AN: This chapter might be considered a filler, but it's something that I want to explore here. We're still on Day 1, so let's see how Obsidian will take new things in.

Just to note that this chapter's concept takes inspiration from Chapter 3 from 'MeAndTheBoys:ATeamDarkStory' by Mchovey. I love that story and I recommend you to read it as well. This scene has been planned for a long time, but I shifted it to here from the scrapped Forces United story.

Chapter 8

It was a little silent as Stone drove the car away from G.U.N HQ. This time, it was more from the noticeable awkwardness between me and Topaz. While I did open to her about my own thoughts and she reassured me that it is OK not to be OK, that didn't mean I was going to be alright afterwards. In fact, it made me worry if I might have overreacted earlier.

Topaz noticed that I was sulking in the back despite trying to cover it up. Stone doesn't seem to know yet, keeping his eyes on the road. Oh, he has no idea what I accidentally revealed. Merrily tapping on the wheel ily tapped on the wheel he was holding onto.

"You're doing alright, Obsidian?" she asked.

I puffed my chest a little. "I'm fine."

"You can let me know if there's something bothering you."

"There's nothing else," I liked, looking away. "I…already explained a bit too much."

Topaz hummed. "So…what happened before, it might take a long time for you to settle down. You don't have to tell me, but if you need to, then let me know."

I nodded a little, sniffing. I wondered if I would start crying again. I don't want to show my tears. However, she is trusting and kind towards me despite only knowing me for a day and a half. I don't really like the thought of being vulnerable, but I came here to loosen up a little. It felt scary.

A voice in my mind told me that it won't be bad to be a bit more open at the times when I need it.

I looked down at my hidden ruby, wondering if it sent that message to me. It had been acting a bit more tolerant compared to this morning. From aiding me through the experiment procedures and now reassuring me that it is OK to find support. I frowned, still feeling skeptical about it. It might be prompting me to do so to find an angle.

However, I don't really have any other evidence, so I decided not to listen to it. It couldn't do anything to strike since I had my Inhibitor Rings on. Taking a few deep breaths, I decided to let what happened before being forgotten now. I should relax since we got free time for the rest of the day.

Where we would be spending this free time, I don't know. There is like a billion of things I can do in this civilization! But I don't think I'm really allowed to go on my own or at least until I am given consent.

They would still be watching me anyway.

I didn't need to answer as Stone suddenly took another path through the city that didn't lead to back to their house.

"Wait, where are we going?" I asked. "I thought that you were gonna go home for the day."

"I didn't eat too much during lunch," said Stone. "I need something hefty now for early dinner."

"And I think we should eat to ease the stress a little," said Topaz.

The usual way I burn off stress was to run around in circles or electrify something. I doubt that they would allow the latter now, but I guess that eating could work. I haven't got to know much about the city's cuisine, so I have to see for myself soon.

It didn't take long until Stone pulled over at a large parking lot. Coming out from the car, I had a good look at the place they wanted to find food at. A large warehouse that looked like a factory, covered in red, white and blue colors. The sign above the entrance read '5-STAR GUSTO', coated in the building's colors.

It looked very out of place to the rest of Central City.

"What is this?" I asked.

"A restaurant," said Topaz. "Thought, just to note, this isn't exactly 5 stars. It is somewhere around 3 stars."

I sniffed, trying to get a scent from the restaurant. There was something putrid, but it was mixed with a delicious smell. The few people dining outside were nearly high on energy as if having a good time. A few of them remained calm, enjoying themselves.

I think I smell alcohol and beer-ridden burps nearby.

"It even smells like 3 stars," I muttered. "If it's not 2.5."

Stone hummed as he locked the car. "Remind me again. Topaz, what brought you here in the first place?"

"It's usually where my father hangs around with his old friends," explained Topaz. "He says that it has an extraordinary interior. He didn't comment much on the food since he spends too much time at the bar, but it's not too bad."

"Kind of wished that it sticks to one cuisine," said Stone. "It had a lot of cuisines."

"It does?" I asked.

"Yeah. I heard rumors that they tried expanding the place. They already have an arcade and a dance floor, but they're trying to set up a buffet room and a mini movie theatre for people to watch. It's like too many ideas mixed into one."

I nodded slowly. "Uh-huh."

"It's not that much of a mess fortunately," said Topaz. "I think they just add a lot in to attract the kids."

"Are kids really allowed in?" I questioned. "I thought that here, bars aren't really safe for them."

Keep in mind, there were a couple of bars I went to before in the desert. Back then, it wasn't safe for even anyone. It was wild and poking a finger at a drunken idiot would likely start a riot. Even children at the age of 10 tried to go there to drink despite the high likeability from dying from overdrinking.

Back then, me and the Jackal Squad went there for special treats whenever we did a good job. I don't think we took the dangers of bars seriously since at the end, at least two of us got bruises on the way out.

I'm scared it might be the case here despite the more secure rules in this perfectly ordered community.

"It should be fine," said Topaz, grinning. "Kids aren't allowed to drink until a certain age. Parents would want them to stay away from these bars anyway."

I shrugged. "Oh, I would like to see what happen when you mix a couple of drunk bastards with children, so why not have them in close proximity?"

"Eh, kids aren't likely to go near strangers as well," said Stone. "It shouldn't end up in disaster."

There was screaming from inside the restaurant and I had to step away from a stampede of three preteens. Chasing behind them was an unhinged thug, yelling drunken slurs at them. My first instinct was to stop the thug, but it didn't take long until he tripped over the curb and the preteens crossed the road safely.

"You were saying?" I asked.

"Nothing," said Stone, appearing stoned. "I said nothing."

"OK, I remember it's close to the weekends now," said Topaz.

"Yeah, I noticed."

We all walked in and I was greeted to the large dining room of the restaurant. A high ceiling with a roof window allowed the sunlight in, explaining why the ceiling lights weren't that bright. There were circular tables arranged nicely with white sheets over them and white fences surrounding them as if they were assigned rooms for customers. This is probably one of those fancy, expensive restaurants.

It seemed that Stone was right about the movie theatre part. There was a medium-sized screen with a wooden stage below it right at the other end of the restaurant. It made the whole place looked more like an aware show or a graduation dinner party. On the left side appeared to be where the bar was judging by the mass number of men and women clinking large cups of drinks together. On the right side might be this 'arcade' since I could only spot a pool table and machines that were making these noises.

I nearly took a step closer, but Stone grabbed me by the arm.

"Not yet, my child," he said. "Don't get too excited!"

"What?" I said. "I'm not a child!"

"You're short."

I huffed. "Bummer." I took another look through the restaurant. It felt a bit too…big. "Is this some kind of storeroom?"

"It used to be," said Topaz. "I think the last company who own the place went bankrupt, so somebody decided to renovate this place."

A couple of kids ran pass me. It came to me how many there were today.

"A lot of people like to come here. Especially families. I just hope that they don't increase the price for the meals today."

After asking the receptionist if there was a free table we could pick, Topaz led us to a table. It was on the right of the restaurant. A singular table with four chairs with plates and silver cutlery already set up there. To my luck, it was close to the arcade, so the noises were a bit louder.

My ears were starting to twitch. Why did it sound too loud?

Shaking my head, I took another look around at the place. I guess that I got really curious that I kept staring at the same things in here. I looked down at the table we were at. Menus already in front of us, styled in large brochures. Picking one up, there were different sections of cuisines. I was surprised by how neat the menus were as I thought they would be handwritten lists.

Even though the restaurant was bumbling with kids and drunk people, it felt…wealthy. This was something I didn't have before.

I wasn't even familiar with the different cuisines from the menu. I might have learnt a few languages as a mercenary in the past and came across different towns, but I often keep close to my English tongue. It was strange to me to see so many different meals on the same paper. I wondered what really make each cuisine unique.

"Would have been better if they make the menu shorter," I muttered to myself. "That way, won't take long for people to decide."

It took much quicker for Stone and Topaz however as they already called a waitress to come over. Stone ordered a simple steak with fries and salad, and a latte as well. Topaz called for something I didn't know before. As I scanned back at the menu to decide what I should have, my right ear flicked up to catch someone laughing.

It sounded familiar.

Turning to my right, I spotted a man with bleach blonde hair and tan skin.

Matthew.

And he wasn't alone. Surrounding him were three children. One of them was nearly as tall as he was. One looked like she was in kindergarten. The third looked like an in-between. I couldn't really tell from this angle how old they might be.

I didn't know he had kids or even come to this place.

I snapped out from daydreaming when the waitress cleared her throat. She looked a bit impatient, tapping her foot. I scanned through the menu again before reading a random dish I caught my eye.

"I-I'll just take Nasi Dagang," I said. "Wait, did I say that right?"

The waiter only smiled politely and left the scene. She didn't take my menu, probably thinking that I still need it. I was about to continue looking like I was reading it when I lifted it down to find Matthew nearly right in front of me.

"What's up?" he said.

Stone and Topaz turned around, surprised to see him again.

"Ah!" said Topaz. "Hello there, Agent Matthew."

"Agent to agent!" said Stone cheerfully.

"Oh, right, you're here," said Matthew, looking irritated. "Let me guess, you're picking up leftovers here and then turn them into little monsters again."

Stone's smile faded. "It's not what it's gonna look like."

"I'm not pretty sure about that. I remember the first three times, you took in leftovers for lunch and they came out looking like an exploding SCP-999. I think you got one person with a bad case of stomach ache and rashes over their skin."

"It could have been done with anyone!" insisted Stone. "That one has allergies."

"That isn't really helping your case," said Matthew, rubbing his forehead.

I glanced at Topaz. "You said that he's loyal?"

"Doesn't mean he isn't gonna try to be reckless to his own team!" pointed out Topaz.

"I'm surprised that you are here as well," said Matthew, turning to me. "I thought that you would be busy and gonna be spending more time at the HQ."

"They decided to put me on probation while doing my own tasks to clear my sentence," I said, shrugging. "So far, it's just tests I needed to do and getting prepared for patrol tomorrow."

I would have told Matthew about my ruby prototype being experimented on for research and a way to remove it, but I doubted that he would be aware. I don't know if Molly informed him and saying it in a public space might not be the wise idea.

"I guess that makes sense," said Matthew, nodding. "Especially since your kill count wasn't high and your mentality towards killing isn't much of a problem."

"OK, dial that a little please. You've been doing good alright so far?"

"Eh, nothing that much. I wasn't assigned to anything special since today's main focus was on Eggman. I had to do another task. But at least it would mean I have more time spending time with my kids!"

As if on cue, his three kids came rushing towards him. It looked like they didn't find a table yet. They appeared to have the same skin tone as he does, albeit in different tones. With them close, it was easy to be able to tell who was the youngest and who was the eldest. They had darker, brown hair than their father's bleached hair, except for the youngest who had her hair styled in blonde pigtails. The middle child had messy hair combed to one side with a bandage underneath her left eye. The eldest had a similar hairstyle to his father, but it seemed to be more akin to a mohawk with shaved sides.

"Who is this here, daddy?" asked the young sister.

"Just…a new recruit to G.U.N," said Matthew, managing to lie calmly. "He just joined yesterday."

"Is he some sort of wolf or something?" asked the eldest brother.

"A jackal," said Stone and Topaz in unison.

"That's new," said the middle sister. "I thought that jackals would have tails that big."

"I think some of them do," said Matthew.

For a moment, I nearly thought I saw my uncle instead of Matthew in his place. Seeing him around with three children, caring for them, it made me feel jealous. There was also something interesting to me since it looked like these three were close to their father. Their mother didn't seem to be around, but at least they are out together for tonight. They looked a bit more carefree and relaxed.

I wondered if it was due to my appearance in which they came around. I noted how often they keep looking up and down at me. From my hair to what I was wearing. They looked a bit more tamer than I do. And when I remembered back to the excessive use of phones being used back by the rookie agents, maybe these kids might have their own understanding of…violence and battles in the 'real world'?

It made me curious about them. It felt a little creepy if I talk with them more. Yet, I wanted to know a bit to see how different they think. There was also a feeling to show off.

Guessed that I still inherited a bit of the Jackal Squad's pride, huh?

My mind was telling me to sit down, but I was already standing up from my seat. Tail slightly wagging, I made my way close to them, bending down a little to reach the shorter children's eye level.

"Hey there, guys," I said softly. "Umm…well, nice to meet you."

"Hello!" said the youngest. "What's your name? I'm Charlie."

I smiled. "I'm Obsidian."

"Cool!" said the middle sister. "I'm Pam. And the giant is Stevie."

"Wait," said Stevie, the eldest brother. "'Obsidian'? Is that an actual name you can have?"

I shrugged, grinning. "When out in the desert, you sometimes get another variation of names."

"Nice!"

"Remember, little ones," said Matthew. "Obsidian is a former mercenary and grew up in the great deserts. He's a bit new here, so let him try to follow along with what he is learning here."

"New here?" asked Pam. "But he sounds like he is around Stevie's age."

"I think he is around 15 years old," said Stevie.

"I'm 22," I muttered, pouting.

"He looks so fluffy!" said Charlie. "Can I please pet him?"

"Pet him?" said Pam. "But he's an animal person! Respect."

"But he has a fluffy tail as well!"

"Charlie, we all agreed not to treat things like teddy bears," said Matthew.

I had to admit that it could be a little disrespectful for humans touching animals just because of how 'cute' they look. Before, while nobody really got along, it was a bad idea for a human mercenary to pet an animal mercenary. One touch of their fur and they would knock them into the next Friday.

But the idea of this little girl petting me on the head sounded actually funny. It was…a nice offer.

"Sure then, kiddo," I said, lowering my head.

Charlie squealed and patted gently on my head. She was clearly having fun stroking my hair. She giggled, rubbing between my ears. I found myself liking the affection she was giving. This was probably the first time I ever let anyone, especially a child pet me on the head. It rarely happens since you have kids trying to be too seriously in the desert life.

To my embarrassment, one of my feet was tapping. I forced it to stay still with my other arm. It was still noticed thanks to my tail wagging.

"Aww!" cooed Stone. "That means we have a puppy!"

"What makes you think we have one?" asked Topaz.

"...he's a canine. He's practically a dog!"

"A canine person who has the lifespan of a human, outgrowing the normal jackals," pointed out Stevie.

"Well, you don't get to see these kinds of things these days," said Matthew, smiling warmly. "Usually, it's with the ones who act and look colorful."

"Oooh!" piped up Pam. "Dad, can we bring him to the arcade?"

"What? No!" said Matthew firmly. "I thought I said that we wouldn't have time to play the arcade games there."

"C'mon! Please? I can just use the remainder of my gift card."

"You just want to beat a random dude's highscore on that gun-shooting game, right?" deadpanned Stevie.

Pam puckered her lips and her eyes widened in a way as if suppressing to say yes. "...nooooo."

"Why bring him along?" wondered Charlie.

"I don't know. Thought that he might help!"

"Yep!" said Stevie. "Totally wanting to beat that gun-shooting game."

I chuckled nervously. "Well, just to say, I don't think-"

"If it makes things better," said Pam to Matthew. "Then Stevie and Obsidian can watch over us."

The bleached blonde just crossed his arms, unamused.

"Um…I'll clean the dishes for a week!"

"You clean dishes on a daily basis," pointed out Matthew.

"...I'll clean the toilet for a week as well."

Her father didn't look impress by that offer.

"...I'll stop mixing my undier with yours."

Matthew thought about it. And it worked! "Deal."

"Yes!" hissed Pam, pumping her fist downwards.

"Yay!" cheered Charlie. "We might get to see Mr. Dinosaur again!"

Stevie looked annoyed by this. "I have to make sure that they don't steal coins from me again, do I?"

As the rowdy kids started to make their way to the arcade, Matthew quickly gave some instructions for Stevie to know. Once done, Stevie glanced at me with an uneasy look before following his sisters. Something told me that it might not be good. However, the tone in Matthew's voice when he turned to me said otherwise.

"I do really need a chaperone to look after my kids," admitted Matthew, rubbing his fingers together. "I am still looking for a table. Stevie might get addicted again on certain games. You managed to get through with G.U.N for one day. I suppose that you have been on good behavior?"

I gave him a nod, knowing that he is going to trust me to look after his kids. Behind me, Stone gave a thumbs up and Topaz just smiled knowingly.

"Alright then," said Matthew. "But please don't do anything bad with them. Just make sure that they will be safe as well. If there's anything, call my name."

"Got it then!" I said, saluting. "You did help get me to G.U.N HQ…and did the right thing with keeping me in handcuffs until my sentence was given out."

"Charming."

"It was also nice talking with you back on the truck."

"Yeah." An idea seemed to come to his mind. "Maybe we can grab a donut and a coffee?"

"I'll consider it," I said politely, hopping off the fence. "Now excuse, I might have to catch up with the little imps before they trip over their shoelaces."

"They are wearing plastic laces for today…"

The three siblings weren't too far away as I managed to catch up with them. Looking behind, Matthew decided to stay around with Stone and Topaz for a friendly chat. I smiled to myself, feeling good for doing something that felt right. I wondered if this might make me feel like a kid again.

Stevie glanced at me. "So…does your tail come out from above your butt or does it go out from your-?"

"OK, let's keep it PG rating around your sisters?" I said, holding my hands up. "Your father asked me the same question."

"Oh. I thought he was wrong when he told me!"

The arcade was a little different to how I thought it would be like. Back then, I knew that arcades are often public places where you play games by just inserting coins in. I'm more familiar with the old pinball games or the free pool table that was easy to find in a bar. However, to say that technology changed too much in this civilization is an understatement.

Instead of just pinball games, nearly every arcade machines seemed to be the embodiment of all kinds of videos you cany find on the internet. Each game had buttons and joysticks to use. Some of them didn't look like they have the coin insertion feature! How can people be able to play them easily? What caught my attention was not just the screens, but the noise coming from those games.

I refrained myself from squeezing my ears, but they already were pressing against my sculp. This was too noisy. It was worse than when Antoine put on that 'metal music' from the truck. All I could hear was a combination of gibberish and too many songs playing at the same time. Why did they have the speakers on maximum volume?

"You're alright, dude?" asked Stevie.

"W-What?" I said, quickly shaking my head. "I'm good! I'm all good!"

"OK…"

"Let's head over back to Monster Mutilation!" said Pam, grabbing me by the arm.

"No!" cried Charlie. "That game is too spooky! It has all those monsters out to eat you!"

Stevie sighed. "I think it would be spookier when you start banging on the screen, Pam. And…would it be too scary, Obsidian?"

I had a thought about. "I can be brave enough. I've seen worse."

"Hopefully so…" said Stevie. "See my point, Pam?"

"Yeah, I do…" And just like that, Pam whipped her head towards a black arcade game. "I'm going in there!"

That kid was strong since she could pull me over to an arcade game that was on the other side of the small space. Practically dragging me across the floor with no thought of slowing down. She still carried that energy without feeling tired when we arrived, picking up a gun-like controller connected to the game.

"OK, so…what is the purpose with these guns?" I asked, picking one up. I tried shaking it, listening carefully if there were any bullets in them. "Are we supposed to shoot at the screen?"

"Yep!" said Pam cheerfully as she inserted in a few coins. "It's all about trying to shoot down the targets on screen. You just hold that gun in your hand and pew pew pew all over the place!"

"Hmm, but wouldn't it just…crack the screen?" To make sure it was safe, I lifted mine upwards at the ceiling, pressing the trigger. Nothing came out. "Huh. OK, this is empty."

"Oh no, no, no. It just shoots out harmless lasers. There's nothing to worry about!"

I looked back down at the gun and back at her. "For using guns in an arcade where kids can run around here, likely nothing to worry about."

The game booted up and it presented to a screen where a bunch of options appeared. Must be like different modes to take since I noticed different kinds of activities one could do, judging by some of the titles such as 'GHOST RUN', 'TEAM-UP' or 'FREE-FOR-ALL'. To my surprise, there seemed to be even a difficulty list and she picked the fourth option 'REALLY HARD'.

"Really hard?" I said to myself. "I thought that the point of arcades is to have fun! Not being in a competition."

"Well, it's a thing that this is all serious business," commented Pam.

"Wouldn't this be more for recreation?"

"...no."

"OK, why do you need me to be here with you?"

"Cause I'm hoping that you might be able to help me to beat the top highscore so far on here!" aid Pam. "You're a new soldier, right? Perhaps you have some training in shooting."

I chuckled. "OK, so I'm fairly good, but doesn't mean I'm all that good in using guns. I'm not a marksman type."

"But you might have a better aim than anyone else."

"But wouldn't that mean I would have a higher score than you?"

"At least I would know that I DID play a game where me or a partner beat the highscore in here!"

It took a while to wait, but the game booted up and I found the player's perspective to be set at the entrance of a really dark house.

I squinted my eyes. What was this setting really about?

"Keep your eyes peeled!" said Pam, rolling her shoulders. "Don't get too surprised. That's the thing that catch players off guard."

She was taking this a bit too seriously, but I found myself feeling amused by this. Maybe this might not be too bad since it isn't like an urgent invasion. I lifted my gun weapon upwards, pointing it at the screen. I noticed that there was a blue circular shape moving around. Must be my aiming target tool for the game. This could be more helpful when it came to shooting.

However, Pam was right about trying not to be too surprised. Not even a second in, as soon as the door opened, a ghost suddenly popped right in front of us.

The cartoonish kind with it looking like a white blanket floating in the air.

I yelped, jumping back a little. Pam appeared to be calmer about this, shooting the ghost immediately.

"What was that?!" I shrieked.

"Just a silly drawing," said Pam. "More incoming! You don't want to lose points!"

I quickly got back into focus, noticing a bunch of monsters coming from upstairs. They looked different to the kinds of monsters I expected. Most of the ghosts were mostly floating white blankets with black eyes, looking like they could just be grabbed easily. Furry men who looked a little like wolves and sharp-dressed men with fangs were often the fast few to charge in quickly. The painting portraits seemed to come alive, shooting fire from their eyes.

I couldn't apprehend the madness going on. Some took a few hits until they could be down completely. Some of them took longer, scratching or punching the screen roughly, decreasing the health of the shooter we were playing as. I noticed that when it came to the middle act as the shooter climbed to the third floor, Pam was having a harder time shooting the monsters rushing to her side.

Maybe it was due to the gun feeling a bit lighter for me that I was quick in shooting down those coming into my side or the middle. I found myself taking down most of the enemies coming in around the current phase. It was as if the game was speeding things up with the number of monsters attacking the shooter on-screen.

It came to my attention that these kids in this world were a bit more invested in the nightmare or adult stuff. They really didn't have a worry of how it would be like as a criminal or in the wastelands. Like what I saw back at G.U.N HQ, there were just some people who discovered more of those bad things through videos and games they tend to watch.

However, this sort of shooting game made real-life look much darker. The gameplay was repetitive, the monster designs didn't look too scary and the same surprises kept happening again. Always coming out of nowhere with a loud screech. I blushed, feeling embarrassed of getting spooked out by a ghost at the start.

I guess that was why Pam wasn't fazed by this game. She probably knew how the game worked out that even Charlie could play it! If she knew how to use the gun controller properly. And if that was the ideal thing for kids in this society.

Though she seemed to be having some fun playing this kind of game. She cursed a little when she got attacked by an enemy or when she missed, but for the rest, she was laughing the whole way. She was enjoying herself as if loving being in the heat of battle. She didn't seem to be concerned about the danger; just on if she would lose.

We finally came to the last act of the game and upon arrival, we found ourselves to be in a large room. It nearly looked like the library, but several bookshelves had fallen and ripped apart. To my horror, most of them were coated in red with the torn pink pages nearly looking like they were actual wounds. Red scratches decorated the walls, tearing through the old paint to reveal the wooden structure.

The only things that were intact were the numerous chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Too many of them in which could have crowded the entire ceiling. Some of them appeared to be blending with or going through each other. That couldn't be possible, right? To my surprise, when I aimed my gun at them, my aiming target circle switched colors.

That was funny. That never happened before. I noticed that it tended to switch from blue to red whenever it had an enemy in sight. However, pointing it at an accessory wouldn't do anything as it wouldn't be likely to have some sort of impact when shot at. The chandeliers appeared to be a different story here.

"I have to warn you," said Pam. "This last boss is really tricky to do! There aren't that many gameplay videos on how to defeat it. The last time, I was immediately wiped out. So don't rely your bullets on it! Try aiming for the eye or something that we could use in the room."

And then, coming straight from the window, was a larger monster I never imagined. It was somewhat humanoid, but the giant figure and its coating of fur AND scales threw my off-guard. Tentacles were dripping down from where its mouth should be, giving it a look of an octopus who had some of its tentacles being chopped off. The red eyes were unsettling, bulging from the sides. It nearly made it hard to aim due to how much its head was twitching a lot.

The loud scream coming from the giant even surprised Pam in which she missed a few times shooting its eyes. The bullets only hit the head harmlessly. Meanwhile, I tried looking for a way to damage the boss and then I turned back to the chandeliers.

I shot it and one crushed the boss, dazing it.

"The chandeliers!" I said.

"What?" said Pam, shocked by what happened. "How did you?"

"The chandeliers can be shot at so that they can drop! They can harm the boss for a while!"

"Right!"

With the number of chandeliers available, we focused on using them as our main attack on the final boss. With every hit by one, this left it vulnerable, giving one of us an opportunity to shoot it right at its eyes. It turned out that when vulnerable, it could actually take damage by regular bullets in this state! Pam advised to not shoot all of the chandeliers yet since we would run out of them easily.

She said that the final boss was hard, but it felt like only two to three minutes of taking it down. And even better, we didn't lose that much health. By the time the final boss collapsed onto its back, there were like only five chandeliers left. We just finished it off by repeatedly shooting it with the reloaded bullets left.

"Oh yes!" said Pam, nearly throwing her gun in the air.

"Whoo!" I cheered. "This actually feels more fun than in real-life battle."

It was true. I can take things seriously when in battles. I had my fun with my squad when fighting against rival gangs. However, this was less stress-inducing to a degree. It wasn't even that hard! I wondered why Pam took the whole game serious since it was more of going through a fun adventure without that much effort.

The score we got from killing all the enemies were observed, being placed on a list of highscores. We watched as it slowly rose higher than the previous scores from those who played the game.

'C'mon!" said Pam, shaking her fists in excitement. "C'mon! Got to be higher!"

And it was.

Sort of.

With a highscore of '1,003,492', it ended up in second place…by a difference of ONE point. Somebody else got a highscore of '1,004,493'.

"Wait, what?! We are only one point less to the top highscore?" said Pam in disbelief. After staring at the screen for a while, she shrugged and placed the gun controller back into its holder. "Oh well! Worth a shot."

"So you're not upset about it?" I said, keeping my gun controller back.

"Well…a little. But it feels a bit different when playing a friend. This feels more fun!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes! I mean, you and me, we're like a machine! At least we got that far to defeating the boss."

It was a bit of a surprise to me to see her feeling just happy about playing this game with me. I thought that she would be a bit more serious about the results since Stevie implied that she punched the screen a few times. However, it seemed that with others around, she must have felt more chill and end up loving how much fun we had.

"Sorry if this might sound a bit weird, but with these kind of games…" I gestured to the arcade game. "Do you…often like playing them?"

"Most children my age prefer to play at home on the television," said Pam. "Though, we do like to play video games."

"Especially something that might be a bit scary for you?"

Pam had a thought about it. "Well, my sister always asked why I like scary things. She doesn't know yet of what I even watch in my room. Keep in mind, I know those kinds of things happen in fiction. There are probably more serious or bad things in real life."

"If only you knew," I muttered.

"Is this your first time playing a video game?"

I nodded. "Definitely. This whole thing is new to me."

"But you're like at the age of a young adult!"

"I don't really have these kinds of things before where I come from," I explained sadly.

Pam was surprised to hear this. "Huh. Well…put it that way, when playing or watching these kinds of things, it is safe to do so. You can enjoy watching shows and playing games as long as you don't apply them to real life. I heard that a lot of people can get into trouble if they try to replicate the behavior of video game characters."

"Oh really?"

"Oh yes, I know a few students who try to fight based on what they watched." Pam giggled, looking like she enjoyed those fond moments of her students. "Once, somebody tried using a toy lightsaber to get in a fight. He should have called for a real one…or a real sword!"

"I don't know what a lightsaber is, but a sword is more likely to cut a person in half," I said flatly.

"Hmm, OK, that's a good point. And another reason not to copy what people do on screen."

"Huh, well…good for you that you somewhat know about these kinds of things. I can reassure you that if you go on the battlefield with only knowledge from video games, you would have been dead."

Pam laughed. "Yeah. That would be where things would get serious. You know, for a soldier like you, you are pretty funny."

I rubbed the back of my head. "Yeah, yeah…I get that a lot. You know, it can be hard finding people at first who aren't jerks in the 'great desert'."

Pam shrugged. "Hey, at least you made it here. If there weren't any good people, then that could mean that you wouldn't end up being inspired to come here, right?"

That comment surprised me. It reminded me again of what convinced me to move away from Zero and head over to Central City in the first place. It was during a time of grieving, but it was all in the search of being with better people. Mr. Ghost prompted me about this city to live a better life, but adding to what Pam said, if it wasn't for the Jackal Squad, then I wouldn't be…here?

It sounded like she was saying that if I was with worse people, then I would have rejected a place like this. I wouldn't have a desire to hanging around with new friends. I would have wanted to continue trying to be the best mercenary. Just like Zero. It could have been the same for him since the two of us found the best squad that treated us all equally, but the power got to him. It didn't for me.

"How do you…know that?" I asked.

Pam just smiled. "I don't know. I just thought that bullies are people who don't have anyone who supported them before and thus trying to cover up the pain of their own losses against fortunate people."

It felt like an idea bulb being fizzled out. Like a burn, but I knewit wasn't directed to me. If the rest of the squad heard it, then Zero would be the first one to take offense. For a girl younger than me, Pam was the witty type.

Pam is really like Tempest. I smiled to myself, remembering how sassy and wise Tempest was. Despite being a competitive thief, she had her moments of sassing anyone whenever they gave her a reason to. When not in serious mode, she would be the first to annoy Zero. Sometimes, she would agree with me, saying that she like my 'oddness'. Though, Tempest had a short temper, mostly due to her fights with Ryder. Both Tempest and Pam probably like having fun in a good mood.

"I should probably get back to my brother and sister," said Pam. "Hope that we didn't take too long."

She ran off, that young energy still in her. I followed her, knowing that she wouldn't go far ahead of me. Case in point, we found Charlie to convince Stevie in helping her play what looked like a claw arcade game.

Good lord that it wasn't one that had a screen or who knows how long Charlie will stare at it for. The inside of the game had a claw crane hanging from the top with a bed of plush toys at the bottom. I wondered what the purpose of this game was since it looked more like an artifact.

"Charlie, I'm telling you!" said Stevie, sounding fed-up. "I'm not gonna be wasting all my golden coins again on a machine that is hard to grab one of those plushies."

"Today might be lucky!" insisted Charlie. "I believe we can try the deep dig!"

"I don't think lowering the crane to its limit and then trying to pick is going to work. Everybody does that! It's just gonna slip out from the claw!"

"Please? Can we give it a try? Maybe give something to our new doggy friend?"

Stevie was about to argue when he noticed me from the side. I pretended to stare at the ceiling. I didn't really want a toy. Nevertheless, this what seemed to cause him to give him, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine," he said. "But only once and we're done."

"Yay!" whooped Charlie happily.

The claw machine game was brought to life when Stevie placed a coin into the machine. He was on the crane joystick to make it move while Charlie had her hands ready on a button that seemed to lower the crane and make it grab. I watched carefully as Stevie moved the claw across the ceiling, trying to find the perfect spot to catch.

"That one there!"

She was pointing at what looked like a cute pink ball. It had large blue eyes, two cat ears, appendages to make them look like stubby arms and legs, and a hair curl over its head. I wondered if I had saw that one before.

Stevie was already onto getting that toy. Once the crane was in position, Charlie pressed the button and it lowered down. Close enough to it, she pressed the button again and the crane grabbed the toy by its leg.

"I got it!" said Charlie. "I got it!"

"Hold up there. It might not come up."

True to his word, despite the crane seemingly having a good grip on it, I noticed the toy looking like it would fall right back into the bed of toys. An idea came to mind. I did promise myself not to use my ruby again, however…I'll make this one an exception.

With a hand behind my back to make sure nobody was watching, I concentrated hard enough and the pink toy was faintly surrounded in a green glow. The ruby hummed underneath my jacket as I tried to make sure that it looked like it was grabbed by the claw properly. Not only it looked convincingly real in movement, but neither of the three children notice the green aura!

With the pink toy collected, Charlie squealed and collected it from the machine.

"Thank you so much, Stevie," she said. "Good job."

Stevie could only nod, glancing back at the machine. "I-I didn't know I would even be able to get one!"

"You just did," said Pam. "Everyone has a fair chance."

Charlie skipped towards me, holding up the pink toy. From this angle, she looked cute due to her bright smile and shiny eyes. She was probably thinking that I would take the toy.

"It's alright," I said gently, petting her on the head. "You can keep it. However, I appreciate the offer."

Charlie beamed. "Oh well. But you're welcome." She then spun to Stevie. "Stevie! I think you can keep this!"

Her older brother didn't say anything at first. "Oh…oh, really?"

"Yeah! You did help me get it, so I thought you deserve it."

"Oh, well, why thank you, Charlie!"

"Oooh, now I remember!" said Pam, lifting a finger. "Charlie! There's a gumball machine that might have new flavors. Maybe we can get some for dessert."

"Sounds delicious!" said Charlie, throwing the pink toy at Stevie. She turned back to me and wrapped her arms around my legs. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Obsidian!"

This child was giving me a hug. To a person she just met today. However, I found myself feeling touched by this kind gesture. In return, I patted her on the head and wrapped my tail around. These children here are much hopeful and kinder, comparing to how the kids grow up as mercenaries. Charlie and Pam deserve this.

The two sisters ran off, leaving just me and Stevie. The latter whistled, kicking the air.

"Well, today has been a bit strange," he said, looking back at the pink toy. "Sorry, jackal. I mean…a little…"

"It's fine," I said. "I've been feeling that way. Mostly the city in general."

"I have to wonder about the 'great deserts' Dad just said about you. Would you say that it's a good place?"

I frowned, shaking my head. "I'm…not sure if I should tell you now."

Stevie shrugged. "It's OK. I had a feeling that it might not be good. It's just that I noticed that you looked uncomfortable when we came close to the arcade games."

"What? No, I wasn't. Even now, I'm alright."

"Hey, it's fine, dude," said Stevie sincerely. "I got scared when I was close to an arcade the first time. Always due to the loud noises and the screaming inside arcades."

"Wait, screaming?"

"I-I mean screaming from excitement!" A nervous grin crossed his face. "Like…clamoring as if in a competition. Or…screaming from something scary that pop out from one of the arcade games. I mean, like that game Pam always tried to beat. It could have given her nightmares!"

"That explains a lot," I remarked. "Though, that shooting game didn't seem to look like that much."

Stevie raised an eyebrow. "You think so, man? It looks a bit creepy."

"Mmm, not too creepy. Looks a bit overrated."

"...yeah, I guess that's true." Stevie let out a huge sigh. "OK, keep this between us; I love my sisters a lot, but it can be a handful with taking care of them. Dad is not often home due to his job, so I have to feel in his role when he's out."

"Oooh, but he would be able to get back to you three, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, but not all the time. I'm the oldest, so I have to look out for them."

"...what about your mum? Does she take care of you?"

This seemed to have touch a nerve from Stevie. "I…I don't-don't want to talk about it."

His eyes directed somewhere else and his shoulders slumped. The way he did so implied that any memories of his mother weren't that good. If there were any, then that could mean something happened in Matthew's family.

"I'm sorry," I said sympathetically.

Stevie hummed. "You know? It's alright. I already moved on from it, but it's not a subject I prefer to talk about. Dad has been strong for all of us, but I want to be strong for him as well. He likes to chat a lot to people, so when my mother 'disappeared', I tried helping him to talk more with others. And it…did kind of work."

Remembering back from the truck ride, Matthew didn't always enjoy the silence, wanting something to fill the void. He placed on a reasonable stance while being slightly goofy. However, this was something new about him. Was there something I didn't know about Matthew or was he hiding his situation with his wife by a mask he was wearing?

Stevie seemed to notice my discomfort. "All in all, if what I may about the 'great deserts' is true, then…don't worry too much. A lot of bad things can happen. Sure, it might not be great with now needing to take care of my sisters when no other adult is around in the house, but in a way, it did lead me connect more with them. It can be troublesome here, but it's not too bad."

"I guess so," I muttered. "Been seeing a couple of young people into technology and watching all of these things that could frighten them in this town and…I got a bit worried for a while about how that would impact them."

"As long as they know what they are doing, then they'll make the right decisions. It's just them having fun and enjoying themselves."

I nodded in agreement. "I hope so."

Matthew eventually called for his kids to come back since he managed to assign a table for them. He thanked me and I was allowed to head back to my table. I arrived to find that Stone and Topaz were already digging into their meals. Mine was left in my spot, still steaming hot.

"Oh dear!" I said, hopping over the fence. "Sorry that I took a bit too long."

"You're just in time," said Topaz, too busy eating. "Oh, and there was a small door to get through."

"Just to be quick," I said.

"How were the kids?" asked Stone.

I smiled. "It was…nice being with them. Matthew must have grown them to be good children."

Topaz returned the smile. "Aww, that's sweet. Don't worry, anyone can be able to have children grow up to be good."

"I hope so," I said, taking my seat. "So, remind me. What is this dish?"

"Your dinner," said Stone. "You chose something Malaysian cuisine."

Feeling the heat radiating from the dish, I slowly stared down at the dish in front of me. A heap of steamed rice that smelled like coconut with a side of fish coated in a strange-looking brown sauce and pickled carrots. It reminded me of something that I took before when me and the squad visited a criminal village, but I cannot remember.

I shrugged, taking a spoon with my left hand. Though, Topaz had her spoon on her right hand. I decided to copy her, trying to accommodate myself to using this cutlery. It felt a bit confusing on which to use since I don't often use cutlery before. I decided to try out the fish sauce, scooping a spoonful of it and plopping it into my mouth.

My eyes widened as I felt an explosion of flavors in words I couldn't describe. It tasted like a smooth blend of salt, sugar and green herbs. However…

Gritting my teeth, I used every willpower in my body to not scream loudly. Seeing a cup of water nearby, I gulped it down in one sip, feeling it soothe my throat. My throat still felt like it was burning.

"That's my cup," deadpanned Topaz.

"S-Sorry!" I wheezed. "This is really hot!"

Stone chuckled. "That's why they called it Nasi Dagang!"

"I didn't know that! Maybe because the menu expected me to know what was in that dish!"

"Erm, yeah, it does! It had a picture and even includes the main pieces of the meal. Look back at the menu."

There was only one menu left on the table. The waiter probably didn't bother taking it. I took a look back at it and right there where Nasi Dagang was, it explained to me what that sauce was. Curry.

That was why the sauce for the fish looked so familiar.

"Huh," I said. "In my defense, I didn't know it would be spicy. I ate spicy food before."

"So you can handle the heat?" asked Stone. "I can take some of your fish."

"It's fine. I can finish up the rest."

"Hope you like it," said Topaz, shrugging. "I'm more of a 'bland' food lover."

I continued to chow down my meal, feeling that it was something I ate before while being completely new to me. It made me remember back to breakfast earlier today. I was eating a proper meal nearly for the first time. And judging by how people in this society had the resources to cook meals, they had enough time to add in more interesting spices and ingredients.

I found myself liking the food here. I wondered if it was really necessary to cook something complex and extra like this, but it beats hunting all day long for a wild boar.

As I ate, I couldn't help looking at where Matthew's family were at. At the moment, he and his children were greeted with a large feast of barbeque meat. And many sauces since they went into pouring several sauces all over meat, coming in different colors. I took a sniff and noted how much they were adding of different kinds. There was gonna be a lot of flavors for them as well.

Even as they started sharing the food around, I could see the different kinds of activities they do to keep themselves entertained. Charlie was already playing around with her napkin, trying to pick it up with only a fork. A little hard to balance which made me chuckle. Pam got her phone out to take a photo of the food presented on the table. Stevie was already asking Matthew if they were adding too much sauce, only for Matthew to dash sprinkles of peppercorn sauce.

I looked back at Topaz and Stone. Us three sitting together for dinner. Like a family.

It felt nice.

AN: From learning and thinking more about the food being provided in the city, to the technology given and the content enjoyed by today's generation, stereotypical horror content released these days AND comparison of how kids grew up, I somehow managed to look a bit further in these things of modern society through the eyes of someone not from this world. It was interesting and even funny since I found myself questioning a few things about children using computers and phones (but it's sometimes good to do something bad on screen :3), how they want to apply that to real life and whether real-life is more scarier than horror shows and games.

As noted at the top, the chapter centering on Obsidian visiting a restaurant takes inspirations from 'MeAndTheBoys:ATeamDarkStory' by Mchovey. Keep in mind that I did my best with making this chapter original, but if there is anything too similar, please let me know.

Matthew finally returns and I decided to give him another appearance. Or at least new information about him. It also add depths to his character in which we get to know more about his family and something that happened to him. I hope you all like his children Pam, Charlie and Stevie as well!

To explain about what the pink plush toy Stevie and Charlie got, it is actually a Jigglypuff toy from Pokemon (and they have one of the most dangerous final smashes in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate).

The meal Obsidian ordered Nasi Dagang is an actual Malaysian dish. It would be something my family would eat...but not me. Obsidian's first reaction would be mine, but I don't like eating curry.

Thank you for reading this chapter! If you enjoy this story, be sure to follow or favorite this story, so you can get updates about this story. If there is any feedback or constructive criticism you want to share, let me know in your review. It would be nice to hear open thoughts so that I can know what to improve.

Until next time, keep on rocking!