Have the fourth instalment for this fic :)

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Rating: Mature for fighting scenes n the like, just to be safe

Warnings: none.

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Chapter 04

As he walked to the 7/11, Genji's mood was at an historical low.

He'd spent the night rolling around in his bed, unable to get any decent sleep, and if not for the fact that he'd agreed to meet with Jesse, he would not have left the base at all –let alone his bedroom.

The previous day and the conversation with the Cultist was the only thing he could focus on, and he could not understand why he felt so upset about that monster, only that he was.

It also left him with a bitter taste in his mouth, and the nagging feeling that he had no idea how to address the situation. Jesse had known Stephanie longer than he had, and though professional, they had been more friendly with one another than Genji had been with her, so he somehow felt Jesse had the right to know what had happened to her, and yet…

He could not tell him.

Genji had not met with the Cultist –Green sentai had. So Genji was not supposed to know that Stephanie was gone for good, that the Cultist had… that he had…

No, he was not supposed to know, but he was the only one who knew. The sting of this truth was perhaps what bothered him the most.

It hurt.

A part of Genji wondered if it hurt because of all the people Genji heard had been targeted by the Cultist, none of them he had known personally, or had ever seen before. They were numbers, a toll that Genji considered yet could not truly grasp… but he had known Stephanie.

Was this bad, then –that it was only now he felt the cold truth of the Cultist's nature clashing with whatever feeling Genji had about him? He had no idea.

Genji barely remembered getting back to the base, though he had; he also remembered Winston sending Lucio with a proper protection to put the orb into, and he remembered giving it away as quickly as he could without arousing suspicions, wanting to get rid of it. He had not wanted to look at it anymore, disgusted and angry, the idea of having on him something that belonged to the Cultist making his stomach twist.

Afterwards, he had avoided Angela's eyes. She would understand something had happened if he did, and he did not want to address it, the anger too strong, the frustration too complete for him to be able to look at it rationally.

He did not want to admit she had been right about the Cultist.

Genji did not know why the truth stung so much… he was just a stupid idealist, after all.

Jesse was waiting for him in front of the 7/11. His shift had just ended, and they had plans to grab something to eat, and he looked… happy. Carefree, smiling.

He had no idea that his co-worker was dead, murdered in cold blood by an irredeemable monster.

"'lo, Genji! You look like someone kicked your dog! Well, if you had one."

He waggled his eyebrows, expecting Genji to make one of his usual quips. Genji wasn't really in the mood for that, so instead he just lifted one hand in greeting and slumped against the wall, feeling exhausted and the day had just started.

Maybe he should have tried to train a bit instead, working this helplessness by fighting against some training bot might have helped with his mood…

"Man, sure looks like you're having a shit day." Jesse wrapped one arm around Genji's shoulder, tugging him away from the wall and down the street. "Here, let me offer you a drink buddy. It's on me! And you know why? Hmm?" though Genji did not even look at him, Jesse continued talking as if nothing was wrong, his grip on Genji's shoulder steely. "I got paid! Boss said the sentai popped around with our money! Looks like everything's fixed!"

Genji knew he should at least make an attempt to look happy for his friend –he knew Jesse worked hard and was trying to cheer him up, but…

He just couldn't.

He'd known Stephanie. She had been such a happy, cheerful person, always chatting up with Genji, poking fun at him being single when she was happy with her girlfriend, putting aside things she knew he loved so he could buy them next time he popped around the 7/11…

And now she was… gone. Dead.

Her being a thief would have been better than her being…

Jesse looked at his face, unsure what was wrong but unwilling to let his friend linger in such a mood.

"Y'know, I shouldn't tell you this, but…" Jesse tugged him closer and slouched some more to whisper in Genji' s ear, sounding like he was going to share some secret. Usually, he would bat at Jesse's face and joke about his beard tickling him, but this time, he simply sighed, and waited for Jesse to continue. "I got a call this morning, right before work."

"Ah? Did they call you back from Starbucks?"

Jesse grunted. "No, not yet, but if they do I'm dropping my other job right away, I tell you. No, but… listen, you can keep a secret right?"

Genji straightened his back and peered at Jesse's face, reflecting his serious tone with his own deadpan look. "You could ask no better person, Jesse," and offered him the smallest smile.

"Good, 'cause it's one hell of a secret and you got to keep it, alright? I'm trusting you with this Genji."

He pushed Jesse's head on the side, amused at his friends antics and aware he was most likely doing this to cheer him up. "Yeah, yeah, tell me, don't keep me hanging then!"

"Well then… Stephanie called me."

It took a few seconds for Genji to process Jesse's words, and when they did, he stopped dead, and Jesse almost stumbled forwards, catching himself just in time.

"I… wh… what?"

"Listen, I know–" Jesse misinterpreted Genji's choked voice and hurried to explain. "She stole from the shop and ran away, and called me before I found out we got our money back but…" Jesse scratched the back of his head, sounding almost sheepish. "She said she was sorry. Said she had some trouble with her finances and her girlfriend and they were runnin' away, but that she felt rotten for doin' that to us. Said things would sort out. I thought it meant she wanted to pay us back at some point, then I got to work and the money was there, so…" Jesse shrugged. "Y'know, she was wrong, but… things can go shitty for everyone, 'n I'm not one to hold a grudge. We've all been in… bad situations before. Sometimes all you need is a good word from someone, doesn't matter who."

Genji might have noticed the tone in his voice, and the faraway look he got in his eyes, but he was far too preoccupied with wrapping his mind around what Jesse had said to notice much else.

"I shouldn't have told you, she's gone and isn't coming back, but I thought maybe you've been worried, and angry. She was sort of your friend too."

Jesse was still smiling, but he must have noticed something in Genji's expression, because he paused. "Really, Genji, what the hell's wrong with you? I'm starting to get worried."

Swallowing hard, Genji looked into Jesse's face. Searching for something, anything, that would let him know if Jesse was lying. He did not look like it. "When… when did you say she called you?"

"This morning, couple hours before I started work."

"But that's–" Genji stopped, biting on his tongue enough to hurt.

He thought back, thoughts scrambled and hard to catch, and tried to remember –what did the Cultist say?

He'd said he'd killed her, he'd said…

Why did he lie?

"She will not be seen around here anymore, that much is certain."

He had… he'd not said he'd killed her.

He'd sounded… certain, and Genji had assumed… but no, the Cultist had been playing jokes with him, but… why? He had committed so many crimes before, Genji shouldn't have expected any less from him, so then… why not kill a lone human who had happened upon him, instead of letting her go to pick up the money she'd dropped?

How was Stephanie alive, and if she'd truly seen that creature, then… how could she sound so normal, and regretful, enough to call Jesse the next day, believing everything would be alright?

The same feeling as before, the one that had been pushed down by his anger, resurfaced like a punch in the guts, and Genji tried to wrap his mind around the Cultist's mind tricks.

Surely he couldn't have known the human he'd let go –and why did he do that?– would have called back, nor that the sentai he'd met was Genji, or that he would, in such a roundabout way, find out that she was alive.

He'd made it sound like he had killed her, and had no problem making a sentai believe it, as well.

Genji couldn't even begin to unravel what that meant, no matter how much he tried to think about it.

All he understood was that the Cultist had twisted a truth in such a way that his fame as a cruel monster only grew. If he'd done it on purpose, just to make the sentai afraid, then it could… almost make sense, except then he would have killed Stephanie anyway.

Monsters had no remorse.

This made no sense.

Inside him, his dragon brushed against his consciousness, as if it wanted to say something –yet, Genji could not understand what.

Then the dragon was gone, and Genji shook his head.

"Thank you Jesse, for telling me. I… I'm glad she called you."

"So it was Genji who found it. Hasn't said much about it, though –perhaps the orb still had some remnants of the owner's powers lingering around it, though by the time he got it to me, there was none left."

Winston looked up from the paper he was holding and to the reinforced glass cover that surrounded the orb Genji had brought back.

It was hovering inside the dome, blinking, but the eye was fixated on an empty spot, unable to see anything with the amount of masking Winston had prepared to store the orb safely, just in case the Cultist tried something despite the distance between him and his weapon.

It had taken Winston a few hours to prepare the cage, putting all his knowledge to work, and it showed.

The dome was almost invulnerable –it would withstand incredible force applied to it, special attacks on par with Hana's Mecha assault mech, or even the strength of Genji's dragon. Nothing could pass through the glass, so even the nanomachines would be unable to slip through and get free. It was impenetrable unless he removed the two small sensors at the base that kept the energy running over the entire surface, and even those could only be disabled using specific codes only Winston had –or Athena.

The Cultist would not be able to get the orb back, not without knowing all that, and also the location of their base –and if he knew that, it would not matter that the orb was safe as none of them would be anymore.

Winston was proud, with how little time he'd been given to come up with enough protections to safely meet up with Genji to get the orb.

"Fascinating… and you say it is composed by… nanomachines?" the holographic screen in front of him returned the image of a middle aged, distinct-looking woman in a white lab coat, a pair of heterochromatic eyes over a sharp nose and thin lips pursed in a small frown.

Winston hummed, glancing up before looking back down at the orb. "Ah, yes. Genji said the orb is either covered with them or made entirely by them. Its structure appears to be… not quite stable, but not as volatile as I'd expect. The nanites seem to be rather… hi-tech, actually."

"Hmmm. Is that so? I would truly like to… run my own experiments on it, as soon as possible."

Winston did look up then, straightening his back –as much as he could– before tapping a finger on his own glasses. "Ah, yes. Of course. But it might be a while, still. I have only ran a couple preliminary tests, and I do not trust moving this weapon yet, not with the threat of the Cultist following it. Surely you understand, Moira."

Her expression turned sharply from the slowly floating orb to him, and the look was almost enough to make him flinch, though he resisted the impulse. Then, she sighed, and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her lithe fingers.

"Of course, I understand. Precaution comes first. Yet, this orb… intrigues me, and I wish to unravel what secrets it holds."

"Yes, I know you have written a few essays on the topic of… nanites, in the past." Winston wrinkled his nose, and checked the graphs on the computer screen on the side, the ones that monitored the orb. "Nonetheless, the dangers of, uh, moving the orb right now outweigh everything else. We have no idea if it's dangerous by itself or if the Cultist will be able to activate it from afar, even with my protections. I will make sure to run all the needed tests before sending it over to you. It might answer our questions without disassembling it, and we might not know how to put it back together –or if it would allow us to. Nanites can be… volatile."

"You do not need to tell me that, Winston," Moira's voice sounded almost scathing before her lips smoothed out of her frown. "If nothing else, I have quite a bit of interest in its owner as well. The creature you call the Cultist." There was a weird glint in her eyes, and Winston did not envy that monster –if someone like Moira decided to get interested, it would be difficult even for such a creature to come out of it unscathed. "It has been left unsupervised far too long, if you say he has been collecting… a following." She glanced away from the orb to fix Winston with a glare. "There have been a few cases around the world with creatures attempting to create… alliances, so to speak, but we have dashed their hopes before they could grow to be too dangerous. It surprises me you have allowed this one to fester for so long."

Winston sighed, feeling the brunt of her dissatisfaction like the feeling of ants crawling over his fur.

"It has been rather busy these past few months, and the Cultist is… quite evasive. We have been monitoring the situation, and as long as it lays low, it is not so easy to pinpoint where he must be hiding."

"Ridiculous." Moira made a sharp gesture with her wrist, dismissive. "If he has been gathering an army, they have to be somewhere. The city might be big, but not big enough to hide an entire coalition of monsters. He must be truly… powerful… to keep them all in line, enough that not a single one of them has been seen since he whisked them away."

Startled by her words, Winston glanced away from his graphs to stare at her, then down at the orb, then back at her. "That is correct. My calculations that he has set up a secret place in the outskirts might not be too far off from the, uh, actual answer. We have no way of knowing."

"What are your sentai even doing, when they aren't chasing monsters down? Sitting there, twiddling their fingers? What a waste. There are far more creatures appearing nowadays than there were last year. They are coming from somewhere, and your attempts to… send them back… aren't truly fixing the problem at its roots. We must find better ways to deal with them."

It took Winston a certain degree of self-control not to answer the obvious provocation. It was a point of contention between them, as it had always been, that she treated the heroes employed under her control as paws, rather than agents, people to trust –friends. Moira squeezed their usefulness until they could no longer be used, but unfortunately for him, her methods were giving more results overall… which was why she was in control of a bigger division.

With a grunt, Moira looked back at the orb. "If your monster has been setting up a cult to his name, and has been hiding those creatures somewhere, maybe… his true powers are not just for fighting. Maybe they deal with a connection between this world… and theirs. We must study his weapons, and then we must find a way to catch him."

Winston's hands fumbled with the stack of paper he was holding, almost making it fall, a few sheets slipping from his grip to flutter to the floor.

"I… I had not thought about that at all, but it could explain why there have been no sightings of monsters we've encountered that he stole from us. If so…" he glanced down at the orb, narrowing his eyes. "It might be imperative to focus on understanding what kind of powers this orb has, if there is a connection to its owner, and if the negative emotions it causes are somehow linked to something greater."

"Yes, study it –but if nothing comes from your analysis, then you must give it up to those who can truly grasp what secrets lie hidden within its depths. Winston, we have science and technology on our side. If you cannot unlock the orb's power as soon as possible, leave it to me. I will come to retrieve it, and work it out myself."

"It will not be necessary." Feeling somewhat possessive over the one possible hint they had over the Cultist's powers, let alone his identity, Winston was not as keen to let it slip from his fumbling fingers –not to the likes of Moira, at least.

She might be a capable, genial scientist, but… he'd never truly liked her. So maybe it was just his personal bias talking, yet… he wished to move at his own pace.

"We'll have to see. You have a week, Winston. Otherwise, I'll have to make… a personal trip myself. I feel like you might need all the help you can get."

The communication cut off, and not a second too late, as Genji made his way inside the lab in a hurry.

"Oh, Genji! Welcome back! I thought you'd gone with, uh, your friend?"

Genji blinked and looked up. He had been focused entirely on the orb, almost not noticing Winston's presence there, but when he saw him, his shoulders slumped a little.

"Ah, yeah, but I… he had something else to do, so I came back early. Who was calling just now? Gabriel?"

"No, he hasn't called in a bit, actually, uh," Winston scratched his cheek, gently putting down the stack of papers back on the table. "I wish. No, it was Moira."

"… oh." Genji did not bother to hide the displeased grimace.

"Yeah, well. She's quite interested with our new freeloader here," Winston jabbed one finger at the orb, and Genji's attention zoomed on it again. "I might be unable to offer much company for the rest of the week, if we don't find out something good about it, she's going to visit to do it herself." He paused, hesitated, then added "in fact, I believe she will come regardless, so… uh. When did Angela have her exams again?"

"I'm not telling her!" Genji took a step back, raising both hands in a defensive position. "Listen, call Fareeha. We can work for a weekend without Angela, it's not a problem."

"She might want to stay for longer than just a weekend, I fear." Winston frowned, his expression stormy. "She expressed a particular, uh, interest on the Cultist."

Genji stiffened. "Do you think she wants to try and… do things her way?"

"Probably. We've had no luck with finding the Cultist at all, so far. She could offer aid we sorely need, bring some agents to spread around the city. It'd free some of your time, and uh, allow you all to focus more on the other monsters."

"It's not her responsibility to deal with that creature!" Genji caught himself before he could yell, but it did not stop the sharp edge from bleeding into his voice anyway.

"Genji." Winston's stern voice made him stutter. "It is not about that. I understand how you feel about this city, how much pride you take in being able to protect the citizens here, but…" he hesitated, pushing his glasses up his nose with two big fingers, "We have to think about the casualties that could happen if the Cultist chose to attack with his army. If Moira decides to hunt him down, then… let her."

It was obvious from his tone that he disliked the idea, and that he did understand Genji's feelings, but he had to be responsible, as he should. Genji's hands curled into tight fists at his side, and again, a flicker of something burned its way through his chest.

Neither Genji nor Winston noticed the small spike in the graphs on the screen, though later, when alone, Winston would puzzle about it, not knowing its cause.

"What if… what if he won't?"

"That is incredibly irresponsible to choose to believe, Genji. He is a monster, and Angela is right. Believing in the best of people, of omnics –it's one thing. But such creatures are not… not like the rest of us."

Genji looked at the orb again, feeling at loss.

"I will have to try and prepare more of these," Winston, already turning his attention back to his work, jammed his far-too-big fingers on the keyboard of his computers, tapping away. "If we could find a way to remove more of these weapons from the Cultist, we might weaken him enough… oh! I could try to see if I can track him through these–"

He barely noticed Genji leaving the room, far too engrossed in his calculations to pay much attention.

"Oi, what wriggled in your suit and got you so upset?"

Genji straightened his back and looked at what was left of the park after he had completed the exorcism of the monster, feeling drained and peeved.

"What?"

Behind him, the Masked Vigilante shuffled closer, twirling his pistol expertly in his hand before sliding it back at his side. "You've got a mask on but anyone can see you've got things on your mind, Green sentai. Want to talk things out?"

With a sigh, Genji made an aborted motion to rub at his face with his hand, realising he could not do that with a mask on. "Nothing, it's just…"

"… long day?"

"No. I mean… not any longer than normal."

It had been an easy mission, all things considered –a simple monster slipping undetected into a park, terrorizing people, so he'd been sent on his own, and the Masked Vigilante had happened to be there as well, so they had joined forces. Nothing too stressful.

"Then I'd suggest you to rent a masseur, the tension in your back's so visible you could use it to sharpen your blade."

Genji snorted. "That's horrible."

"Why, thank you, I do my best to always offer the worst jokes around. If not me then, who?" he wriggled his eyebrows, and Genji had to chuckle at that. "Now, want to spill?"

Genji kicked a pebble and watched it roll among the debris.

It was true he could not bring up his doubts about the Cultist with his team anymore without making them more worried about him, and Winston, who might have wished to listen to him normally, was far too busy studying the orb to give him much time, so… talking with the Masked Vigilante might actually help, in a way.

He was not one of the sentai, but was still a hero… though Genji was not sure what he looked for, either. He was the first who kept second guessing himself, and having yet another person tell him off for being willing to give a monster a chance would only worsen his mood.

Yet, Genji could not stop thinking about it, now more than ever before.

So, he spilled everything. Or well –as much as he could tell his fellow hero without compromising his own identity as Genji. He told the Masked Vigilante about the Cultist, and how somehow he got the feeling that things were not as they seemed. He explained about his gut feeling, but kept under wraps the situation with Stephanie, not wishing to disclose that part yet, as it was still too raw for him.

In the end, he simply said he had proof that a victim of the Cultist, which he had freely admitted to, was in fact not dead, and he had no idea what that could mean.

"I don't know what to do about him. I thought I could seek him out somehow, to… talk, maybe? But he is good at hiding, and if we couldn't find him before, why would that be any different now?" Genji wanted to ruffle his own hair, but with his mask on, he could not do that either, so he settled for crossing his arms on his chest instead. "And… well. Our last encounter, he… I don't think he wishes to talk with me anymore, or.. I guess in general? He seemed to want to try to convince me to listen to him before, but this time… he tried to goad me on purpose, then left."

It could be the monster had given up on his schemes –regardless of what he'd wished to obtain with directly targeting Genji, if there was no positive answer then he had decided it was not something worth pursuing any longer, which explained his sudden change in attitude…

"And then–" he lifted both arms in the air to express his frustration, "my team is convinced he's been trying to lure me in with some mystical powers that only seem to apply to me, apparently. I can understand, but… why me, specifically? A– White sentai is the one who's more open to listen and… well, not with monsters, though. Okay, but… my point is that it makes no sense. If he wanted to lure us in a trap, being this obvious makes no sense! He's creating his own army but they never do any sort of damage, nor do they appear at all. When dealing with everything else he's sneaky and cautious so we never catch him no matter how hard we look yet when he deals with us, when he tries to get us to listen… he's upfront about it?"

It felt good to air his frustrations, every little thing he'd noticed that the others had brushed off, one by one, but tallying it all together made it feel more real to him –less of a 'delusion' and more like just pointing out things that existed.

"I know I can't expect my teammates… my friends… to support me when I can see their point. These monsters are… well, I fight them. I don't know why this one's different, but… I know it is! He acts like… like a person, not just… the way the other monsters are."

As he spoke, voice raising the longer he thought about it all, the Masked Vigilante remained quiet, simply listening. He never made a sound to let Genji know he was listening, but he never looked away from him, observing him closely, and Genji knew he was actually listening attentively.

It felt good to have someone take his thoughts seriously.

"Part of me feels like it would be a mistake to sneak past my teammates to do things on my own like this. We're a team, but they believe it's for the best if I do not do anything, because the Cultist is dangerous and we do not know what kind of powers he might be hiding, yet…"

He trailed off, frustrated, and this time, Masked Vigilante did speak up. "Yet it's enough to get you bothered, but you don't know what to do with it?"

"Yeah!"

"Sounds to me like you should roll with it."

"Yeah, I… wait. What?" Genji looked up at him, surprised at the casual tone.

He could only see part of the Masked Vigilante's face –considering that, as his name implied, he had a mask on to keep his secret identity safe– but there was an amused edge to his voice that made it sound like he was smirking.

"Aren't you supposed to… I don't know, chide me about not doing dangerous stuff?" bewildered about the other hero's attitude, Genji parted his arms wide in a gesture meant to encompass the entire metaphorical situation. "I plan to seek out the Cultist on my own. A dangerous monster with one hell of a bad fame and a list of casualties under his name that is twice my height, if not higher."

Instead of going for the obvious joke at the expense of Genji's height, the Masked Vigilante chose to keep on track. "Yeah, and I'd prefer if you didn't, because I feel he could slice you up for good… but –look, man. You're a good guy, and I've seen you fight. You've got one hell of a good instinct going. If you think something's up with that creature, I believe you. Though I… don't like him. Can't feel anything you've said, for me he's just that –a monster. Yet you see something there that seems worth pursuing, and I can't say it doesn't make some degree of sense, and… no matter what that is, I feel you won't be satisfied until you go through with this. And of all heroes, I think you're the one who can pull this off and come out of it unscathed, Green sentai."

Touched by the plain tone in the Masked Vigilante's voice, it took Genji a few seconds to answer.

"I… wow. Thank you?" a small laughter bubbled up to his lips, muffled by his mask, and he rubbed the back of his head, feeling sheepish but incredibly relieved. "I thought…"

"Yeah, I don't think I'm cut for this supportive bullshit. I tend to give very bad suggestions here." The Masked Vigilante shrugged. "That's why I got to come with you. You know, for support. And to make sure you do come back unscathed, yes?"

The laughter that burst out of his lips surprised both Genji and the Masked Vigilante, who echoed it with his own chuckle.

"You're crazy," Genji told him, leaning forwards enough to deliver a well-placed punch on the masked Vigilante's shoulder.

"Takes one to know one, Green sentai."

"Yeah, probably."

"So, what's the plan?"

Genji blinked, then cleared his throat. "I… uh. I don't really have one." Embarrassed when his words got a louder laugh in reply, Genji hunched up his shoulders and turned to pace around the destroyed garden, feeling all of sudden brimming with energy. "I never got to think about it since I didn't expect to get any support, so I… have no idea. I need to think."

"Well then, two heads are better than one here, though I can't really make the call with the one you've got. Seems a 'lil bit too small to be much of use, so you'd better leave the thinking to me."

"As if!" lips pulled up in a smile, Genji shook his head. "Let's find some other place to talk. It might… take a while."

"At your heels, Green sentai. Lead the way."