glare stone-faced. She turned back and looked at the suited man, who happened to now be holding a pistol out pointed at Ryo. From what she could tell, it was a Desert Eagle .50 caliber. A heavy, loud gun that did a lot of damage.

She uttered the first thing that came to mind, "oh shit!"

"Rika.run!" Ryo screamed at her.

She was stunned, still staring at the suited man with a gun. "Huh? Wha?"

"Run!" he screamed again.

Before she could even respond, Ryo was ten feet to her left, on the other side of the alley. He was making sure to put plenty of distance between himself and her. Then, the next thing Rika new, the suit was firing at Ryo. She watched, mystified, as he dodged them all. He managed to catch the last one and throw it back at the man. He took the hit in the chest, unfazed due to the now obvious body armor under the suit. Ryo ripped open his coat, pulling out two Colt 1911 .45's that released a fully automatic fiery wall of bullets with custom extended magazines. He ran at the man as the bullets flew, his target promptly evading every single round up until got to him. He managed to kick the two clips as they dropped from the gun right through the suit's bulletproof vest. The man grabbed his two new piercings, a look a horrendous pain on his face. Ryo put a bullet in the chamber of one gun. He then walked up, pointed the gun at point-blank range between the man's eyes, and, as the man looked cross-eyed upward, he pulled the trigger. The entire back of the suited man's skull was blown off. Ryo reloaded the guns with two fresh magazines and put them back in their proper holsters on his hips, exposing a variety of automatic weapons strapped all over his body, two knives on each boot, other magazines, and some plastic explosives on the inside of his coat. What really caught Rika's eyes, over all this, was the tip of a samurai sword handle poking it's was through the collar of his coat.

"What? Holy shit! You just killed him! He was down, goin' nowhere, and you killed him!" Rika yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Rika! Snap out of it! He was one of Them, and it was either him or us. He would have been back and next time he might have succeeded on his mission. He was going to kill me, then you. Now please, come with me."

"Okay, Ryo. But you're scarin' me to death here. I want you to explain all this, and why you cam to see me for the first time in the 10 years since we destroyed the D-Reaper, and who he was, and who 'Them' is...and.I want to know how you did that stuff a minute ago."

"Alright, Rika.let's get out of here before more of those guys show up, 'k?"

She nodded. The walked down the alley, to a radically modified Subaru WRX. It was yet another thing that caught Rika's eyes immediately. The car was jet black, with a decal of a warrior angel on each side. Other noticeable changes were the custom chrome rims, low profile tires, custom 4- inch hood scoop, headers, and the fact that the car sat completely on the ground. Ryo opened up the trunk and lifted the floor mat, exposing an area of shelves constructed like a fisherman's tackle box. It was full of weapons and gadgets. He removed his coat, folded it, and placed it in the compartment. He then removed all his weapons and holsters, and placed those in alongside his coat.

"May I take your coat?" he asked, to which she responded positively by handed to him. He folded that as well, and set it next to his. It was raining slightly still, and she shivered faintly.

"Right then. Ready to get out of the rain?"

"No," she said sarcastically. "I prefer to stand in the rain and get cold and wet."

He just looked at her with a slight grin.

"Just one question there, Hero Boy," she spoke to him in her same old way. "Are you aware your car has no door handles and, I guess, has some busted shocks?" "Just hold your horses, Pumpkin," he said in an almost playful tone, still apparently serious. He pushed the trunk floor back down, again concealing the compartment. Then he closed the trunk. The front doors popped open. It was then that Rika noticed the rear doors were no longer doors, and this WRX was no longer a sedan. It was a T-top coupe. The both got in and sat down. The doors closed and the seatbelts flowed around them and locked into place. The car suddenly roared to life, obviously no longer a measly 220 horsepower. To Rika, the Subaru sounded like it was powered by a 426 Hemi engine.

"How th---?" she started.

"Ssshhhhhhh Rika. You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Not yet, anyway. Hold on a while. Want some music?" She nodded. Ryo hit the stereo controls and heavy metal started blasting. "Sorry Rika." he said, turning down what was now known as System of a Down's IEAIAIO.

"Ryo," she almost laughed. "I like that song."

"Oh. Well, great then." He left it on.

She stared at him, then looked around the car. A gray interior, blue racing seats in the front with 5-point safety harnesses, bench gone out of the back and the original front seats in it's place. This nearly doubled trunk space and created access to the trunk from inside the car. 'Smart move,' she thought. It was obvious there were a few large subs in the rear of the car, and the sound system was totally distortion free. Rika saw the custom short-throw shifter, steering wheel, audio/video controls and setup, and neon lighting on the seats and dash. What really got her attention was the little red button on the shifter, and a small panel with an unlighted bulb in front of the shifter boot, under the word "armed". A red safety switch was covering a toggle switch, and read "NO2". Abruptly, the car raised about six inches.

"God bless an America where hydraulics and air-bag shocks are legal," Ryo said smiling at Ruki with his dopey grin. 'Same old perfect smile,' she thought, doing her best not to smile back. She was barely succeeding.

"Rika," he said, turning towards her. "I know you're confused, but I do need your help. There's a group of people that call themselves 'Them'. They hurt people. They have limited the, I don't know, evolution.I guess, of the public. The goal is to create slaves. They are responsible for the problems with the D-Reaper. After we destroyed it, about a week later, I was going to call you. Maybe..ask you out." He blushed. "I was, however, talked to then as I am talking to you now. I trained for five years, and spent the next five years up until now fighting Them. They saw that they couldn't stop your development. Why do you think you were always such a warrior, Rika? Your senses are outstandingly sensitive.you heal fast.you can feel things. It takes determination, which is currently lacking in the majority of people. I was able to stop one of Them, but you need to be opened to what it will take to defend yourself and protect others. We have to fight them. Will you help me?"

"What, exactly, have They done besides try to kill me?" Ruki asked.

"Everything from kill JFK to cut the public school budget a little while back."

"Wow.fine Ryo.what can I do?"

"For starters," he said grinning again, "hang on!"

The tires broke loose and the Subaru took off, hitting 60 miles per hour in under four seconds, without even accelerating at top speed.

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