As I looked over the horizon, I could see the many buildings in the city slowly come to life. The cold air stung my face, but it kept me awake. The rooftop of one of our factories, The Kara-no-goki chasy factory, is the best place to enjoy the city skyline, maybe it's the smell of gasoline that I love or perhaps it's the low hum of automated machines slaving away building car bodies for almost 24 hours a day, maybe it's the fact that nobody has worked here for years with only our families maintenance guy visiting monthly....the ability to rewind time for an object can come in real handy. The mechanical orchestra was interrupted by footsteps on the metal grates. I turned around to see him, my flame-haired companion emerging from the iron depths.
"Sup, dude. You called for me?"
"Ya, I...I need your help with something."
He walked towards me and sat next to me by the edge of the building.
"Ask and you shall receive, brother."
"I'm changing my surname."
"What?"
"Look, I've thought about this a lot and I don't want anything to do with that name."
"Liam..."
"All it's gotten me is-"
"LIAM!"
"What?"
"Are you doing this coz you're mad at someone, or are you doing this because you feel it is right?"
"Well...I...so what?"
"Liam, you're family has directly caused so much harm here. I know that everyone in the main city is basically in paradise, but the people in the slums live in hell. For years, they have profited from the suffering of their people. I know that I'm one to talk, but at least I have a good reason for it. Trust me, I personally have many reasons to hate your family name and support you, but I won't do it if you aren't doing it for the right reasons. Remember our first encounter here."
"Ya, I challenged you to a fight, right here on this very building."
It was about three months after I had met Hisashi and Hida, and it was about dawn when it happened.
"Sup, dude." Yelled Hisashi.
"Hey man, we need to talk"
"Sure, what is it?"
"I won't follow you into battle if I can't put my trust in your skills. I have to believe that you are better than me if I am to work under you, and right now, I have no reason to believe that. So...fight me."
"What?"
"Fight me, it's the only way for me to be sure."
"Hahaha, Liam...I'm a non-combatant. I don't fight, that's why I have you guys."
"DON'T LIE TO ME, I'm no fool...I know power when I see it. The air you gave off when you threatened me, there was real malice in that, you wanted me to die horribly, I could feel it. For me to understand it, I need to fight you, that's another reason for this, I guess."
"I never said that I couldn't fight, I just said that I don't...not anymore. Look, if you feel that I'm lacking in skill, you lead, still works to my favour anyway."
"BASTAAARD, that's not something you simply give away!" That line pissed me off, I lunged at him with my fist ready to punch his jaw off, but he dodged like it was nothing. Leaning backwards like he was playing limbo. I twisted and came in with a waist-high sweep kick, but he ducked even lower. As I landed getting ready to give him a downward axe kick, but he twisted and uppercutted me in the stomach. I fell to the ground as my vision went dark, and a searing pain shot through my intestines like electricity. I tried to get up, but my body went limp and I fell unconscious. A few minutes later, I woke up with my head resting on Hisashi's jacket. He was sitting on the building's edge, looking at the distant ships coming into shore to pick up goods to deliver all over the world.
"Ooooouch, how the hell did u do that?"
"My brother taught me. He did a lot of dirty work for the Peacekeepers. He knew that one day I'd get involved, so he trained me....I....When I killed someone for the first time, I vowed not to fight again."
"My first kill was rough, too."
"Who'd you kill?"
"A man murdered my girlfriend's...well, ex-girlfriend's father. I killed him in vengeance, simple as that. You?"
"My brother's partner he's the reason I'm in debt right now. Anyway, look, I was serious about letting you lead. Truth is, I won't let anything bad happen to you guys, so if any of us are dying first, it will be me, but beyond that, I'm only here to clear my debt. I have no intention of staying after that, so the team will need someone looking after them when I'm gone."
"Them?"
"You'll find out soon enough. I just don't need them yet."
"That day, Liam, you said that you challenged me because you needed to know if I was worthy of following, but I think that my bloodlust terrified you...you couldn't stand the idea of it, could you? You never back down from a challenge; that flaw of yours will get you killed or worse...get someone else killed. You can't rise to every challenge, Liam, learn to pick your battles."
"You're right...I'm sorry."
"Look, dude, there are plenty of ways to blow off steam. How about this: the team needs some custom jumpsuits for the job, but the only place to get them is a Kara-no-goki utility-gear factory.
"So we need to steal it."
"Precisely. Here." He gave me a card with an address on it. "Also, we can't let them know what we took, so burn the place down once you're done. I know a really good arsonist, he'll meet you tomorrow right here at 11 am."
"Got it." He began to walk away (That fight...I couldn't land a hit on him... maybe I should....no, I can't rise to every challenge....right, Hisashi). As he reached the stairs, he turned around and smiled.
"You're learning." He said gleefully.
The next morning was a hot one; it was the weekend, the best time to game after a hard day's worth of studying. Mother and dad were out working, so I was completely alone....sort of.
"Liam. Breakfast is ready!" Yelled Aiko, her mom was working at home and needed the house to be empty, so I let her and Julianna crash at our house for the weekend.
"I'm coming down." I paused the game and walked downstairs to them.
"Prepared some oats porridge for us," said Julie.
"And I got us some old movies from the rental store. Anyone wanna watch some good old-fashioned Romero zombies? Or we-" something crashed in my room.
"Hold on, I'll be back."
I ran up expecting to see that my TV had fallen or something, but there stood a short Indian looking boy with short black-gray hair and a large duffel bag.
"Yato, the hell are you doing here? And how did you find out where I live?"
"Didn't Hisashi tell you, I'm the arsonist? As for your house, ya, he told me about that too."
"You're an arsonist, well, I guess that works well with your miso. Anyway, your timing is off, we were supposed to meet somewhere else and on top of that, you are three hours early...what's with the bag?"
"Well, when I heard that you're rich, I just had to see for myself....damn, bro, you Kara-no-gokis don't disappoint. And well, the duffel bag, that's for the job."
"Ooookay, anyway, look, I've got guests right now, do you mind waiting up here. It would be difficult to explain your-"
"Liam, what's taking you so...long?" Aiko was standing in the doorway, looking at us with a confused expression. "Who's he?"
"A friend, Rakesh, met Aiko. Aiko, this is Rakesh."
"Why does a native American have an Indian name?"
"I don't know, I'm not his dad, dude."
"Liam, you'd have to be a real idiot to fall for something this stupid. I mean, really."
"Hey, Liam, food's getting cold. Who's this?" Asked Julie.
"(Indian name)."
"That's nice, hey, you wanna get some food. We have extra."
"Sure." Yato jumped up and walked down with Julie. Aiko shot an annoyed look as he walked past her.
"I swear, she's as sharp as a marble. How the hell is she my twin sister?"
"Look, he's friendly and I trust him. That's all you need to know."
"Oh, please, Liam, I can smell the poverty off of him. He tries anything and-"
"My house, my guest."
She sighed, "Fair enough."
"Trust me, he's harmless."
"I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong."
"Aiko...food."
"Fine, fine."
We watched movies and ate breakfast. Yato and Julie got along really well. With his joking nature and her sweet demeanour, they became fast friends. After a few hours, it was time to go.
"Liam, it's time."
"Alright, ladies, I've gotta go. I'll see you in a few hours."
"Babye." Said Juliana while waving enthusiastically.
"We'll clean up while you guys are gone." Responded Aiko.
We began walking to the bus station together. The walk was a little far, but what's seven kilometres when you are with a friend?
"(Indian name), really dude?"
"Hey, you don't quite fit the bill of a native American dude."
"What do you mean?"
"Your skin colour, for example, it's darker than mine and I'm a quarter African."
"Thought your dad was German."
"Ya, but my grandpa is African. The media doesn't cover that part of my family as thoroughly as they used to since the Argents disbanded their hero agency. It's much more fun to talk about a demon than a group of retirees."
We reached the bus and got on, and after two hours of commuting, we finally reached the new construction district. The family was planning on expanding the city and had hired thousands of workers to build a mini Las Vegas.
This would be dedicated to all forms of nightlife, an invitation to the world to visit our island. The factory we were looking for was just on the outskirts of the skeletal city, providing steel and concrete to the workers at an insane speed. Hundreds of trucks carried away tons of steel pipes and fittings. It had a large metal gate that looked like it could take a tank shot, no problem. The walls were high enough to hide most of the factory, only leaving a few smoking chimneys as proof of its existence. Yato and I walked up a hill to get a better view of the factory. The courtyard was full of trucks, but there weren't many guards. I could hear the bangs of machines building steelwork for the buildings.
"Nice, this place is mostly automated, so we won't find many civilians in there," I said as I put on my mask and gave him his.
"And a little chaos will get the stragglers running."
"You just read my mind. I'll nab the suits while you prep the ~~incindearys~~."
"It'll take me about 20 minutes, a minute per bottle. I think a simple alcohol mix will do, so I'll make Molotovs."
"Since the fire needs to spread, I can set up discs all around the facility so that I can hit all sides."
"Alright, partner, sounds like a plan."
"Bro?"
"Bro."
"Bro!"
"Bro!"
"...broooooo," we said in unison.
"Wanna game at my place after this?" I asked
"Hell yeah!" We bumped fists and split.
Yato took out some old glass bottles from his bag and began dropping a viscous fluid from his hands into the bottles. Has it slid to the bottle, it evaporated and became a clear liquid. I dropped a disc near Yato, then walked around the perimeter of the factory while tossing discs over the wall to the other side. The factory was about the size of a small mall, so teleporting around it wouldn't be a problem. Once finished, I then teleported back to Yato and told him to give me the bag.
"It's a simple "O H" bond mixed with "H2O", so it shouldn't be a problem to reform. I'll prep some smaller incendiaries and herd the stragglers away."
"Good. Meet you back here in ten."
"Cool."
I snuck into the building as a few workers were walking around. The railing on the ceiling made for easy transport. An old man in a jumpsuit we were looking for, was walking towards the northern half of the building. (Maybe I should follow him; he might lead me to the supply room. As I followed from above, he walked into a room that said ~~Chefs~~ office. (Interesting.) I jumped down, crouch-landing in order to avoid making too much noise. I snuck by a window and looked in.
"Sir, the workers need a raise." Said the jumpsuit man
"What are you talking about? You get paid plenty." Said a man in a yellow suit sitting on an office chair, he had sleek black hair and brown eyes, his voice was joyful and calm, but had a poisonous sting to it. As if there was a disconnect between what he said and the way it sounded.
"Sir, we work nine hours a day and get barely anything. Half of our pay goes to transport from the Playground alone. Which you own, sir. Please, sir, our families are starving."
"Hey...." He snaps his fingers, thinking of a name.
"Arnold, sir."
"Right, Arnold, you see how many of you guys are left, right?"
"Yes, there aren't that many."
"Exactly, not that many. Do you know why, Armin?"
"Y-yes, sir, we needed more efficient methods of production, so machines became the norm. The only ones that stayed are those who can run, maintain and repair the machines."
"Precisely, tell me Amy did know that the Kara-no-gokis have a man who can do it far better than you guys?"
"No, sir."
"Well, we do. The only reason I haven't hired him is because he's so damn expensive, but..." He got up, and his smiling demeanour vanished and was replaced with a cold stare. "Unruly workers can be far more expensive. I only kept you because I have something to prove to lord Aamon. That my methods are cost-efficient, if you jeopardise this for me..." He sat back down and smiled again "I'll replace you. Now, Zack, do be a dear and kindly fuck off."
Armin slumped his head as he walked away. I hid behind a corner to avoid being seen. (Jez, that's rough. Nothing we can do about it, though. I'd best move on.) As I was looking for a way back to the roofing, I heard the suit man speak on his phone.
"How much are we making?.....only seventy hundred per cent, not good enough, I'll cut back the workers' pay from three to one point five per cent. We can use that added money to hire him to work on the machines. I'll put in some money too, I've five million in cash here, from all the skimming we did. I had to liquidate it fast to avoid suspensions from the other companies. It's unfortunate that the workers have to suffer, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make; it's what leaders do, make sacrifices. That should give us a good five years without workers, and the machines won't be out of commission for months."
(Man, not cool, if only...wait...opportunity? Don't mind if I do.)
I climbed back up to the ceiling and kept looking for the supply room. The business suit guy began walking outside. Eventually, I found it. I dropped down and walked in, grabbing what I could, then made my way back out. (Okay, let's make this one count) I knelt and focused myself. Charging electric energy down my spine, making sure that it doesn't leak into the rest of my body. I zipped to one disc and hurled a bottle into a factory window, then zipped to another and did the same. In a matter of seconds, I was all but done, zipping and throwing, zipping and throwing. A small group of ten people ran out of the factory. Six mechanics and three armed soldiers, and a business suit guy, he tried convincing one of the soldiers to run back into the factory, probably for the money, but a small volley of tennis balls was tossed behind them. A loud BOOM went off and a flash of fire. The mechanics panicked and broke formation to make a run for it. The soldiers were forced to follow suit. (Atta boy, Yato, now for vengeance) I jumped into the burning factory and rushed around the machinery looking for the office. Fire was catching everywhere. The heat and smoke were almost too much. (Maybe I should have stolen the money first and THEN burned it down. Ah well *Cough!!!) My lungs felt like ash, hot and dusty. My legs became numb, and I lost balance as my consciousness faded. ("Is that really all you've got, child? GET UP!") It was a woman's voice, it was feminine but strong. Stunned and proud. Burning with passion but as cold as ice. ("If you can't breathe, slow down your heart rate. Focus your mind on your veins. How can they expand and contract much like muscles? Calm yourself and you'll get through this, son.") I followed the advice and focused on my heart. My mind and body will be slower, but it'll give me more time. The office came into view. I burst through the door and grabbed a duffel bag from under the desk. I immediately teleported out and landed on the hill where Yato was. I saw him run up the hill with a few tennis balls in his hand.
"You get the suits?"
"Ya, *cough cough. Damn near died too. Also got this." I showed him the money bag.
"Daaaaaaaamn Kara-no-goki, you don't play around, do you. Honest day's work, am I right?" He reached out his hand and pulled me up.
"I wouldn't call it honest, but... there's something I gotta do." I snapped my fingers and disintegrated my discs, and began walking in the direction of the workers. They were gathered with a few of the construction guys near a large shipping container made into a makeshift office. The business suit guy was busy explaining that he had lost all of their money, so they'd have to work for even less now. (Bastered, taking this as a chance to cheat them even more). I jumped on top of the container and announced myself.
"You see what they do to us. This man makes millions a week from these construction gigs, but you only get small change. This setback won't affect him at all because he plans on taking YOUR hard-earned money as compensation. I say NO MORE! I grabbed the duffel bags and hurled the money through the air, making it rain hundreds of thousands of yen. I pointed at him, "These men better have work when I next return and if I ever hear that you cheated them out again... I'll skin you alive. This is all courtesy of the Phantom Dragons, remember our name for we stand with the people!" They shouted our name as I bowed gracefully and blew out a cloud of smoke from my mask as I disappeared.
Yato was busy packing up as I walked up the hill. "You bring back anything for us?"
"Of course, one million yen. Not a lot, but it may come in handy with preps for the art museum job. Now then, let's go home, ey."
"Yes, let's."