Another chapter, since it hasn't deviated too much from the original version of this fic yet. Though that'll be changing soon enough, lmao.
Joe Shimamura was enjoying the time he wasn't stuck fighting off threats like Black Ghost with the others quite a bit. Despite everything that had happened (or maybe because of it), it was nice to get a break every once in a while. Chang was happily running a restaurant, Great Britain assisting him and visiting it often; Francoise had picked up a few hobbies in town, including a few she could take Ivan to when he was awake; Doctor Gilmore was pretty hush-hush about what he was doing but he did seem to be enjoying himself…
It was nice. There was almost a sense of normalcy surrounding them and, well, he hoped that was the case for the cyborgs who'd separated from their group, too. They probably all needed times where they could feel at peace like this.
He walked down a path, the area covered in trees. It didn't seem a very walked path, but it was nice. A lot of nature around to see, animals to hear… Well, to a certain point. After a while, things seemed to get deadly quiet.
That was strange, he'd never seen that happen around here before… It was also kind of worrying, if he was being honest. What was making the sounds that had been nearly constant come to a halt? What was making the animals far and few between?
He was about to take a step off the path to try and see if he could find a clue of what was going on when a fist drove into his gut, with enough strength to make him stagger back. That was stronger than your average punch, was this some sort of cyborg…?
Out from between the trees stepped a man, dressed in black motorcycle suit. His gloves and boots were white, though not a spec of dirt touched them, as if he hadn't been trudging through the woods. The only color to accent his clothes were the yellow buttons on his jacket and a yellow ascot tied around his neck.
His eyes were covered with shades, though the grin on his face told Joe that was face to face with someone who was pretty cocky. Maybe he could use that to his advantage.
"You should turn back now." The man spoke up, pointing towards the way Joe had come. "I have no interest in fighting someone like you, and going any further'll just get you into trouble."
Joe frowned, that confirmed something was going on here. "I'm not going to turn back that easily."
The man clicked his tongue, approaching Joe. "Then I guess I'll have to make you."
Without another word, the man threw his leg around, trying to catch Joe in the side of the face. The cyborg was barely able to dodge the attack as he chewed on the idea of using his accelerator. It'd probably help make this go faster, but at the same time, he didn't want to wear himself out too fast. There could be more after this man, after all.
So he decided against using it, at least for now. He'd been able to dodge the attack when he saw it coming easily enough, after all.
At that point he decided it was time to at least try and go on the offensive. He needed to get through this man to see what was hiding just off the path. He took a running start at him and threw a punch of his own, bringing it up into the man's chin.
The man took a step back, rubbing his jaw. "Not bad, you're stronger than I would've expected some random passerby to be…"
He moved in on Joe again, grabbing him by the hair and flinging him to the side. He was able to recover quickly enough, but his back hurt when he slammed into the trunk of a tree. Wasting no time, Joe took another run at the man, centering a kick right on the side of his face.
His sunglasses went flying and Joe caught a glance of the man's eyes before he went after them. Red, definitely inhuman. They were replaced too quickly for him to gleam much else, however.
The man regained himself quickly after that, bearing down on Joe once again. He shoved his shoulder into him, as if trying to throw him off balance with the sudden force. Joe had to admit, it did send him stumbling.
Enough so that the man almost brought his arm down against the back of Joe's neck… Only to stop suddenly, gripping at his head.
"Not now…" He began to stumble back towards the place in the trees he appeared from. "Bijinder and Waruder'll just have to deal with you…"
With that, he moved out of view and was replaced by two others. A short haired woman who didn't seem that excited to be here, and another man with sunglasses who seemed much more excited about this.
At that point Joe decided there were probably enough of them that he couldn't even scout it on his own. Hell, there could be others creeping around any corner… So he activated acceleration mode and got out of there as fast as he could. Hopefully without being followed.
Soon enough, the home was back in view. Francoise seemed to be leaving, likely to go to that ballet club she had recently joined, but Joe wasted no time ushering her back inside. She was clearly confused, but didn't argue as he shut and locked the door.
Gilmore, however, took no time speaking up when he saw them. "003, didn't you just leave to attend your club? And 009, you look as if you've seen a ghost!"
Joe shook his head. "Not a ghost, but I think a cyborg or an android or something…? And then more of them."
"More? Around here?" Francoise gasped as she moved to Joe's side. "We hadn't had anything like that happen recently…"
"I know, but I'm certain. The first one was too strong and too durable to be completely human." He frowned, moving to sit on the couch. "And when he ran off, he seemed certain the others who'd come up could do what he was doing."
"How odd…" Gilmore frowned, concern clear on his face. "Was anything else out of place."
"The further down the path I went, the less noises there were. I think somethings is hidden out there."
"003, would you see if you can pick up on anything?" Gilmore looked to the woman.
She nodded and soon enough, she was focusing. Francoise frowned as the two men watched on, waiting for any information she would be able to relay to them… But she simply sighed, shaking her head.
"I can't pick anything up. It's either out of range or they're broadcasting a jamming signal to keep anyone like me out." She gave them a sympathetic frown. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright, that just means we'll have to go about this some other way…" Gilmore hummed in thought. "I think it would be best to call the other cyborgs. This could very well be an emergency in the making."
Joe nodded. It definitely could be… And it'd be better to be together, with strength in numbers. Less chance of any of them being hurt or caught off guard that way. "I guess we should make some phone calls, then."
Francoise nodded. "I'll go see if Ivan is still sleeping."
"Thank you, 003." Gilmore looked back to Joe. "009, assist me in calling the others back here, please. The sooner they all know, the better."
Joe nodded, heading for the nearest phone. He'd start with Chang and Great Britain, they needed to know to be careful on their way back that night.