Welcome back everybody! When we last saw our heroes, Touya has made things right with Ren, Nu revealed her wish to Es, Touya and Mei, and Touya has met up with a familiar face. Even Es and Mei plan to communicate with Kuon, Elise and Zwei to update them on current events and hopefully get an update on Ishana's Gate of Sheol.
What new information shall we get and what brings Avenge back to Shin Yokosaki City? Let's find out!
Also, I apologize for the long delay, I was dealing with some personal things on top of doing more chapters for 'Guests in the Hollow Night' and 'Tales of Symphonia: Marta's Quest'. Your patience shall be rewarded today.
Shin Yokosaki City [Downtown]
It was around 12:35 PM on a Sunday afternoon in a alley way. That was the exact time and moment when Touya came face to face with the man wearing the black hooded poncho.
"Avenge!? What are you doing here!?" Touya asked while making sure not to be too loud to draw attention outside of the alley.
The man before him is Avenge, his real name being Kazuto Kotetsu. Thirteen years ago before the Embryo Incident, Kazuto was once a police officer and was also best friends with Yuki's parents. Back then, he was one of the police officers who was in charge of transporting Ripper to prison. Unfortunately, the day Ripper was caught and arrested was also the day he became a Drive Union and using his new powers, broke out and killed Kazuto's fellow officers, with Kazuto being the sole survivor. Armed with only a gun, Kazuto pursued Ripper and, to his horror, found him at the Himezuru Residence having already killed his friends and is fully prepared to kill Yuki, his friends only daughter. Refusing to let Ripper do anymore harm, Kazuto shot Ripper in the back, causing the serial killer to scream in agony and run away, losing large amounts of blood in the process. Having saved Yuki, Kazuto called for backup to inform the police on what occurred. Despite Ripper losing so much blood, the trail ended in a dead end in a back alley, with no sign of him, confirming that somehow, he still survived.
Feeling guilt for allowing Ripper to kill his comrades on the force and his best friends, which also left Yuki without her parents, Kazuto one day disappeared, his resignation letter left on his desk at the station. Kazuto would later become Avenge, a Bounty Hunter who hunted down Unions, including Ripper.
Three years later, Avenge would be hired by the Magic Guild to guard a Mage at Wadatsumi, long before it became the Restricted Ward. It was around that time he met both Ryouko Kagari and Sui Amanohokosaka, but his connection with them both remained a mystery to this day. When the Wadatsumi Incident occurred, Sui saved Avenge's life, telling him to head to a specific spot to take something important to a safe place where no one can find it. After he left, Avenge didn't know what became of Sui, but he could only assume she unfortunately perished after parting ways with her. Heading to the spot Sui mentioned, he found a mortally wounded Ryouko, carrying a young girl with her. Trusting Avenge with the girl's life, Ryouko died before him. He then proceeded to take the girl to the same orphanage as Yuki and asked her to be an older sister to her, going as far as to forge documents to make them appear to be related by blood. However, when he saw Yuki happy for the first time since her parent's death, a warm feeling welled inside Avenge's cold heart as well.
Avenge would be sent by the Magic Guild to kill Ripper, a job he was more then prepared for. He would clash with Touya, Mei and Es during thier first encounter with Ripper and due to some pulled strings, Yuki would meet up with him thanks to Mei's help. It was there he revealed the whole truth to Yuki and even though she didn't leave the city, he said he would help them. Eventually, he caught up to Ripper after he was weakened by Touya's Grimoire and finally slayed him, finally avenging his friends. Afterward, Avenge vowed to protect Yuki's family and assisted Touya and Es, giving them information about Code Embryo, protecting them from Unomaru's forces and even defeated Drei with his anti-magic daggers, sealing the rouge Ten Sages fate. After being healed by Zwei, he would then clear out more of Unomaru's men on Zwei's request.
After the Embryo Incident, he would cancel his contract with the Magic Guild and would go on to be hired by Mei to support the Mitsurugi Agency. Although he wasn't involved in the battle with Freaks, he was revealed to know his sworn enemy was finally slain for good and was invited to a Barbecue by Yuki, who formally introduced him to everyone.
Avenge would occasionally arrive to help out Touya, Es, Mei and Nu in dealing with the Unions, mostly by incapacitating them if he could, which was a better change of pace for him. At the start of January, Avenge has vanished for a time while still assisting the Mitsurugi Agency from behind the scenes, but now he has reappeared before Touya.
"Mainly to speak with you about this 'Metal Man' I heard about." Avenge replied to Touya's shocked question.
"Ah, so you heard about that too." Touya said as he calmed hearing that Avenge already heard about it.
"Wait, how did you know about that? We haven't seen you since January." Touya inquired, wondering where the Bounty Hunter went too since he last saw him.
"First off, let's go somewhere more private then here. Than we can talk." Avenge said as he turned and walked to a nearby fire escaped and climbed up to the roof.
'A back alley isn't private enough?' Touya thought to himself as he shrugged and followed Avenge up to the roof top.
Amanohokosaka Residence [Mei's Room]
At 12:35 PM, after Es and Mei spoke with each other about the Shrine Maiden's doubts and got a notification that either Kuon or Elise is entering the Chat Room, the two girls sat down and opened up the chat, with Kuon appearing on the screen.
"Hi Es. Hi Mei." Kuon said to the two girls.
"Hello Kuon." Es replied back.
"Hey Witch." Mei also replied back, although she noticed a certain blue hair made is absent.
"Where's Elise?" Mei asked Kuon as her absence is strange as Elise would always try to remain close by her. She always considered Elise an unfortunate soul in regards to love as Kuon did not feel the way same Elise, nor did she 'swing' that way to begin with, but Mei figured it was best for Kuon to deal with that matter. Regardless, despite that, those two were still best friends and it looked weird not seeing her with Kuon.
"She went to go get Lady Zwei. She should be back soon, but why call us after we just talked yesterday?" Kuon asked out of curiosity, as they usually wait a week or two before speaking again. Unless...
"Did... did something happen over there?" Kuon asked the two out of concern, but right before they can explain.
"Kuon, I'm back! And I brought Lady Zwei with me!" Elise shouted as she came in with Zwei in tow.
"Oh, hey Es, hey Mei!" Elise said as soon as she noticed the Chat Room is in session.
"Hello Es, Mei." Zwei greeted the two girls.
"Elise, Ringo, hello." Es replied back to the two.
"Hello Elise, hello Zwei. Sorry to suddenly bring up another chat so soon, but there are some things we need to update the three of you on. You see..." Mei said as she and Es began to tell them what happened after they ended the Chat Room yesterday. From meeting Kiri again, dealing with a purse thief, dealing with a Union that they managed to save, Nu's developing free will and her desire to be human, and to top it off, a mysterious 'Metal Man' who's pursuing Es and Touya. Needless to say, this massive info dump left the three mages speechless as they did not anticipate a massive off-day happening to them some time AFTER having a tough discussion about Ishana's Gate of Sheol.
"Wow, Unions, former Ten Sages, mad scientists, resurrected serial killers and now a 'Metal Man'?" Zwei said as the idea of a man made entirely made out of metal was weird even for her.
"Man, that must have been rough, but it's good to hear Kiri is doing well. Not to mention that you saved and cured Ren of his Drive Crystal." Kuon followed up, happy to know Kiri has been doing better ever since he's been freed from Freaks and that another Union was saved in addition to actually being cured.
"What about the fact that the ninth Es-N Unit is developing self awareness!? That's pretty cool! Did you show her any anime and manga, maybe even show her what it means to be in love!?" Elise excitedly asked, letting her imagination run wild. Kuon could only laugh nervously while Zwei shook her head in amusement.
"Elise, please calm yourself. We didn't teach or show her any of that yet as Mei wanted us to take it slow with her." Es said as she tried to calm down her mage friend.
"Whew! *Ahem* S-sorry about that. It's just how often do you get to see a robot girl do something like that in an episode of an anime, I mean it's like seeing a real life Gundam!" Elise exclaimed as she couldn't help but geek out over this. Although, Mei wanted to tell Elise that someone DID make a real life Gundam, but she could tell and show her that another time.
"Oh, by the way Mei? I was able to speak with one of the new heads of the Magic Guild sometime yesterday and we managed to take a look into the notes about the Artificial Gate." Zwei said, causing Mei and Es' eyes to light up. Whether this was good news or not, any information about Ishana's Gate was worth having at this point. The two remained silent in eagerness to hear.
"After speaking with them, we found out one of the reasons it was made is to supply more seithr to allow easier use of magic, but considering seithr existed in small particles before this Gate was made, I believe Ishana will be fine without it." Zwei revealed what she and one of the new Magic Guild leaders found and discussed. Needless to say, this brought elation and relief to Mei, Es, Kuon and Elise.
"Really!? That's great Lady Zwei!" Kuon said in excitement as it means their home will be okay without the Gate once it's destroyed.
"We'll need to adapt to the changes from the flow of seithr to use magic, but as we said before, seithr will still exist in this world without the Gates, but adjustments are possible. The other reason for that Gate existing however, is a VERY good reason to get rid of it. Examining Ripper... I mean Freaks' corpse is one thing, but they used this Gate in an effort to study the Boundary and possibly utilize it's power for their own purpose." Zwei continued as she reveal a much more sinister purpose to this Gate, causing concern in the four girls.
"Yikes, so some of the old heads were like Unomaru?" Elise questioned out of concern. She didn't know Unomaru that well nor did she ever meet him, but from what she heard, it freaked her out that a man like him existed.
"I wouldn't go that far Elise, but toying with power they don't know about is concerning to say the least. Therefore, after talking it through with them and the fact that there are more pros then cons, the Mitsurugi Agency is given full clearance to come visit Ishana and remove this Gate from our home." Zwei said, giving Mei and Es the best news they heard all day. They can destroy the Artificial Gate with no danger to Ishana and Magic. Mei could only breathe a sigh of relief.
"This is great news, I'm sure this will relieve Touya once we tell him. Thank you Ringo." Es said with a grateful smile to the Former Ten Sage.
"It was my pleasure. It comes to show that seeking knowledge the old fashion is still the best method." Zwei said proudly in her pursuit of finding information in the way she believed.
"Zwei... thank you." Mei said with great gratitude, as she no longer needed to worry about putting Ishana's future in peril.
"So Ringo, what about the three of you coming over here?" Es asked, as Zwei mentioned that she would discuss things with the Magic Guild about the Gate and getting them permission to come, but also about a leave of absence to head over to Shin Yokosaki.
"I also spoke with them about and they have no issues with it. They're a lot more lenient and less paranoid about us leaving the island. So we should be there by tomorrow afternoon." Zwei finished what she has to say. However, Kuon and Elise were surprised by the sudden departure time.
"Holy-! Kuon, we need to pack up right away!" Elise said as she ran over to the closet to get their suitcases. After seeing her dash off, Kuon turned back to the screen.
"Mei, is there anything we can do to help over there?" Kuon asked, wondering what they can do to help.
"Well, aside from possible Unions, we'll need help in tracking down and dealing with the Metal Man. Plus, when you have time, maybe you can interact with Nu and help her develop as a person further." Mei replied, letting them know what to do.
"I would be more than happy to help with Nu and to deal justice to this metallic marauder." Kuon said with a confident smirk as Elise began to pack spare clothes and essentials as well as some manga and anime she owns.
"We'll see you soon. Be sure to let Touya and Hinata I got a new curry recipe ready too. Bye." Zwei said her goodbyes, bringing up her favorite topic at the end.
"O-oh! Bye Es! Bye Mei! See you tomorrow!" Elise said her goodbyes as she continued to get ready.
"Well, I better give Elise a hand. Es, Mei, I'll see you tomorrow. Oh and Es? Try not to hurt yourself until you heal, okay?" Kuon said her goodbyes while expressing concern for Es' well being, with the Azure Maiden nodding.
"Roger. I'll see you tomorrow." Es happily replied.
"Yeah, see you guys soon." Mei also happily replied as the Chat Room ended.
"This is great Mei, we're beginning to make progress." Es said to her friend as great relief filled her being.
"Yeah. That's definitely a load off my shoulders there." Mei replied, now relieved and hopeful with their mission starting to get off the ground.
"We should notify Kagari and the others as soon as we can." Mei said as the others need to be told about this development in addition to Kuon, Elise and Zwei coming.
"We can do that we head over to the Himezuru Residence tonight. For now, why don't we hang out and make up for lost time yesterday?" Es said, wanting to spend time with her friend before going back to the Himezuru Residence.
"Sure Es." Mei replied as the two began to watch some anime and play some games before heading over to the Himezuru Residence later around 5:00 PM.
Shin Yokosaki City [Downtown, Rooftop]
It was around 12:45 PM with Touya following Avenge across a couple of rooftops until they reached a specific rooftop where no one can see or overhear them. While Touya didn't get it at first, he understood that Avenge certainly had an idea why he would do this, so the young man opted to not question the Bounty Hunter on this decision.
"Here. We can speak here without any eyes to see us or any ears to overhear us." Avenge said as Touya began to understand why to speak here instead of in the alley way.
"I get it now. This building is between everything else, not to mention some of the ventilation machinery here shieds us from unsuspecting eyes and drowns out our voices outside of here, plus people wouldn't waltz up here unless it was for maintenance, which isn't supposed to occur today." Touya explained as Avenge nodded, relieved that the young man understood the reasoning behind choosing this spot. After looking around to be sure no one else was around, Touya cleared his throat before speaking.
"Alright, Avenge... or Kazuto?" Touya asked, not sure if he should call him by his real name or by his Bounty Hunter name.
"While on duty, Avenge is preferable. Save my real name for when we are outside of work." Avenge said, as he needed to keep his identity hidden from non-clients.
"Avenge then, so how do you know about the 'Metal Man'?" Touya asked, understanding the bounty hunter's need to keep his real name hidden.
"It has to do with an old client from Ishana. Apparently, they've visited the city some time ago, heard some rumors and even took a photo of this 'Metal Man'." Avenge explained what brings him back here.
"I thought you canceled your contract with the Magic Guild before Freaks murdered them." Touya asked in confusion as he knows Avenge is currently contracted with the Mitsurugi Agency, still helping out now and then despite the others not seeing him. They know he still helps by tying up Unions for the Agency or eliminating them if they entered Phase 5, but otherwise, no sign of him.
"I did, but this is from a mage who wanted to tour this city and no, this isn't related to those two mage girls or even Zwei if you were wondering." Avenge clarified, wanting to ease confusion from Touya's mind. He wondered who would come to this city besides Kuon, Elise and Ringo? He figured that it would be best to ask them when they come to visit again.
"Can I see the photo? I don't know anything about the 'Metal Man' yet. Just word of mouth from a random thug Akira overheard. All I know is that this man is looking for me and Es for some reason." Touya asked and explained to Avenge, clearing up a question the latter wanted to ask the former. In the end, Touya only got a heads up, but this gave Avenge a clue that this metallic being is interrogating random punks off the street and that he's trying to find Touya and Es for some unknown purpose.
With a nod, Avenge handed him the photo. It was blurry, but it showed a silver metallic being with cyan colored eyes, wearing noting but what appeared to be a light blue scarf. It struck Touya as strange, because if this is a robot, why wear clothing? It also appeared to be breaking through a window in the photo, meaning that this unknown mage caught a quick photo and bailed before the Metal Man spotted them.
"So he IS made of metal..." Touya said in awe as he couldn't believe it, but after all he's witnessed and been through, this isn't the strangest or unbelievable thing he's seen.
"You can take the photo if you want, I know what I need to search for and since I'm with the Mitsurugi Agency, the Shrine Maiden needs to be notified about this." Avenge said, allowing Touya to take the photo to show Mei.
"Okay, thank you, but I thought you needed to ask me something?" Touya replied while tucking the photo in his jacket, thinking it strange that Avenge didn't ask him a question in return.
"I was, but you confirmed that you didn't see the 'Metal Man', but you and your friend gave me a clue that he's interrogating the criminal element in addition to trying to track you and Es down." Avenge said as Touya was stunned that he answered the Bounty Hunter's question without being asked. Touya could only scratch his cheek nervously.
"Well then, when the next Union shows up or this 'Metal Man' appears, give me a call and I will assist you. I'll lead you back to the fire escape we climbed up." Avenge said as he and Touya went back the rooftops to where the fire escape was. With a wave, Touya proceeded to climb down the fire escape, but as he was about too...
"By the way, be sure to make Es happy or the Shrine Maiden will make you regret breaking her heart." Avenge said as Touya, his cheeks now red, turned to where Avenge stood, but he was gone as quick as a flash.
'W-was he watching us fight Ren!?" Touya thought to himself, but it does explain how he knows about him and Es tying the knot. Regaining his composure, Touya climbed back down and as he went back put into the street, he now noticed his watch said 1:00 PM.
"Shoot! I'm running late!" Touya said as he began to sprint back to the Himezuru for lunch.
'I"ll show the photo to Mei and Es along with the others when they come over tonight!' Touya thought as he began to make his way home while secretly hoping Avenge won't tell anything about him and Es, but somehow knew that he won't. Avenge is pretty secretive to begin with anyway...
The Wharf [Secret Laboratory]
Inside the Metal Man's secret laboratory, his equipment was scanning Touya's blood and Ni's blade, but instead of descending into madness, the Metal Man was now very calm as he played a piano he "borrowed" from one of the Wharf's shipments to pass his down time. He can't exactly go out during the day and he wanted to take his mind off things. He never played the piano before, but he figured why the hell not...
*Dong* *Don* *Ding* *Don*
After tapping a couple of the keys, he then began playing a somber mellow tune on the piano, using a music sheet downloaded into his robotic mind to play. After finishing, the Metal Man began to search through his mind about what he knows since his activation. While he knew who Touya, Es and everyone else are in addition to what his end goal is, he still draws up blanks and gaps in his digital memory.
'It's strange, I know that The Original Grimoire and Embryo Storage live in this city, but... I can't remember where they live, nor do I remember the passwords to get into Mitsurugi Agency HQ, not that they'd let a robot walk through the front door.' The Metal Man thought to himself, chuckling light heartedly at the crack at himself. The reason the robot asked around looking for Touya and Es was because he lost parts of his memory, including where they lived.
'I guess uploading my personality had some bugs and glitches. I was so focused on everything else back then that I forgot to iron it out.' The Metal Man continued as he recalled that back when he was human, he set up a contingency plan in case he died prematurely. He set up a secret lab with a copy of his personality an hour or two before his death, along with some notes to kickstart his memory. Unfortunately for him, the notes got scrambled and left him having to run around with what uncorrupted memories he had. Strangely, memories of Es were blank in his servos for a month until seeing a copy of her picture in his mainframe, rebooting it.
"And now after yesterday, my erratic behavior and... insanity... have dwindled significantly. Granted, I still want to take back what's rightfully mine and save this fractured world, but I'm... calm now." The Metal Man said aloud as he recalled his childhood from his human life. Back then, he would laugh at the irony of the traumatic situation, but now, he looks back at that memory with pity and some small sense of sadness. Guess dying and living as a robot would do that...
"I can't change the past now or even look back to it..." The Metal man said somberly as a chime appeared on Touya's blood sample. Upon taking a look, the name "Bloodedge" appeared on screen, causing the Metal Man's eyes to glow with intrigue.
"Bloodedge? I've heard of that before. The real Touya Kagari had that Drive, didn't he? It was immensely powerful, but dangerous and now the Grimoire can use it without risk to itself at all. Hmmm, I may need to rethink my strategy and perhaps, a test run of this body might be in order..." The Metal Man explained as he went over to his desk to rework parts of his master plan and to engage with his enemies.
"Soon, we shall see who's insane. Who the real hero and the real villain is. Just you wait..." The Metal Man said, just as darkly as before, but now with a calm mind and a renewed wicked purpose...
To Be Continued...
Sorry again it took, but we got another part done. With Kuon, Elise, Zwei and Avenge entering the main conflict with the Metal Man, we now have the major forces in play now.
With the Metal Man preparing to face our heroes, now with a calm and focused mind, things may become harder from here on out.
Also, the piano scene with the Metal Man is based off Heavy Rain's chapter "Jayden Blues" with the piano, down to the notes and song. So play that chapter/song if you want to know what the Metal Man played.
Stay tuned next time as we see more things to come.
Update: Grammer and spell check.