Chapter 16: A Past Mistake

A girl slowly rose into a sitting position on the bed she rested on, her raven-black hair was in small strands and some seemed to stick to her face. A small bandage could be seen on her cheek. "W-where am I?" she asked in a soft voice, while rubbing her forehead.

"You're in the garage in Bayload City, how are you feeling." A male voice suddenly blurted out. Sara turned towards the point where the voice came from, her black hair slid over her chest. The voice came from a man in a leather jacket sitting on a chair with black hair that extended to his neck.

"Vanguard?"

"Hey, it seems I'm always the one that finds you," he raised his hand while holding an apple in his other hand. "So...what happened to you?" he asked, taking a large bite out of the red apple.

"Oh, I don't remember...wait...I remember...Wind attacked me!"

Vanguard widened his eyes, most probably in shock, "And...you're still alive!"

"Yes...but barely..." The girl rubbed her eyes and groaned a bit.

"Wow...well...now I'm certain that Windbreaker really has taken a liking to you." Sara stopped rubbing her eyes and scrunched up her face in confusion.

"You call, someone that just tried to kill me has taken a liking to me?"

"No, no, you misunderstand. No one has ever survived a battle with Windbreaker when he pilots his AC in its prime form. It usually takes him a mere five seconds to tear a normal AC to pieces. You survived...not only that, he tried to warn you about being near him."

"What do you mean? I don't understand," Sara was confused, it seemed as though Windbreaker was more complicated than she had first thought.

"Windbreaker tries to push you away, because he knows you'll get yourself killed because of him. He knows he's too dangerous to be around and probably doesn't want to involve you in any danger."

"Then why doesn't he tell me! Why does he close himself off from me and give me some cold attitude! I want to get to know him!" she yelled, not knowing that tears were trickling down her cheeks.

"Because he knows you would just follow him and you have to understand...he is very prideful. So his only recourse is to show you a cold attitude, to repel you," The top ranker took another large bit out of his apple that had a big gouge. "And...there is another thing..."

The young female's face softened, the trail of tears still prominent on her face, "What thing? Is something wrong?"

"I explained to you about how we are NBPs and that we were born without any problems right?" Sara nodded, " Well...you've probably heard in the past that artificially made Pluses lost their sanity and destroyed themselves in the past."

"What does this have to do with Wind?"

"Wind is an exception...I suspect one of his parents was an artificial Plus."

"Why?"

"Because...Windbreaker inherited some sort of...gene or ability of some sort. In some cases...its good, but in most cases...its bad." Vanguard looked down at the apple he held, now a big white gouge engraved in its meat. "The gene...allows for one to access immense strength, speed, reaction etc...everything is augmented. But at the same time, it eats away at the heart and mind, causing the user to lose control and possibly attack anything...even allies alike, if used for too long...the user could die. Of course...a certain substance and the correct circuitry is needed to activate this certain gene." Sara stared in disbelief at the Raven, her eyes wide in shock.

The man in the shadows staggered into the dark corridor with his left hand clutching his right side. Blood ran down the sides of his face and his right arm. His short black hair that scattered in all directions was drenched with sweat and blood. The white shirt that he wore inside his black jacket was stained with red blood as well. A tint of red could be seen in the man's dark eyes. With his right hand, he grabbed the doorway for support. "Jack!" the man yelled to the silver haired figure that stood in the middle of the dark corridor with his back facing the man. Jack-O turned around to face the man.

"Wind, is there anything I can do for you?" he raised an eyebrow with his arms folded behind his back in a calm demeanor.

"You know, exactly what I need!" Windbreaker grunted. At that, Jack-O tossed a small cylindrical container at Windbreaker. A blue lid kept the container sealed. With his right hand, Windbreaker caught the container, pushed the lid off with his thumb and popped an oval shaped pill into his mouth. Jack-O walked towards Windbreaker.

"You know, Wind...you should really watch yourself. If you use the Logic System too much...you could be in serious trouble." Windbreaker walked towards a table in the opposite wall. On the table, was a first aid kit that happened to be lying there. He lifted the the lid of the kit and took out a long piece of white fabric. Windbreaker started unwraveling the fabric that was wrapped around his right arm and started replacing it with the new piece of cloth. "...tell me...do you like that girl?"

"Hm?" The young Raven froze in place. "Of course not...why would you say that?"

"Heh...you didn't finish her." The silver haired administator smirked, placing his hands in his brown trench coat pockets.

"I had technical problems as you can see..." Windbreaker continued to wrap the cloth around his arm.

"You could've finished her in five seconds, I've seen you do it. The battle lasted for more than five minutes..." Jack-O walked towards the table that Windbreaker stood in front of. "It seems we made a mistake in killing the girl's parents." Windbreaker turned around to face Jack-O with a look of disbelief.

"What do you mean...a "mistake"!" he flexed his right hand, a cracking sound could be heard coming from his right wrist.

"Remember when we sent you to kill Genobee because we thought he destroyed Bayload City and was cooperating with Revelation?" Jack-O lifted a small pile of sheets with writing on them.

"So? What about it?" The young Raven seemed agitated.

"Well...it seems we were wrong in doing so. Genobee was not trying to destroy the city, he was trying to protect it. After Crest did the Plus experiment on him, his mind was left in a half deranged state. But the other half was still in control. He was protecting the city."

"...and what source did this suddenly come from?" Windbreaker raised a furrowed eyebrow.

"Various profiles and unknown sources have said the same thing. I found these in the archives..." The Ark administrator threw the pile of paper on to the table. "They include articles and information of who actually did wreak havoc in Bayload City."

"..."

"It was a man called Reaper. He released those MTs and also destroyed Bayload City. He was also a Raven before he started the organization called Revelation. His Raven name was Enigma."

"So...why would he use his Raven name all of a sudden?"

"I think it was just intended to strike terror into the human heart."

"How come I've never heard he was in the Ark?"

"Because he was sent into exile just before you joined the Ark. He simply knew too much. Unfortunately, that was the worst choice the Ark could have made. What I don't understand is what Genobee was protecting that could be worth the risk of losing his own life..." Jack-O narrowed his piercing blue eyes and scratched his head.

"Sara..." Windbreaker muttered, the words caught Jack-O's attention. The administrator raised and eyebrow.

"What about her?"

"Genobee was protecting his daughter. If he still retained part of his sanity, then he must have seen that Sara was in danger or something," A horrid thought seemed to run through Windbreaker's mind, one he was not too proud of, So...I killed her father when he was just protecting her...

"I see...well...why don't you be careful from now on? Try and be nice to her. Be yourself for once. We need her on our side, the genes that she most likely inherited will be the key in our up-coming battle."

Windbreaker was unentheusastic about what Jack-O said, in fact, he was totally at dismay, "Hold on! Your asking me to be nice to someone I just tried to kill? That's going to be a bit hard for me seeing as how they might not take it too lightly," Jack-O rested his arm on Windbreaker's shoulder, a gesture for calming his nerves.

"Just do your best," In only moments later, the administrator seemed to stop in his tracks at the doorway. The long brown trench coat waved behind him. His figure diminished into the shadows. All that was left was the lone Raven, standing beside the table in the dark corridor. His chest heaved up and down rapidly, and he was trying to supress a grin. Windbreaker finally laughed like a mad man, throwing his head back. Laughing at the irony of his current situation.