The acrid stench of smoke rose into the night sky as Xavier slowly dragged himself away from the burning wreckage of his apartment. He angrily cursed as a sharp pain shot up his leg. The bone had to be fractured at the very least.
He tried not to look behind him as he crawled further and further away. He needed to find a hospital, or urgent care, or... He didn't know if he was kidding himself or not; everywhere looked like an apocalyptic war zone. The odds of a hospital still standing were slim to none.
He teared up as his jumbled thoughts suddenly snapped back to his parents and sister. There was no way they had survived. They were all asleep in their rooms while he was up late playing video games with Specter.
The explosion had cut off nearly all routes of escape.
He brushed his face roughly and tried to push the overwhelming grief and nausia back down. Xavier somehow lost sight of Specter, but he knew that if he was still alive, he would still be hunting him. He shakily stood up, trying not to lurch. His leg felt like it was on fire.
Xavier tried to ignore the urge to vomit and started to hobble in a random direction. He needed to get out of Detroit. Maybe his cousin could take him in. Problem was, she lived 60 miles due west; he could barely remember what was left and right.
He didn't know how long he walked, but the sky soon started to turn gray which eventually morphed into a sickening red. Xavier finally staggered into an empty alleyway and collapsed on the freezing concrete. His face burned, his palms felt scorched, his back was killing him. He stopped feeling his leg a while ago.
He hoped nothing was around to bother him while he laid there. Maybe they would think he was dead and go about their business. Not like he had anything on him anyway.
It dawned on Xavier as he closed his eyes that he now owned nothing but the clothes on his back. He had nowhere to go and no place to run to. He was on his own.
Xavier shifted in his cot as he watched people drifting around him.
He was stuck in a gymnasium that the army turned into a temporary shelter with hundreds of other displaced people. Apparently some guardsmen had found him and hauled him there while he was unconscious. Though his initial awakening in a strange place was unpleasant, he was glad he had received treatment. His leg was busted though.
Xavier ran his hands through his matted, dirty blond hair and shivered from the chilly air. He had no idea where he would end up after this. Maybe foster care? Maybe some distant family he barely knew? He didn't know.
A thought flitted through his mind: that of his family around the television watching an old western. He would have been in charge of the popcorn, since his parents seemed to have a special talent for burning it somehow...
He was shaken out of his daydreaming when a stranger stopped in front of him. Xavier regarded him for a moment before his guard went up. This guy didn't seem up to anything good...
"Just keep walking - I'm not interested," he grumbled.
The stranger didn't reply nor did he walk off. He kept staring, which was enough to make warning alarms go off in Xavier's head. "I said keep walking, ya creepy bastard!" He snarled, catching some curious looks from the other refugees around him.
"Is that a Medawatch on your arm?" The man asked.
Xavier spared a glance at his wrist. The watch was long dead and the screen was a spiderweb of cracks. Why he still kept it was beyond him. "What about it? It doesn't work, so it's not worth stealing. Go away and leave me alone," Xavier snapped. His short fuse was burning away.
"Where are your parents?"
Xavier chose not to answer.
"You have my condolences," the stranger said, sounding sympathetic. "If you'd like, I have an opportunity for a young man like you."
Xavier's face contorted into an disgusted sneer, "I'm not into that!"
The man seemed amused, "and what do you take me for? I am merely doing what I can for those less fortunate than myself; that hardly sounds depraved, wouldn't you agree?"
"Then, what exactly are you trying to pitch?"
"How would you like to work for my employers as an agent of sorts? You would have lodgings and food provided for, and a paying job. All you would have to do is run surveillance work on various countries; you would have the chance to travel the world." He then smiled, "you also have experience with Medabots, yes? We currently don't have many Medafighters at the moment. You would certainly be a welcome addition."
"You're really upping the sketchiness; I'm not trying to make my life worse as is."
"Well then, answer me this: could your life get any worse?"
Xavier shifted uncomfortably.
His feet had burns etched on their heels and his clothes were no better than dirty rags. He had no means of taking care of himself nor would he until his leg healed months from then. He would be tossed to the jaws of an uncaring and chaotic foster child system.
Could his life get any worse?
Ex opened his eyes with a long sigh.
His mouth straightened into a frown as he collected his bearings and turned off his music. There was nothing more he hated then recalling that particular chapter of his life. Reminding himself haw his desperation overrode what little common sense he had then.
Ex looked at the neglected reports sitting on his desk as he removed his earbuds. He was given the ultimatum of either turning in his reports or being used as a living punching bag and/or target practice for the Medabots. Ex thought it to be a little excessive, but he clearly didn't make the rules.
He hissed and leaned back into his chair.
Sure, he promised himself he wouldn't move until he cleared his paperwork, but surely there was nothing wrong with putting it off a little longer? He decided to move on to a more pleasant subject. Like what he would do after his "contract" was up; maybe move back to Detroit and get a real job...
Ex scoffed - like he could get a job with no genuine skill set or formal education, not to mention they likely would not ever truly give him his freedom back. Plus there was the feds to deal with if he ever tried to return. Maybe he would just settle down in Japan - his Japanese was slowly getting better...
Maybe he would save the ideas and pitch them to Isis later when she wasn't busy. Which was never; she always seemed to be busy. She seemed like she was at the point where she would just collapse.
In his humble opinion, she needed to loosen up a little. Surely a day out of the compound would do her some good. Maybe... maybe...
Ex nearly nodded off when he jerked awake, blinking rapidly. It wasn't a great idea, she would most certainly say no... but it couldn't hurt to ask? He stared forlornly at the paper tower before sighing and getting to work.
Ki kept close to the storefronts, staying out of the way of pedestrians.
He was given another set of orders with more specific parameters: survey the local government office and transportation system in the Shinjuku district. He'd be lying if he didn't find the whole thing to be quite dull. He noted the controlled chaos of the crowds as they went about their business, sparing him an occasional glance; if they thought anything unusual about his presence, they certainly didn't show it.
'They must feel secure here,' Ki mused.
Ki plodded along, trying to project a relaxed image. He recorded positions of security cameras and guardsmen. He also noted the placement of ventilation on the outside of the massive building, though without actual blueprints there was no way he could be sure where they led to.
Shinjuku was big. Ki would sometimes stare up to the tops of towering skyscrapers in awe as it reflected the sunlight. Quite a bit of damage could be done to the city ward as a whole.
As the day continued and he wove through the dense crowds, Ki happened to look at the windows. The boy in the reflection stared right back at him. Startled, he nearly backpedaled into a group behind him. After quickly apologizing to the annoyed pedestrians, Ki glanced back at the window only to see a normal reflection.
He shook his head as he ducked into a narrow side alley.
The hallucinations were irritating. While they weren't a regular part of his day, he had been noticing them increasing in frequency. He became disoriented every time they appeared and would have to 'cool down' in order to prevent a full systems crash. If Ki had doubts he was defective before, he certainly harbored no illusions now.
Ki slowly walked past the street vendors and he attempted to regain his bearings. He watched men and women either quietly eating in the small restaurants or buying various things. There was a sort of peace to the scene.
It shouldn't matter to him. It really shouldn't. Yet, there was something sad about the thought that this peace would disappear sometime in the near future.
A sudden thought made Ki stop short. Why was he there? What was his true purpose? He had been told by Isis, with her detached manner, that death was an inevitable part of life and everyone would face it eventually. If it was in pursuit of a certain goal, then their lives would simply be cut short - that's how it always was and always will be... There wasn't a lot he really understood from whatever that discussion was.
But did any of these people even deserve to die?
A commotion rattled him out of his thoughts as a group of adolescent boys ran towards him, the leader clutching a small book-bag. A young girl frantically tried to run after them, but seeing as it was no use, crumpled to the ground and began to cry.
Ki observed this and within seconds made a decision.
The boy was nearly upon him. He clearly wasn't paying Ki much attention, so he didn't see Ki sidestep and stick his foot out slightly. It worked beautifully: the boy yelped as he suddenly stumbled and crashed to the pavement, his friends having to scatter around to avoid him.
Ki roughly yanked the bag out of the stunned boy's grasp. He glared at the others, daring them to try and approach him. Apparently not willing to try their luck, the boys helped their friend up and guided him away from the alley.
Though he did his best to ignore the complete silent staring of the onlookers, Ki felt rather shy as he approached the sobbing girl. She seemed fairly young - couldn't have been much more than eight years old at best. She calmed down massively as she saw him walk towards her.
"Yours?" Ki asked.
Bashfully, the girl nodded and reached out for the bag. He gave it to her. "T-thank you," the girl said as she wiped her face dry. "Those boys like to pick on me all the time because I'm smaller."
Ki tilted his head slightly, "why?"
Her expression went dark, "because they're bullies and they think they can do whatever they want." She picked herself up and brushed her clothes off. "I was walking home - can you come with me?"
Ki stared at her blankly. Getting frazzled, she stammered, "i-it's just so Kenta and his friends won't come back and mess with me again!"
Well, perhaps it wouldn't hurt. He'd gathered enough information for that day that he was sure would please his superiors. Surely, they wouldn't really care where he went to after that, as long as he came back at the end of the day.
"...Alright," he reluctantly agreed, "I'll go with you."
The girl beamed and thanked him. "What's your name?" She asked.
"It's Ki," he answered.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Nozomu Tanagi," she said. Ki nodded, making a mental note of it. She grabbed his hand and they started to walk out of the side street.
Along the way, she had asked him questions of where he was from and why he was alone. Ki found it difficult to answer these questions; he hoped the little girl would not be savvy enough to notice his rather poor evasions.
"I actually don't have a Medabot." She had said. Ki glanced at her. "I asked and asked my parents, but we don't have the money for one."
Why did this sound almost familiar?
"I try not to get too upset about it," Nozomu continued, "as long as I save up everything I have, I'll be able to get my own soon."
"I hope so," Ki said.
The girl smiled before shifting into a curious expression, "do you have friends, Ki?"
Friends?
If he remembered what the definition of a friend was, he supposed Flame could be considered the closest thing to a friend. But then again, they rarely talk outside of training. Besides, it seemed like Flame was going out of his way to avoid him since that disastrous combat session a few weeks back.
"No." He didn't have friends.
"Why not?"
Why was she so curious? "Because everyone thinks I'm some sort of freak." It was a sort of epiphany he recently came to.
"That's mean. You don't look like a freak," she stated firmly.
"Thanks. It doesn't matter though, I get by just fine."
"...I can be your friend if you want."
Was it that easy? Ki didn't even know how often he'd get to go outside, no less be able to find the time to spend with her. However, he couldn't deny that a friend outside the organization appealed to him a little.
"Oh! There's my house." Not giving him time to answer, Nozomu let go of his hand and darted towards the door, startling Ki back into reality. He followed slowly, stopping at the gate. The house itself was small and compact, tucked tightly between the other similarly sized and colored dwellings.
She tested the knob and found the door open. She greeted someone inside. Ki had not moved from his place on the sidewalk.
Nozomu was speaking rapidly and gesturing excitedly towards him. A woman peered through the doorway at him. Unsure, he fidgeted on the sidewalk as Nozomu's mother smiled and dipped her head towards him, before seemingly trying to usher her daughter inside.
However, she ducked away and trotted back to him. "Thank you for walking with me all the way here," she said.
"It's no problem, really."
"Come see me again soon, okay?" She grinned at him before heading back to her home. He watched her until the door shut. Ki suddenly registered the sun lowering across the horizon. It was best to leave.
Backtracking, he let his mind drift off.
Ki doubted the girl would be so keen to make friends with him if she could even understand what he was doing or who he worked under. Whatever Shadow had planned, he doubted she would be able to survive very long under the "new world order", whatever that meant. Honestly, he longed for the good old days where he didn't have to worry about this kinda stuff and it was just him and Metabee goofing around-
The errant thought tore through his body and left a cold feeling similar to ice. Ki desperately tried to follow the mental train of thought, but it rapidly slipped away from him. What was he thinking about just now?
Metabee was a target of interest he had been recently ordered to watch, although he had not been able to run into him again. Other than the day he challenged him, Ki could think of no other instance that he interacted with Metabee. So why was there a certain nostalgia attached to the guy?
Ki stomped off. He didn't need any more reminders that he was broken somewhere. Telling Isis was out of the question: she'd start planning to scrap him if he kept adding to her list of problems. The woman looked more stressed with each passing day; Ki tried to stay under her radar the best he could.
Besides, as long as he could still function somewhat normally, what Isis or anyone didn't know couldn't hurt them.
"These guys are pretty darn elusive. They managed to embed themselves here without raising any sort of suspicion."
Dr. Aki looked at the compiled notes the Phantom Renegade offered him. He absentmindedly scratched at some stubble on his cheek. "This is all that you were able to get out of that phone?"
"It fried itself," the normally gruff tone sounded sheepish.
"Better than nothing, I guess." He was able to successfully hide the disappointment in his tone. Most of the data was not very helpful, save for a few texts with interesting keywords.
Dr. Aki leaned back into his chair. The high rise building his office resided in offered a stunning view of the darkening sky and the lights in the city, though he wasn't interested in it. Phantom Renegade casually leaned against a wall a few feet out from his desk.
There was no one in the building but the oncoming night staff, and he had made it very clear he was to be left alone. The Renegade was absently flipping and catching a normal medal. The coin caught enough light to glimmer each time it flipped through the air.
"I tried asking around if anyone had seen anything suspicious..." Phantom started, "apparently some people spotted a foreigner with blond hair, and an ugly scar to boot. However, they said that he wasn't doing anything necessarily suspicious, so... probably a scary looking tourist."
"Maybe the Yakuza?"
"Doubt it. Nabbing random kids minding their own business is not their MO."
"You're probably right... I was also thinking about the Rubber-Robo gang, but no one's heard from them in a long time."
Phantom looked up, "maybe they decided to start up operations again?"
"If they did, the way they're going about it is quite unusual. They would be... flashier? And stupid. Especially with Armand gone, there's not really a capable person to effectively lead them. No, we would have some sort of obvious indication if it were them," Dr. Aki mused.
"They have successfully kidnapped people before. Ikki's mother, for example," he pressed.
"It's been weeks and there's no ransom. No demands for Metabee's rare Medal. There's nothing that indicates it was them."
"So it's someone else we haven't gone up against."
"I'm afraid that might be the case," the old man sighed.
"Some texts I saw referred to a base of sorts. I might be wrong, but there's the area in the deeper wooded sections of the park where the Rubberrobos used to hide out. The underground ruins. Ikki disappeared about a few kilometers from there."
"It might be worth checking out."
"Yeah. I'll see if I can infiltrate the ruins. Even if I don't find Ikki in the area, if there's anything weird going on down there I'll document it."
"Do that. Whatever you do, do not engage. I want to see what we're dealing with before we make any sort of plan."
"You got it." The Phantom Renegade looked up at the large industrial vent - it was either the cramped vents or busting through the windows - before Aki stopped him.
"Henry, please be careful. I got a really bad feeling about these guys. They don't seem to be your run-of-the-mill criminals," Dr. Aki implored.
Henry looked at the other man for a moment before lifting his mask and sending a reassuring grin his way. "I'll be careful, and hopefully we'll get Ikki back before too long."
A/N: At this point, I should resign myself to updates every two years.
I'm joking.
Probably.
With that, I hope you got some enjoyment out of this chapter. Let me know if you liked it, if you were disappointed, underwhelmed, etc. I decided to upload this before I lost the nerve and left it to rot in my documents again. I'll probably re-edit this when the fancy strikes me.
-W