Chapter 8: Initiation
same afternoon
The room was silent as the two looked at one another. After Hawks had revealed who he was, Amaku was left speechless. As he stood there in silence, staring at the winged hero, Hawks basked in the light of the room with a smug look on his face. Amaku eventually broke the overstaying silence.
"…Who?" Amaku asked confusedly. Hawks' smug expression then turned to one of slight surprise and disappointment.
"Uhm…Hawks?" He said, trying to get a reaction out of Amaku. "The winged hero?…Number 20 hero on the hero billboard chart?…Protector of Kyushu?…Ringing any bells?" he said, doing various gestures with his arms while his wings also slightly shifted with each expression.
"Uhm…unfortunately, no?" Amaku said confusingly.
"…Seriously?" Hawks said in a dumbfounded tone. Amaku shook his head and shrugged plainly in response.
In a mix of shock and disappointment, Hawks looked down at the floor with a slightly saddened look on his face. He dropped his arms to his sides and his wings lowered in tandem with them.
"Well, uhh…this is awkward," Hawks said with disappointment in his voice. "Huh…well, even if you don't know about me, I've heard a few things about you, Brokuma Amaku. I saw the CCTV footage of what you did a couple weeks back. Taking on two villains on your own to save a hero. That's some impressive stuff there."
"Uhm…thank you, sir," Amaku said, somewhat thrown off by this man.
From the way Tex spoke, Amaku was expecting some sort of big imposing threat that would have him shocked to the core. However, while he did indeed shock Amaku, it just wasn't for the reasons he was expecting.
"In fact, it was so impressive…I wanna see it again." Hawks said cheekily. Amaku's expression of confusion shifted to one of determination. The moment he was anticipating was drawing near.
"That's gonna be your goal for your initiation," said Hawks. "I want you to come at me with everything you've got. And I do mean…everything."
Amaku was briefly stunned in response to these words, but he knew that this moment was coming and collected himself.
"Very well, sir," Amaku said, strongly.
He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. Upon exhaling, he opened his eyes which were now glowing red. Then, with a powerful grunt, he flexed his arms and his muscle mass expanded, stretching against his training clothes, especially his sweatshirt. He then took up his fighting stance, ready to face the challenge ahead.
"Hmmm…interesting," Hawks said with a smile. "Alright then, Brokuma. Show me what Tex sees in you. Come at me," he then gestured for Amaku to approach. However, Amaku did not budge. He simply stood there as still as a statue, not moving a muscle.
"Uhm…your move?" said Hawks in a confused tone. Amaku still did not move. For over thirty seconds, all he did was stand there in his fighting stance, staring intently at Hawks.
"What the heck's up with him?" Hawks thought to himself. "Is he scared?…No…he's standing too still, no signs of trembling or hesitation. He isn't petrified, there's something else going on here…unless…so that's your game?"
At that moment, hawks, with his fierce wings, flew straight forward towards Amaku at high speeds. Right as Amaku was expecting an attack to hit, he crossed his arms and a shimmering red and black layer of energy surrounded Amaku's top half. However, after a while of not feeling any sort of impact, Amaku lowered his guard. Hawks was nowhere to be found.
"So that's how you did it, huh?" A voice said casually, coming from directly behind Amaku. Amaku was shocked stiff as he realized where Hawks was. His eyes slowly looked to the right, doing his best not to make any sudden movements. Hawks stood behind Amaku, both of them standing back to back and not making a move.
"That's how you beat those two villains," Hawks continued. "You were able to watch and analyze their fighting styles when you were hiding on the sidelines. Then when you intervened, you used this…barrier to absorb their blows and separate them so you could pick them off more easily. You beat the big one by taking advantage of his open swings and slow attacks and you beat the other one by taking him by surprise as he was talking- WOAH!"
With a furious grunt, Amaku went for a surprise back hand as Hawks was talking, but the hero was able to use his wings to quickly get out of the way and create some distance between them.
"Ohohoho! Takin' cheap shots are we?" Hawks chuckled. "You know, you may look like the kind of guy who just rushes in blindly, but you've got some cunning under that big tough mug. You're a fighter who lets their opponent go first, gathers intel during a fight, and waits for the chance to counter strike. Smart…however…"
Hawks immediately took to the sky, hovering in the air some distance away from Amaku.
"That counter based style also leaves your enemies with plenty of time to think and plan for themselves. Besides, not all villains are skilled fighters, some are just thieves who'll make a run for it at the first chance they get. Meaning that sometimes, you'll have to be the one who engages. Say they're a flier, like me. What're you gonna do then?"
It was at this point that Amaku disengaged his barrier and his aura began to emanate from his body like flames. He then placed one foot forward, focusing his power to enhance his leg strength, and lunged himself forward into the air, charging straight at Hawks. He attempted to land a charging punch on him, but hawks, utilizing the mid air maneuverability of his wings, simply moved to the left and narrowly, but smoothly avoided the attack. As Amaku arched back down toward the ground, he leaned himself forward into a combat roll to recover from the failed attack. Upon exiting the roll, he planted his feet into the ground and they scraped against the floor as he attempted to halt his momentum.
Once he did, he looked up at Hawks with his burning red eyes. Meanwhile, Hawks looked down on him with a cheeky grin.
"Nice try, but…well, actually no, it wasn't," said Hawks in a bored tone. Amaku grits his teeth in slight frustration, his aura increasing slightly. Once again, he planted his feet into the ground and propelled himself forward, charging straight at Hawks, this time going for a flying kick. Once again, though, Hawks casually drifted to the side and avoided the attack. Amaku performed a combat roll to recover once again. Hawks meanwhile playfully yawned as if to mock Amaku.
"Would you believe me if I said you almost had me that time?" Hawks remarked.
Once again, Amaku's rage began to fester and he growled and grit his teeth like an animal. He was about to charge right back in once again when suddenly, it hit him.
"No…hold it together, hold it together!" Amaku thought to himself. "He's trying to compromise your judgment. You have to calm down…think, need a new strategy, need a new…angle…that's it!"
A couple seconds later, Amaku began to power up once more, his aura raging wildly and his muscle mass increasing and stretching against the fabric of his clothes once more. He planted his feet, and once again he charged straight in at even greater speeds. He charged in at Hawks with a line of red and black energy trailing his path, yet despite the massive increase in speed, hawks once again avoided the charge and Amaku went flying straight into the wall, cratering into it and creating a dust cloud around the point of impact.
Hawks let out a sigh of disappointment as he hovered in the air.
"Welp…I'm bored," he said in a lackadaisical tone, turning away from Amaku's point of impact. "I guess I overestimated how long that yarn of yours would spin, but I figured at least once you would suprise-"
Suddenly, there was a loud boom coming from Amaku's point of impact. Hawks quickly turned around to see a trail of dust that led underneath him to the ground and then bounced towards the parallel wall. Right where that parallel wall should've appeared in Hawks' field of view, for a brief moment, there was Amaku, charging straight at him with a powerful haymaker, his eyes glowing red with fury and his red and black aura radiating around him. As Amaku's fist came hurtling towards Hawks' face, the latter managed to shift to the side just in the nick of time for the first to brazenly scratch his face, leaving a small cut on his cheek. Amaku's momentum forced him to continue going past Hawks towards the far wall.
Upon making contact with the wall, Amaku used his enhanced strength to penetrate the concrete with his hand and slide back down to the ground. Hawks meanwhile continued to hover in the air, still a bit stunned by the close call. He wiped the cut on his face with his thumb, looking down at the blood with an expression of intrigue mixed with slight concern. His gaze then shifted to Amaku, who's aura was raging around him and his muscle mass had increased once again. He looked up to hawks, his burning red eyes focused intensely on his opponent. He stared at his cheek and noticed the cut left from the attack that he'd thrown.
"About time I landed something," Amaku thought. "If I can scratch him, I can catch him. And if I can catch him…I can beat him."
Not a split second later, Amaku charged straight forward, bursting from the wall and positioning himself directly under Hawks. He then jumped straight up into the air, attempting to land an uppercut on his opponent. Hawks managed to shift away from the attack as Amaku rushed right past him. As he continued flying straight towards the ceiling, he manipulated his position so that his feet would hit it first. Upon impact, they cratered into the concrete ceiling, halting his momentum. Amaku wasted no time in immediately charging straight back at Hawks, this time with a flying kick. Once again, Hawks managed to shift out of the way from the attack, though this time Amaku was much closer than the first attempt. Amaku returned to the ground, his feet cratering the concrete upon impact.
From this point on, Amaku bounced all over the room, trying to confuse Hawks by taking unorthodox angles and mixing up his timing before charging in with an attack. However, despite his constant varying off attacks, he still couldn't land a single strike. There were many close calls, but Amaku couldn't land a clean hit. Even with his anger boosting his physical capabilities to such an extent, Amaku was unable to beat Hawks in speed. His intuition and reflexes were excellent, not to mention the ability to keep his cool in such a high stress situation was something Amaku couldn't help but envy.
Eventually, Amaku ceased his constant charging, sliding across the floor and his feet tearing up the concrete as his momentum came to a screeching halt. He looked up at Hawks, who looked down on him with a look of smug confidence, a smarmy smile on his face.
"Dammit!" Amaku thought, panting heavily while staring up at Hawks furiously. "Even with all of this mixup, he's still staying out of my reach! At this rate, I'll never land anything…Unless…!"
It was at this moment that Amaku got an idea to finally get the upper hand. After inhaling deeply to catch his breath, he took up his charging stance and once again, he began bouncing off the walls, forcing Hawks into the same song and dance they'd been doing. Eventually, Amaku launched himself off the floor at an angle towards hawks. Once again, hawks weaved to the left through the air to avoid the strike.
However, before Amaku could reach the other wall, he focused his power into his hands, which started to glow red and black as the energy flowed into them, and unleashed it with a thunderous clap. The move produced such a powerful shockwave that the sleeves of his sweatshirt were destroyed and Amaku was sent flying backwards. The reverse speed was just fast enough that Hawks was caught off guard before he could dodge. As Amaku swung at him with a powerful haymaker, all Hawks could do was block the oncoming attack with his wings. Letting out a furious cry, Amaku's fist collided with Hawks' wings with a powerful impact that sent him hurtling towards the ground. Upon impact, he rolled across the floor until his back hit the far wall, causing his golden goggles to fall off during the tumble.
Amaku stood in the middle of the room and watched as his opponent picked himself up off the ground. Hawks was struggling slightly due to the pain and lingering shock of that last attack. As he brought himself up to one knee, he took a minute to reel from the pain. He looked up at his wings to see that they were shaking from blocking Amaku's haymaker. He then looked towards Amaku, who was still standing there, watching him as he recovered. As he looked towards the boy, he couldn't help but smile slightly and give a small chuckle. It had been a while since he'd faced an opponent with such a keen intuition in combat.
"I gotta give it to you, kid. You're really making me work for it," said Hawks with a hint of pride as he rose to his feet. "I'll admit, my quirk isn't that great against power types like yourself, and I've learned to compensate for that over the years. But you, you've got more than power under there."
"I can assure you sir," said Amaku, getting into his fighting stance once again. "You haven't seen anything yet."
He then immediately charged straight at Hawks, aiming to take the initiative while his opponent was still somewhat disoriented. As he drew closer, hawks reached behind him towards his wings. Once Amaku was within range, he attempted to throw a punch aimed directly at Hawks' face. However, the moment he was about to make contact, Hawks had blitzed straight past him and was out of Amaku's sight. For a brief moment, it had felt as though time had stood still and the next, Amaku could feel a sudden sharp stinging pain all over his body. He winced and staggered backwards from the sudden pain. When he looked down at his body, he found that there were several thin long cuts all over his body and his clothes were torn in multiple places as well. Confusion entered his mind as he observed the injuries that appeared to come form absolutely nowhere.
"You know…it's funny," said Hawks from behind Amaku. When he looked behind him, he saw that Hawks was carrying what appeared to be two large blades in his hands, each one with blood dripping from the tips. Upon closer inspection, Amaku saw that they were not blades, but abnormally large red feathers. Hawks then menacingly looked back over his shoulder towards Amaku, a serious, focused look in his eyes.
"I was about to tell you the same thing."
Before Amaku could take the initiative, Hawks immediately took flight and went in for a dive bond attack, armed with his two feather swords. Amaku quickly dove forward to avoid the attack, but Hawks was almost immediately on him when he recovered from the roll. With less than a fraction of a second, Amaku was forced to quickly block the incoming attack by placing his arms together and activating his barrier to absorb the sword strike. As the sword made contact with the barrier, Amaku could feel the sharpness of the blade straining against it, struggling to cut through the protective layer of energy. Not wanting to lose his advantage, Hawks immediately followed up with a flurry of lightning fast sword strikes, endlessly hammering away at Amaku's barrier and driving him back with each strike.
As this was happening, Amaku watched Hawks' attack pattern through his block, analyzing his technique and waiting for his opening. After being pushed back about 20 yards by the relentless assault, Amaku found an opening during one of Hawks' slower swings and caught the sword in his hand, still protected by his barrier. His red and black energy went from being a solid wall to a flame like aura once again as he then pulled both the blade and Hawks closer to him in an attempt to land a powerful point blank strike to the face. However, Hawks almost immediately let go of the sword and flew back in order to avoid the attack and create space between the two of them.
Hawks observed his opponent, who was breathing heavily while attempting to recover from his blade attacks. The hand that Amaku had been holding the blade with was bleeding from how tightly he was gripping it. His breathing resembled that of a seething rageful beast, ready to charge its prey.
"So that's how it is," Hawks thought as he stared at the blade and Amaku's bleeding hand. "…Alright, let's see just how much that barrier can really take."
"Hey, come on now, Amaku!" Hawks yelled, playfully with a smug grin on his face. "Don't go gettin' tired on me now. I thought you were just getting started!"
Amaku, with an animalistic growl, gripped the sword by its handle and hurled the blade towards Hawks. The latter simply shifted his head slightly and the blade flew right past his head and pierced the concrete wall behind him, all while keeping that smug grin on full display.
"Aaaww, thank you," Hawks said, playfully leaning against the embedded blade. "That's some strength you've got there. I mean, I'd be a little more impressed if you knew what to do with it, but…"
With his rage finally festering and boiling over, Amaku let out a furious battle cry and charged straight forward at Hawks.
"And there it is," thought Hawks. He then immediately extended his wings outwards and started hurtling a barrage of large wing blades towards Amaku. The latter quickly surrounded himself with his barrier, blocking his face as he continued to charge forward. Each blade scathed and deflected off of his barrier as he charged towards Hawks. No matter how many blades came hurtling his way, he powered on through with the sole purpose of reaching his target. When he finally reached Hawks, he jumped into the air to avoid the last two feathers, he quickly transitioned into a ground slam, his energy once again becoming a flame-like aura. The moment this transition happened, Hawks recalled one of the deflected feathers, directing it into Amaku's heel. Amaku screamed as the pain forced him off balance and he stumbled to the ground.
As he was bringing himself up, Hawks grabbed him by the face and took flight with him in his grasp. As they flew closer to the ground, Hawks then held Amaku's head out in front of him, slamming Amaku into the concrete. He then dragged him across the ground, Amaku groaning in pain the entire time, until they eventually reached the far wall and Hawks proceeded to slam him into it. Immediately after releasing Amaku and letting him fall to his knees, Hawks then sent out two of his feathers, directing them straight through Amaku's hands and into the concrete, pinning him to the wall. Amaku once again screamed in pain as he was pinned, his hands bleeding as the feathers dug into his flesh. He tried to break himself free, but with each movement of his hands, there was a sharp and potent sting which forced him to halt his efforts. The pain also forced him out of his enhanced state, his muscle mass reverting to normal, his eyes returning to their natural brown color, and his red and black energy dissipating.
Hawks stood in front of Amaku, breathing a little quickly while looking down on his opponent.
"Whew…well then, that was one hell of a warmup," said hawks, somewhat exhausted. "That said, a warmup's all this has really been. Don't tell me after everything, this is all you've got?"
"NO!" Amaku yelled, reeling from the pain.
"Oh?" Hawks remarked with sarcastic intrigue.
"No! I'm…not done yet!…I can still fight!"
Hawks watched on as Amaku once again attempted to break free of his predicament, but failed to even budge the feathers. With the pain running through his arms, he couldn't focus on his quirk, therefore was unable to enhance his strength. Hawks looked on at the pitiable display.
"Really? So that's it?…huh," said Hawks, letting out a sigh of disappointment. "What a shame. I won't lie, I was really expecting you to pull something there. I figured that once I started getting serious, you'd actually show me something. Thought that if anyone was going to surprise me, it would be you…but, nope. All I've got is a lost little boy who quits when things get too hard."
Amaku looked up at Hawks with a look of slight shock as he spoke.
"Excuse me?" Amaku seethed.
"You heard me, boy. All that strength, all that potential, and what did you do with it for so many years? Jack, squat, nada, that's what. You could honestly probably bring down this whole building with the strength you've got and yet you refuse to use it." As Hawks continued on, Amaku hung his head in shame.
Hawks then knelt down to Amaku's level.
"All those wasted years you had to learn how to properly control your quirk, and you spent them cowering away from the world, cowering from yourself and your own power. Let me guess, you thought by hiding away, you were doing the world a favor, right? Because at the end of the day, that's all you are…a coward."
With every word that came out of Hawks' mouth, Amaku clenched his fists tighter and tighter as his rage began to boil and fester once again. I'm his mind, he began seeing the flashing images covered in a hue of red much like this morning. He grunted like an animal and his body convulsed with pure anger as the images from that one dreadful night came back to him. As this was happening, Hawks drew in closer to him until he was right next to his ear and whispered:
"So is it any wonder…that you let her die that night?"
At that moment, Amaku ceased shaking in his hands. For a whole five seconds, he was completely still. Hawks then rose to his feet. He then turned and began to walk away from Amaku, who looked up at him slowly as he walked away. As he did this, hawks took the opportunity to say one more thing to Amaku.
"Hell, if what I've heard about your little control issue is true, I'm surprised you didn't go berserk and do the deed yourself…"
This was the straw that broke the camel's back. With these final words, Amaku had finally snapped. Out of sheer unbridled rage, he grit his teeth and growled like a wild beast, his eyes were once again aglow, only now, not only were his irises glowing red, but the bowls of his eyes turned pitch black. With an animalistic grunt, his muscle mass suddenly expanded even to an even greater state than it had before, allowing him to break the feathers holding him in place. His chest and arms expanded to the point where his sweatshirt was completely destroyed and his feet grew big enough to destroy the shoes he was wearing. As hawks heard this, he quickly turned around in time to see Amaku removing the blade fragments with his teeth.
"Holy crap, where the hell has this been-" before Hawks could finish, Amaku suddenly let out a deafening, guttural, inhuman primal roar into the air and his red and black aura exploded like an uncontrollable inferno. The air pressure released from this forced Hawks to take to the air and shield his face against the resulting winds. He struggled to fight against the resulting wind pressure as this roar went on for about fifteen more seconds. When it finally ended, Hawks quickly dropped his arms so he could reacquire Amaku in his line of sight, which he did, but not in the way he was expecting.
When he dropped his arms, for about a fraction of a second, he caught the sight of Amaku's right arm before he was almost immediately clothes lined in the gut. Before he could even properly register what happened, he was embedded into the wall, cratering it upon impact. Hawks screamed in pain as he was crushed between Amaku's arm and the concrete wall. Not even a second later, Amaku immediately grabbed him by the neck with the same hand and once again slammed him against the wall. He slammed Hawks three more times, a painful cry coming from Hawks with each one. As he futilely clawed at Amaku's hand to free his throat, Amaku drew him in closer, allowing Hawks to get a proper look at what he had created. He was no longer looking at a teenager, but a monster, baring its fangs at its prey and staring at it with its eyes that resembled two glowing crimson circles amidst deep black abysses. Amaku once again roared at Hawks, spit and saliva coming out of his mouth and flying into Hawks' face.
Amaku then clenched his fist as his raging red and black energy was focused into his left arm and he wound it back for a punch. He was one second away from letting his fist collide with the face of his victim, however, in a flash of quick judgment, Hawks immediately released all of his remaining feathers, even recalling the ones he'd used from before, and used them to penetrate Amaku's nerves and pressure points. Amaku, even in this primal state, couldn't ignore the impact of all of these feathers as they dug into his back and neck, sticking out like arrows from an archery rain. He staggered and flinched as the pain and shock entered his system.
However, he had not yet been knocked out, as he struggled to move a single inch. His hand very slowly drew closer to Hawks' face as he struggled to remain conscious. Hawks struggled to get out his grip before the hand could reach him, straining his head as far back as it could go while still trapped in Amaku's grasp. But then, right as Amaku's hand was less than a hairs length away from his face, Hawks suddenly felt the grip around his throat loosen as it released him and both he and Amaku collapsed on the ground, beaten, bloodied , bruised, and exhausted. Amaku reverted to his regular state as he fell unconscious and Hawks lay on the ground, breathing heavily and rapidly to try and catch his breath. With these final dramatic events, the initiation was over.
2 Hours Later
Amaku was unconscious and recovering in the on-site medical facility, covered in bandages with one or two exposed minor scrapes and scratches across his body as he laid face down on an operating table. There was a breathing mask strapped to his face as the doctors were not only tending to his wounds, but also preparing him for some sort of secondary medical procedure. While this was happening, Hawks and Tex were discussing what had transpired. Hawks was no longer wearing his aviator jacket and goggles, he was bandaged in multiple places, and his wings were noticeably ruffled with several feathers missing.
"What could you have possibly been thinking?!" Tex said in a festering rage, struggling to maintain her cool facade.
"Whoa! What're you getting mad at me for?" Hawks said defensively. "Last I checked, your candidate was the one who nearly killed me!"
"Don't you dare try to play the victim here, Keigo," Tex seethed as she got right into Hawks' face. "You had the means to neutralize and defeat him long before you got that far! You knew quite well what you were doing! You even said it yourself, he has the strength to tear this building down with his bare hands, and yet you continued to prod and push him and you got what you had coming!"
"Again I really don't see why you're making such a big deal out of this. If anything you should be thanking me."
Tex was dumbfounded by this statement for about five seconds before she started speaking again.
"Thanking you?…THANKING you!?" She said, losing her cool facade. "The point of putting you two together was to demonstrate that even though Brokuma may have control issues, he can still apply advanced strategic thinking in tandem with his strength enhancement. It was to prove to the president that he is more than a feral animal whose only notable attribute was his raw strength. She was already skeptical of the boy to begin with, so how does what you did help his case in any way?"
"And you see, that's where your problem was, Tex," said Hawks. "You were so focused on getting the President to approve of his current capabilities that you didn't even consider selling her on the kid's future potential."
Tex crossed her arms angrily and raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Just think about it," Hawks continued. "Regardless of whether or not the kid was in full control or not, he actually managed to force me to pull out all the stops, even if it was for just a moment. Hell, even in that less powerful state, he managed to get a clean shot in, which already speaks volumes to his current capabilities. Right?"
Tex took a moment before responding with a hesitant nod.
"And, if what I saw in his file about…that…is accurate, then it's not only proof that he can learn to control this 'berserker' state, but it also shows what he could be capable of if properly groomed. Imagine that kind of power in service to the Commission. He could potentially become one of our greatest assets. But only if he's convinced that he needs to break out of this shell he's built around himself. You follow me?"
Tex did not speak as she leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. An uncomfortable silence befell the two of them for about a minute or so.
"...How's he holding up?" asked Hawks, breaking the silence. Tex looked at him with her arms crossed and a look of discontent in her eyes. After closing them and taking a deep breath, she regained her composure
"Physically, he's healing fine, but mentally, that's a different story," she said with her normal calm and collected voice.
The two of them looked into the room to see Amaku being tended to.
"After coming down from…whatever that was, he was severely drained and exhausted not just physically, but especially mentally. The doctors said it was akin to the fall after a blood sugar spike. He was keeping so much of that anger fueled energy repressed that when he exploded, he had no way to control the power surge. When you knocked him out, the drop after such a power spike caused him to crash hard."
"Right, guess that makes sense," said Hawks. "So, uh, are they gonna do the uh…the thing?" he asked, pointing to the back of his neck.
"The doctors have healed him to the point where the procedure won't drain him too much. They'll be ready to proceed soon."
"Hm," replied hawks with an affirming grunt.
Once again, the two resumed by an uncomfortable silence as they looked into Amaku's room and watched the doctors do their work. While Hawks leaned against the door while looking in through the window, Tex stood straight and formally with her hands behind her back. After about another thirty seconds of this silence, Hawks once again broke it.
"Look…for what it's worth, I'll vouch on his behalf when I report to the President," he said.
Tex looked at her with her usual cold gaze as he said this.
"I meant what I said, the kid has potential," Hawks then stood straight and turned to Tex with a serious look on his face. "But one way or another, he's gotta wake up and realize what he's gotta do. If he keeps running and hiding from his own strength, he'll never realize any of that potential. You know this, Tex…so make sure he does, too."
Hawks then turned and made his way down the hall, a hand to his side as he walked. Meanwhile, Tex stared through the window at Amaku as Hawks' words played back in her mind. As angry as she was at him, she knew that to some extent, he was right. If Amaku was to ever contribute the program, he first needed to embrace who he was.
Meanwhile, inside the room, two doctors, one male and the other female, prepared to conduct a procedure on Amaku, marking the base of his neck.
"How's he, Doctor Wu?" The male doctor asked with a scalpel in hand.
"Patient's heart beat is stable," the female doctor said, checking Amaku's vitals "…Brain wave activity is stable…patient is properly sedated…all vitals are green…"
"Ready to proceed, Doctor Yen."