Chapter 29
"Wow… I didn't think you would drag it all the way home!"
Garou froze at the sight of the massive demonic bull. However, Yuuma was pouting. "I was going to kill it." He muttered. Yet by the sounds of it, as Yuuma made his way to deal with the monster, his brother Titan was already there and applying the death coil on it. He was too little too late and Titan proudly brought the beast back home, even dragging it up the mountain.
"How on earth did you accomplish that?! I doubt that thing would fit in the stairway!" Melee demanded.
Titan's chest puffed out proudly. "I found another way up and carried it!"
"I could have done that…" muttered Yuuma.
"Well, let's take this to the spar pit and cook it up. Suiryu is hungry which means your sister is hungry…"
Titan wasted little time, he effortlessly brought this monster up over his shoulder and began to carry it to the pit. Melee went inside to get Suiryu who was still hungry after the massive meal she made for him. Yet the moment his eyes saw that demonic cow, he rushed for it. Titan just got out of the way as fire erupted from Suiryu's mouth and he began to roast it within the pit. "Wow… I didn't know he could breath fire!" said Yuuma.
"I didn't either," said Melee. "Oh, how did your rehearsal go?"
Yuuma shrugged. "We played great, but I don't know if we got in, we won't know until next week to say the least. But there are a lot of other bands, I don't know if we are going to make it in."
"Oh you will, you got talent," Garou insisted. "If not, just sing anyways and post it online, make your own music career on the internet. You wouldn't be the first to do that."
"Wow. Great idea dad!"
Garou was about to continue until the smell of roasted beef began to fill the air. "Mmm, that does smell damn good."
"You want one, hunt it yourself. Suiryu is going to eat all of that no doubt." Said Melee.
"Yeah, he's been eating well for Alley and himself… he's okay with it?"
Melee sighed. "We had a heart to heart, he's scared, and there's no doubt about it. But he doesn't want to lose Alley. He confessed to me that he felt he isn't cut out for this, being half monster and a father. Yet, he is enduring…"
Garou nodded, despite it all. Even though Suiryu likes to be a show off, center of attention kind of guy. When it comes to Alley, he is far more settled. He cares for her deeply, so much so Garou is even shocked when he learned he rather be half monster for her sake. Suiryu's greatest fear was being unable to hold Alley in his arms again. With the fire dying down, Suiryu suddenly tore into the fallen monster, the meat ripped right off the bone with ease.
It was rather an amazing yet gruesome sight to say the least. "Damn, I have been rubbing off on him!" Garou said with a smirk.
"At least he takes sensible bites." Muttered Melee.
Suiryu devoured his prey within the hour, after he was full and satisfied yet couldn't move. It was cute though, Titan went down, coiled around him and let him sleep. "Titan, I can move him back into the house." Melee said gently.
"Don't move him, he's just settled in." Titan said in a whisper. "I'll take care of him mom, it's okay."
She smiled to him. "Okay, I am going to move you closer to the house though. Just in case if it rains or it gets too chilly."
Titan nodded as Melee esper lifted him and Suiryu up and brought them to the manga tree. There at least he could read if he wanted to as Suiryu rested up. "Well, that kid is a cuddler isn't he?" Garou said and smirked. "Got to admit, he's the best security blanket one could ask for!"
"Yeah, no kidding, look at Suiryu too. He's comfy!"
There was an odd smile on the face of Suiryu, he slept rather blissfully in the coils of Titan. Still, Garou wondered why Titan enjoys doing something like this…
#
KABOOM
"DAMN IT!"
"One more! One more and I swear to Boros I will wreck the place before you two find it!"
It had become a friendly contest among the cyborgs. Street, Knuckle and Bun-Bun had been spending their days taking out the labs of 106. So far it's 3-2. The brothers have been more efficient in taking out the labs than Bun-Bun much to her dismay.
"Sure thing, in fact we will give you a twenty minute head start!" Knuckle announced.
"Twenty minutes!" she protested. "This is a contest, not a pity party" She then paused. "Something's coming…"
The three stood at the ready, weapons drawn as they waited for whatever was approaching to come closer. "I'm not sensing organic… wait… a little bit… a cyborg?" Knuckle asked aloud.
He then appeared. His one infrared eye scanning the facilities until its sights came upon the three. "Drive Knight?" asked Bun
"Who?" asked the Brawlers.
"Who are your three?" Drive Knight demanded as he pulled out a rather large looking metal box. "Answer now, or be destroyed!"
"Yeah, nice luggage. We're Street and Knuckle Brawler. This here is Bun-Bun Bomb from the Association." Knuckle stated. "We're cyborgs, like you, question is, are you following us?"
"How do I know you don't work for the organization?" Drive Knight demanded.
"The what?" asked Bun.
"Like the Monsters association from what I read, but they are mainly cyborgs and robots." Street explained. He paused. "Why the hell would we work for them when they are constantly attacking our niece!?" he demanded. "Alley Brawler, Garou and Melee's daughter… Our sister is Melee… get the resemblance now?"
Drive Knight's guard lowered slightly. "Apparently they make anyone into a cyborg these days…" he settled himself. "Now, question is, why are you three here?"
"We could ask you the same thing. If you must know, we've been knocking over labs from the house of evolution. Some clones have taken up the cause and we are here to put them down. We like to make a game of it… I'm winning." Knuckle said proudly.
"As if!" protested Bun.
"You are behind, you got to catch up Bun," Street said with a smirk.
"If you three are quite done…"
The three paused as they turned to see Drive Knight some how sound annoyed to this conversation. "The Association… Perhaps I should visit the one in charge then…"
"That ain't happening for a few months to say the least." Knuckle laughed. "Besides, I am sure you were invited, but never replied until now. What's wrong? Got oil on the brain or something?"
Drive Knight said nothing. He began looked about and surveyed the damage. "You are mocking the whole process of these take downs." He stated. "In fact you three are acting like children."
"Are not!" protested Knuckle and Bun. But they snickered at the same time.
"You should take this far more seriously. As well, you have yet to be gathering up evidence against the house of evolution for their crimes. What have you kept from these raids?" he questioned.
"I've been recording the data to say the least and any notes we find we are keeping on hand for Alley when she is able to look them over. Whatever tests are in here are destroyed." Street explained.
Drive Knight however began to glare at him, almost piercing him with his gaze. "Are you truly?" he demanded.
"Why would I lie about it?" Street asked. "Now, you going to join us or do your own thing?"
Drive Knight didn't stay, he decided to move along and see what use he could be elsewhere. When he left, Knuckle took a deep breath and appeared rather bewildered to him. "No personality what so ever. Thank GOD an alien knew to keep that with us!"
"No shit." Said Bun. But she paused. "You…"
Street put his finger to his lip, Bun instantly stopped talking, knowing to take the hint. "Let's keep going."
He knew she wanted to talk about the other lab they came across. One that they didn't knock over but learned existed. It happened just a few weeks ago in fact. They were on the hunt for a lab that was in their data banks, however the location was odd. Not to mention, the notes recorded of this particular place were nothing like the others. "You got this, these notes, these aren't his typical ones 106 kept on tests. These are observation and weak points." Knuckle said.
Street nodded his head in agreement. The notes were assessing entry points as well as weak spots within the lab itself, however they were mere guesses. He hasn't used this one but it is active. "In City R of all places too, Amai's turf."
Knuckle nodded. "I don't think we knock this over, but merely knock and see if anyone is home." He announced.
Street agreed.
They found the hidden entrance in a dead end alleyway. Knuckle was quick to find the hidden door, a few press of the bricks and the pathway was revealed. The brothers took their time descending the stairs. "Huh, this place is really out of the way isn't it?" Knuckle said, but as they reached the bottom, there was a massive steel door. But also there was a speaker. Knuckle smirked as he approached. "Hello? Anyone home? The name is Knuckle Brawler. Can we talk? We ain't here to hurt anyone if you please."
There was no answer, and yet, the door opened.
The brothers froze as the path revealed itself. Opening into a stainless steel lab, and mysterious beings were all over the place along with clones that looked a lot like Genus! The place was at a stand still as the brothers walked in. Yet standing before them was a massive being that appeared more spider than man! "Who the hell are you!" he demanded.
"Knuckle Brawler, this is my bro Street… huh… how do we explain this…"
"We are currently taking out labs from 106, however this one was in his data bank. The notes we got on this place weren't of tests results and usage, but weak points, locations of entrances and possibly the number of people residing here…" Street explained.
Suddenly, the room appeared devastated.
"He… found us…" one clone whispered as he fell to his knees. "Where are we going to go now!"
"Take it easy 47,"
"How can I Eights!"
"Eights?" Knuckle asked.
The spider like man sighed. "My name… why are you telling us this?" he asked.
Street sighed. "You aren't harming anyone to our knowledge. In fact…" he paused and took in the room before nodding. "You have not harmed an innocent life since coming here. I am aware some of you have killed people, but murderers and what not to survive. We're cool with that. But the fact remains, 106 is eyeing you all and with us putting the squeeze on him, it won't be long until he comes knocking."
Eights nodded in agreement. "But… where do we go?" he asked. "We have nowhere else to turn to. No one will accept something like us walking the streets, we… we are as good as dead anyways."
"Hey, hey! We won't tolerate quitter talk!" protested Knuckle. "You guys ain't done for, we're going to help you"
The room froze, confused in a sense to his words. "Help us? Why would you help us? We're from the house of evolution! Half of the people here are clones of Dr. Genus, the other half are his experiments! Me included!" Eights stated.
"So?" asked Street. "Look man, in case you haven't noticed, we're not exactly people ourselves. We're cyborgs."
Eights paused but then nodded. "That's right… I don't smell any blood in you at all!"
"See, we're on similar playing fields here, but we are still gonna help you." Knuckle announced, he then began to think over where to bring everyone, but an idea soon struck. "Is Alley still using that place?" he asked Street.
"Not for a long time."
"It's heavily fortified…"
"Yeah, and we can increase security…"
"What are you two talking about?" one of the clones demanded.
Street smirked. "Pack your bags, you are all gonna come with us!"
They spoke with Melee and Garou on the situation, the two were hesitant to do anything since neither one knew of this hidden branch of the house of evolution, yet they heard Dr. Genus speak up for them in the background. "When you and Melee were kidnapped by 106, they were the ones who helped me find you" he stated.
"Good enough for me. Yeah, take them there." Garou announced. Street and Knuckle helped move the whole facility into the old lab of Metal Knight. There they would have security and a place to stay, as well, Alley made certain the place was rather hack proof and could defend if need be. They were also directly connected to the Association, a hidden path can be used to go back and forth if needed.
They had to do the move discreetly, however Street and Knuckle already knew 106 has probably caught wind of their sudden departure. Despite it, they brought everyone to the lab. There the clones and even some of the former test subject were impressed to it all. "This is the lab of Metal Knight…" one clone whispered.
"It was… Our niece now owns it, however she won't be using it for a while, so you guys can hang tight here and stay safe until we deal with the other branches of the house of evolution. For now, I think we have forced 106 to regroup, however I also don't know if perhaps we are pushing him to go farther with his tests…" Knuckle explained.
"If that's the case, we will help you!" Eights announced. "106 was one of the worst when it came to tests, he was never satisfied, even if it meant losing his subject and his possible success on said test subject… I lost too many good friends…"
"I'm sorry for your loss." Said Street. "We will accept your help if need be, but for now. Stay here, get comfortable and I'll show you how the communication system works so you can call us if you need anything."
They spent a few hours showing the clones how to call for help or even take out! However, all projects and tests that Alley was working on have been moved to the Association under lock and key. When the brothers were about to depart, Eights approached them and put out his hands, all six right hands he possessed. "Thank you," he simply said.
Knuckle smirked as he tried to shake all six, but gave up on the notion. "No problem. Take care,"
Since then, it's been a little secret between Street, Knuckle, Melee, Garou and now Bun-Bun who accidently overheard them. It was why Street hushed her the moment Drive Knight left. That particular cyborg rubs him the wrong way, and Street's on edge of him.
Until he can prove to be trust worthy, neither one of the brothers will let him in on their plans, not unless absolutely necessary!
Yet since their lab thrashing started, Street has noticed someone following them, and keeping a closer eye on him and his brother. Now he knows his stalker, but the question remains as to why?
Knuckle sneers at the notion. "It's because of him I haven't been able to make a move on Tatsu." He muttered.
"Tatsu?" asked Bun.
"He wants to ask out Tatsumaki." Street explained.
Bun was shocked. "You got a death wish?!" she demanded. Then paused, her head nodded. "King even agrees with me, you out of your mind!?"
Knuckle smirked and shrugged. "I like strong women. Besides, if she ain't interested in kids, I shoot blanks!"
"Oh God…" muttered Bun.
"Bro, please" Street begged.
"What?! It could be a selling point for a relationship."
"Let's keep going… I get a head start right?" Bun asked.
"Twenty minutes if you want it."
Bun pouted. "Just ten is fine,"