Vol 2 Ch 14 (Kenneth): A Wreckful Evening

"Hey...wake up" I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Kai sat on one knee while resting his left arm on his left knee. "Lee and Sam's location changed...the situation has changed as well." He walked over to the edge and I followed. "See?" He pointed past the compound, in the distance was this massive creature, almost twice the size of the forest.

"So where'd they go?"

"Dunno, their signal went blank for a few minutes, hell, maybe even longer, it felt like time stopped around me...afterwards though their signal went back towards the settlement...seems we came here for nothing." Great, pointless wandering...I hated it...it's not like it was a peace walk either, at least that may be tolerable...though, I wondered what he meant when he talked about time freezing, I didn't feel a thing.

"Alright, so we head back, what's the big deal?"

"Nothing really, you're right, we could just head back."

"Could?"

"...no...nothing, let's get going" Kai seemed interested in the compound...too interested.

"No, tell me, I'm tired of you guys hiding stuff. What's in there that's so important." Kai seemed surprised...probably didn't expect me of all people to speak up about the secret-keeping.

"There's a resource here that I could use, it's called Teanial."

"Never heard of it"

"Didn't think so" He sat down and had his legs dangle against the wind. "It supposedly can fix certain relics, whether it's time-travel related, or even world killing related. It's better if we have it"

"So why'd you want to leave?"

"Some of my guys were meant to get it...But I'll put a little more faith into them...so, like I said, let's get going."

"Right" Kai turned around and slashed the air, opening a portal. We both walked in...I was still pissed that this was pointless, we could've stayed at the settlement and helpe-

"Wuh?" Interrupting my thoughts was Matt, as he stood in front of us, confused for whatever reason. "Wa...I thought I was tracking you...so, why're you guys here?"

"...shit" Kai mumbled under his breath, I only heard the last bit, why can't my hearing be like Lee and Sam's? "Listen, since I was being honest with Kenneth I'll tell you, not like it's a big deal. Me and Kenneth went into another timeline as we thought they went there, and being honest, just our existence there may have done something. Time paradox don't exist in Zullo, you can meet up with yourself from another timeline, It's just, we may have changed how it should've went...I doubt it, considering Lee and you all in that time weren't there." He stopped for a bit. "So maybe we actually didn't change anything..."

"That doesn't answer who I was chasing though" Matt had his axe at the ready.

"Well, what made you think it was us?" I looked down to see if I noticed any trail.

"Well, because I saw you both, like, you looked exactly the same as what I saw"

"Mimics then, simple enemies...unless it's the corruptor version, in that case...a living catastrophe...Matt, did they see or hear you?"

"You think I'm stupid? No. They teleported before I could get to them though." Matt desummoned his axe.

"So you were chasing people who teleported?" I opened my hud while Kai and Matt talked. I went into the menu where our entire squad was.

Lee Ancker LV ?? R5

HP:??
MP:??
Corruption Meter: 44%

Sam Cal LV?? R4

HP: 350/400
MP: 160/160

Well...something was clearly off about it. Yet, I couldn't tell why, Sam still had her stats, yet they increased from last time, and Lee...Lee was clearly doing something...or, had something done to him...I'll have Nicholai check up on him after we get back to Eaxura.

"Alright, Let's head back, hopefully those two had the common sense to come back here. Either that or the luck to get that far." Kai began to walk past Matt

"Alright, let's follow Mr. Pessamistic" Matt followed behind him first. I looked around a bit, the forest gave this chilly feeling...A part of me didn't want to tell the others...then I remembered, I'm not a horror movie protag, I'm not stupid.

"Hold on!" I called to their attention. "Doesn't something feel off?" It was silent for a few seconds.

"Yeah...it does feel a bit like we're being watched." Kai took out his sword, it seemed like the guy could use any weapon

"Sure maybe, but from all angles?" I caught up to them while Matt summoned back his axe.

"We should keep moving like we don't know, that way we may get the drop on them" The entire conversation had been whispered, yet I feel as though they could still hear us, the three of us aren't exactly the perfect stealthy ones. I led the walk this time, thinking about it, we could've just used TTS, that way we wouldn't have to whisper...you think a district ruler would know that.

We made it out of the forest perfectly fine...the feeling must've just been my paranoia building up...where's Nicholai when I need her? My own paranoia must've made the others paranoid, therefor why they agreed with my statement.

"Well that makes my job easier" I felt someone tap my shoulder from behind me, I swung the backside of my spear in hopes of knocking them out, until I realized it was Kyle. I attempted to stop my swing, but Kyle had already grabbed my spear. "Do you and Lee have the same reaction to seeing or hearing someone behind you...I mean damn, I know I'm not around all the time, but at least remember my voice."

"Kyle...you must've been the one watching us" Kai became more relaxed as he looked back towards the settlement, after Kyle released my spear I did the same, only to be surprised by it's destruction...four...maybe six hours of sleeping and it was destroyed.

"Indeed I was, you guys aren't really quie-

"Kyle! Where's Lee and Sam?" I just remembered and splurted the words out to Kyle, even he was taken aback by the randomness.

"They came through earlier, I told them about where Nicholai and Alice went so they're over there"

"So that's where we're going next" I took a look inside the settlements, making sure no one was left here. After that I opened my map section in my hud and looked around, I saw Nicholai and Alice's but I couldn't see Lee and S- no...I could, if I looked really closely and zoomed in I could see it, a very small pink and white dot under Nicholai and Alice's, then again, Alice's dot is also pink, maybe it's the opposite, Lee and Sam got separated so it's Lee and Alice...or maybe I'm thinking too much.

"Well, someone's in overdrive, as you say" Not waiting for any other response I began running towards the dots, they weren't far but it would still be one hell of a jog.

"We've climbed a mountain before, we've fought a giant mech before, and now we're jogging...heh, shouldn't...be too bad!" Matt started speaking to himself as we were running towards them, it seemed like everyone was having troubles when we reached the 80% point, I wouldn't mind going alone if they needed a rest, knowing how stubborn they all are though...I doubt they'd go for it. When we were close to the dots I noticed crowds of people...a lot of them...there was a city here and there seemed to be a bunch of stalls, clothing, food, jewelry, all of them were here in the stalls. Yet...there was one thing I noticed, everyone of them were human, and I could tell just by the fact they didn't wear a uniform...didn't use their huds, and the most obvious one, a sign saying that DTs will get shot on sight.

"Well, I guess it's stealth time" Kyle clasped his hands together, before pulling his hoodie up. Kai already wore a hat so his colored hair wouldn't draw attention...from the looks of it though, no one here was blonde, so I wore a hat in the end as well. We walked into the crowd...there was no way we weren't getting separated, Matt being the youngest of us, was shorter than us by default as well, and I myself could barley see over the crowdse

"Excuse me" I spoke softly as I squeezed my way through everyone "Come on...just a little bit of room"

"Move!"

"Get Down!"

I heard a bunch of people in the crowd cry out. Just by instinct I listened and ducked down, a few seconds later I noticed how things became slightly darker as the sound of many engines took over the air. I looked up and saw all the parts of a car, besides for what would be in the hood. The car must've gotten some jump. The crowd began walking backwards, some people running, I fell over thanks to all of them shoving around, and just barley, a motorcycle missed me as it zoomed by, and soon another one. Then even a few trucks with MGs on them. I looked around hopping to see the others, yet none of them were around. I heard something clang against metal and when I looked back forward I saw a motorcycle laying on the floor with someone beside it. It was one of the Reunion members. I walked over and sat the bike up, the engine needed to start up again, but after a few turns it did. I looked at my hud to see if my thoughts were right...yep...Alice, Nicholai, Sam, and Lee, were all in a car chase right now...greeeaaaat~.

"Thanks for the ride bud" I looked down at the unconscious Reunion Member, and afterwards looked forward, beginning my ride and hopefully catching up to them...until I realized...I have no clue how to drive..."dave" I called for my drone, hoping it was around.

"Yes, Mr Broker?" Thankfully I saw Bravo Team's signature drone in front of me.

"By any chance can you drive for me? Or have I not made you that advanced yet?"

"No sir, I can handle it" Oh...well thankfully I put the learning AI in already...though that means he can build his own personality...and yes, the drone is a he.

"Well" I scooted back a bit, making room for my drone "Away we go!" The drone went in front of me and revved up the engine...soon we darted forward, driving past crowds who were incredibly scared, can't blame them though.

It seemed like we caught up sooner than expected, the other bikes and trucks were slowing down, and some were even burning and toppling over...jeez, you four, what'd you do?...actually, they, as in Lee, Sam, and Alice, probably coerced Nicholai into this. I felt something bash into me, I turned left and saw a jeep...how I didn't topple over right then and there...well...I guess Dave is good at recovery. When the jeep got closer, about to bash into us again, I stood on the bike and took out my spear, right before it bashed against us I jammed my spear in between them. My spear laid on the seat of the motorcycle, while the pointed edge jammed into one of the doors. The type of jeep it was, was the same as all the others, it was like a safari jeep, just without a roof. Someone in the back popped their head up, holding a shotgun...great...how was I gonna dodge this?...actually.

While they popped their head up, I kicked my spear from the left side, causing it to tear more through the door, and reach the door in the back, it was luck but my idea worked, from the person's expression the point on my spear was long enough to cut their leg. Using my spear as a way to balance I walked over to the jeep, grabbing onto the door I vaulted over and used both legs to kick the guy off the jeep. The person driving turned around and tried shooting at me with some weird sidearm I hadn't seen before, kind of like Nicholai's weird plasma...laser...whatever gun. I kicked the arm with my left leg as I turned over. This time however, they recovered quickly and pistol-whipped me when I tried to rush them. I recoiled back as I thought I felt blood trickling down my cheek. I tried resummoning my spear in hopes of deflecting the shot, but before the driver could shoot, Dave came rushing over and slammed against the driver.

"What the fuck is that!" Dave kept pushing the driver against the door.

"Sir!" I realized what he wanted me to do. I reached over from the back and opened the door, the driver got launched out of the jeep, tumbling through the dirt. I resummoned my spear and slung it around my shoulder while Dave continued driving.

"Dave, you can't keep doing that...I haven't put armor on you yet..."

"Mr Broker...If I may, as a child you made me to take care of you and your friends...I know it was meant in a mental way. But I shall take it upon myself to protect you in any way that I can...if you'll allow me."

"...I told you, you're a self-learning drone, you might as well be human...so do whatever you feel is right."

"Wouldn't that break the laws of robotics?"

"You just hurt a human already...we're not human anymore either, the laws of robotics don't matter anymore."

"I see...alright then! Let's go get the others!" Dave really did feel like another human, If only I upgraded Dave enough to talk with Sam during her time in the hospital. I shook my head, I should be focusing on the actual mission...well, just what's going on right now. I heard the bike I was on previously fumble and crash, not explode though, this isn't like those action movies they watch.

"Sir! Truck ahead" The truck in front of us was shooting towards a jeep just like mine, except this one had a roof and seemed to have more armor on it. They must've been in there. I hopped onto the windshield ready to jump onto the truck, I was practically hopping onto car after car. I stuck my spear into the back of the truck and grabbed onto it, Dave went into my bag as the car was left behind.

"I'll get you a little slot in my bag later" I heard something mechanical move, Dave was probably nodding, not like he had a head. Using my spear I lifted myself up onto the back of the truck. I snuck behind one of the shooters and wrapped the pole part of my spear around their neck, I kicked the back of their right leg, knocking them onto their floor. I kept my spear on their neck until they stopped moving, it was terrible to watch, but it's not like I killed them. As I moved around the top of the truck, I looked into the armored Jeep, it confirmed what I had thought, Lee was driving while from the looks of it, Nicholai and Alice were going through some laptop. I couldn't see Sam from this angle though. I placed my fingers onto the truck and took a deep breath, using the fingers on my left hand, I used my electric powers, a lot of the truck was covered in cloth. My plan was to create enough heat to light the cloth on fire. A few seconds went by and a bullet flew past my head, I was finally noticed by the rest of the convoy. "Oh forget this" I raised my hand slightly, cut the very tip of my fingers ever so slightly, and with the pain that it caused, I slammed my hand into the ground. It seemed as though it caused the truck I was on to sway, and soon the entire thing turned over. While it was flipping I jumped off towards the jeep Lee was in, I landed on it, and was greeted by Sam popping her head out with her sniper aimed at me.

"Ken!?" She lowered her rifle then ducked back down, the door opened, and although risky I grabbed the roof and swung into the car. The first things I noticed, Sam had moved to the back, Lee looked hyped, and Alice and Nicholai seemed to be typing something on the laptop. I sat down in the passenger seat.

"What did you guys do!?" I looked over to Lee as he drove.

"We took out their MEMP, but as you can see" He motioned to the cars. "They didn't like it"

"Oh! Ken!" I looked behind me at Sam, she was leaning on my seat. "Lee is thinking of bringing the band back"

"You're telling me this now!?" A bullet hit the window beside me, causing everyone to get startled slightly.

"Oh come on, we'll be fine in this car. Raymond is also sending a portal for us to warp through, it's only a matter of time" Didn't Lee and Sam have a distrust of Raymond? Or was that just Lee?...

"So what's with the laptop?" Nicholai handed it to me after I asked.

"Reunion Files" She answered, Alice rolled down the window and fired a few shots to keep them away from the car. I looked through the folders.

"Umm, Nichi, this is us isn't it?" When I opened the files I noticed images and info on us...Deja Vú that's for sure. Me, Nicholai, Lee, Sam, we were all here...cause we had a major impact on them. "So where'd you even get this" I tapped the top of the laptop with the back of my index finger. While I turned towards Nicholai the car swerved.

"Get out!" I heard Lee shout, so I quickly listened. I pulled the handle and opened the door, after I got out I slid over the hood and knelt down behind the armor plating right as another bullet flung past me, hitting my right ear.

"Tsk..." I pressed down on it, I could feel that it was wet and warm...great.

"You okay?" Lee looked over at me, when I looked at him I realized something...half the damn car was gone.

"Wh...wha?"

"Raymond's portal sucked! it only warped half of the car" I noticed Lee's scabbard was making a shield-like thing behind him...I don't recall him having a scabbard, and it being implanted in the ground made it secure.

"When did?" I pointed over at the scabbard blocking off shots. When Lee looked at it, I could tell he was surprised too.

"Oh...I uhh...manifested it you could say...I didn't know it could do that though" So he's saying the scabbard did that itself? Speaking of which, it wasn't the entire scabbard that was like that, it was more like the middle of it split open and let it out...useful though, so I can't judge. "You didn't answer me!" I looked back at Lee, who was checking my ear. "It's bleeding a lot...but it's fine, heh, Sam would faint from this."

"Joking in the middle of a battlefield?"

"Well, this is a city" He smirked at me.

"Smartass"

Lee: Raymond!

Raymond: I know, I know, give me a second

I heard doors open.

"Kenneth, they're gonna start charging us" He picked up his scabbard and put his sword in it. "Get ready for CQC" We heard footsteps approaching, I looked at Lee and he nodded. I quickly raised up as I turned my spear into my bow, the second I was all the way up I saw four people, there were more, but I had no time to react to them if I wanted to. I looked at the four near my bow's sight...Most of them carried melee weapons, small daggers, a bat, stuff like that. Yet, I noticed one of them holding some weird box...for people shooting at us earlier they didn't have guns. In a split-second decision, I shot at the guy with the box and although it hit, I undershot it, instead of hitting them in the head it hit right in the throat. I summoned another arrow and fired another one at one of the dagger wielders, I could hear slugs being fired to my right, most likely Lee. "Ken!" I heard Lee call, I looked right and saw Lee pinned against the car remnants with a guy approaching me, swinging the back of their shotgun. I ducked down and threw a left hook at the guy's stomach. All of these soldiers seemed about our age, I felt bad...but this is how it had to be. As I rose up I uppercut with my right fist, knocking the guy off balance. Behind I saw Lee smash someone's head onto the car and take out a small dagger, rushing my guy until he fell onto the floor, causing him to stab their leg instead. I tackled them, knocking them over, I ripped the shotgun out of their hands and swung the butt of it at them. I felt the air move behind me, I summoned my spear and swung around, hoping to catch them off guard. Lee however shot them.

"Get down!" I felt someone's arms force me down. Next I knew I heard something explode. I stayed looking at the floor for a bit before looking up. The trucks had exploded and no one but us were left standing...it was a terrible sight to see, the stench was even worse, how could the smell of blood even get this bad. I looked right and figured out why Lee tripped, there was a hole in his left leg, a small one, meaning he must've gotten shot...this guy can't stop getting hurt, can he? Guess his luck only lasts in games. "This makes twice now" Kai was the one who brought me down...I guess it was twice. Nicholai knelt near Lee, I didn't know what she was doing at first until she whacked his head with something.

"Stop getting hurt every five seconds! I can't heal everyone every day you know!" Ah, I forgot Nicholai was like that, aggressive, yet caring... I think.

"Hehe, I don't see why it's my fault they keep coming after me" Lee said it jokingly, but Kai perked up.

"Actually...you do seem to be targeted, back at the trails when you helped out a recruit, you were targeted, then that compound, and now this when they could've gone for Kenneth...I think they want you dead for some reason" Kai sounded shakey, which made me uneasy. "We should head back to Eaxura, I say you guys earned a break" Kai looked over at the laptop which I was taking out of the car. "I can ta-

"No, I'll be fine, I'm just gonna look through it." Kai seemed a bit mad, but didn't comment on it.

"Whatever...Hey, you can walk right?" He redirected his attention to Lee, who stood up using his sheathed sword as a crutch.

"Sure I can, just not run"

"Good enough, Nicholai, watch over him until we get him to a doctor" Nicholai seemed offended by the comment.

"Am I not labeled as a medic?"

"Combat medic maybe, not doctor though" I could sense an argument about to break out.

"Alright, Kai shut up before you piss her off, I'm just gonna assume the portal behind you leads to Eaxura, and in that case, Imma go before I get shot again" I didn't expect Lee to break it up. He went into the portal before anyone could comment, and soon we followed.

When I entered the portal Nicholai and Kai were already a bit away, which seemed to prompt Dave to talk to me.

"It seems like Kai has become more hostile lately, any opinions?"

"No, nothing I can comment on anyways, I still don't even know why Lee hates him...and I don't think he does himself" Eaxura's time was night, a peaceful night, just like when I left, only it wasn't raining. The Neon lights shined in my face just like before, it was just like home...well, I guess this is home now. I felt around my neck as I cleared my throat, I felt something around my neck, when I pulled it out of my shirt I noticed it was a dog tag...when did I get o-...oh what am I on about...I always had one...right?

"Something wrong?" Sam's voice rang through the crowd that was beginning to form around the place, guess this part of Eaxura is popular.

"Nothing really, just being forgetful." For someone asking me if something was wrong, she seemed to be in thought herself, can't blame her.

"I guess that makes sense. So! Do you remember what I said!?" Huh? What is she on about?...

"Umm...w-" Well, I guess she wasn't there when people died...so.

"Let me give you a hint, Project Projection"

"What's that?" Project Projection, was it in some file I didn't read...no, she said something she said.

"Music!? Really Ken?" Music?...Oh!

"Ohhh, right, Lee wants to start the band up again right?...Why though?"

"Dunno, I guess he had some feelings he wants to express, after all, it was our whole thing...you know, winging it, singing on emotion alone."

"I wonder why he wants to do it know of all times though..." Was being in a compound that impactful? "I hope he isn't bottling up something, we all know what happened last tim-" I saw Sam's expression get dimmer. "Right, I shouldn't be bringing up past things...you can see where I'm coming from though" Lee had an issue with bottling up emotions, he always thought it was his purpose to defend us...it clouds his judgment a lot though...hopefully, that won't happen again.

"anyway" Her voice was quieter until she went back to her normal volume "You think we can get everyone? Kyle and Kayla too! Maybe we can have Matt be a new member!" Yep...still a music person.

"I dunno, Me, you, and Lee seem like a good enough trio" She looked offended.

"Well then it's not getting the band back together, the whole point is singing our feelings out to one another, did you forget the whole reason we started this? To get to know one another better?" ...was that the reason?...I though...I thought Lee did it for a more personal reason...yeah...yeah it was...It was like a memory clicked in my head, Sam seemed like she remembered something too...maybe our memories between the team were linked, if one of us remember, maybe we all remember. "A-anyway...I'm gonna go check on Lee...give the band some thought" She waved me off...didn't I already accept though?

"Sir, shall we have a look at the laptop?" Dave had exited my bag and was holding the laptop.

"Yeah, let's go look at it in my workshop, in case anything is encrypted."

Both of us made it home, mine was pretty typical, the main part that got crazy was my workshop, it had stuff for cars and just tech in general...Dad would've loved this, would he be proud, or maybe surprised that I managed to surpass him...proud...yeah he would be proud. Maybe we should do Sam's idea and go back to our home dimension...hopefully...and I beg, that all of our parents lived...well, Lee doesn't have to worry about if they lived or not, they were probably deadbeats anyways. I sat the laptop down on one of my workbenches and pulled up a seat, alright, let's get looking.

...nothing...there wasn't anything anymore, the entire thing was purged! I was gonna throw this damn thing into the wall until Dave stopped me.

"Mr Broker, I can run a program that may be able to restore previous data, thanks to it being a recent wipe, I should still be able to catch it before it's gone forever"

"Oh, oh what would I do without you."

"You would be dead sir, since I saved you on that jeep"

"I didn't mean that as an actually question you know"

"Sarcasm understood, I'll keep it in mind"

"I...don't think it was sarcasm...more of a rhetorical question"

"I see, my mistake, thank you for teaching me" Dave reminded me of Nicholai in some sense, we were twins, but it felt like we both taught each other when our parents weren't around, I feel like our roles should've been reversed, it was her who brought me into tech and mechanics after all...and vice versa with her being into medicine...weird world I'll say.

"I'm gonna go to bed Dave, make sure to charge yourself, or keep the lights on to stay charged." I stood up and headed to the door back into the main house.

"You've equipped me with solar panels and extensive batteries, I should be able to last the entire night"

"Even so, don't push yourself"

"I am a machine, I cannot get tired."

"You still have emotions though, wouldn't it get boring doing that same thing?"

"I don't understand...wouldn't that make Lee and Sam bored?"

"Huh?" I stopped at the door

"I may be incorrect, but they seem to be putting up with each other from the short bursts of them I see"

"No Dave, that's just how they act, they're good friends"

"I see...I...don't think I understand though..."

"That's fine...just remember what I said."

"Understood...goodnight Sir" I exited my workshop and went up the stairs, headed into my room, and just plopped on my bed...finally some rest, well deserved if I say so. I laid my stomach on the bed, face on my pillow, and just drifted off to sleep