"Today...is the day…" I muttered to myself, passing around my cabin at Cane Island. Today was the day Kite Cooper and his family take the fight to Clockwork.
It’s been over a month since the event’s of my agreement to Vincent and the subsequent take down of Panda King, and given all of Nexus that is now mine it took more time to get everything straight as Clockwerk basically lost a hundred percent of his support via manpower, money and resources.
Despite this, his robots were still the biggest issue. As we got our gear together we managed to build a lot using the notes Vincent gave me, and with the supplies from Nexus we were fully stocked in weapons and better armors.
“What am I going to do…” I muttered, wondering if I have to keep Clockwerk alive through his Hate Chip so Sly 2 can happen, or just let the metallic bastard die. “Should I even bring up to Clockwerk that I’m taking care of his kids?” I wondered to myself. “That would piss him right the fuck off…” I chuckled, thinking about all the cute little racoon owl hybrids that I...accidentally helped birth.
Well, better that outcome than letting them hatch all evil and such. Still, I have no idea what he might have modified himself with, and with my new Ability Vincent made for me, it won't be a one sided fight.
"...still so much to think about…" I muttered, continuing to pace as thousands of thoughts kept rushing into my head about this mission.
I sighed as I wondered….just what would happen?
“I really hate not knowing what to do…” I groaned.
“Are ya bored or something?” Murray asked as he walked up to me.
“No, just concerned about everything.” I sighed out. “There’s a whole lot of unknown that's buzzing through my head…”
“Why bother worrying about things you don’t know? I don’t know a lotta of stuff and I don’t worry over it.”
“One of the things I’m concerned about is if I should even mentioned Clockwerk’s...and my kids…” I shook my head at how, even compared to the crap I’ve seen and done, silly it sounds.
“You mean those robotic owls? Don’t know why you would, not like Clockwerk would care about them regardless.”
“Considering the main reason why he’s been hunting down my family since the dawn of time was because the first Cooper’s literally stole their eggs...then yeah I’m pretty sure he would care, also considering he had it guarded with a very powerful being.”
“Hmm… fair point, though if you did make them part Cooper, then I think he’d have disowned them. His hatred for your family probably outweighs the fact that they are still his.”
“And that’s one unknown I have to think of, then another is what he might have gotten from his short partnership with Nexus…” I sighed out.
“Well, from the supplies Bently said Panda King sent him, probably nothing good. Even with an army, I don’t think this will be easy.”
“Which...is sad to say the Army is more of a front to get all of us into his main base.” I said honestly. “While it sucks at...the possible loss of life...what sucks more is having...to face Dad.”
“That… is a fair point. His is the only Cooper Bot still being controlled. Maybe you can use your Keyblade magic stuff to free him? Sounds kinda like that one thing Matilda told us about once, the whole Possession of the Heart or something?”
“Well…” I thought for a bit. “The problem isn’t that it’s controlling the Heart, it’s basically just Mind Control...but I can at least try that...or just rip his soul out of that metal husk and put it into a new body now that I have all my powers back...but that came with a massive drawback.”
“What drawback?” Sly asked, walking over to see what me and Murray were talking about.
“Just that, whenever I’m involved in a fight, my opponents are equal to me in power.” I answered. “It’s how I didn’t just immediately take down Panda King, cause even if he was new to that level of strength, he had the training and discipline to use it well.”
“Really? How does that happen?” Sly asked.
“I don’t actually know...never really went into the ‘ability creation’ side of things.” I said honestly. “All I know is that it’s named ‘Equilibrium’, it’s an Ability, and that it’s main function is to have any opponent of mine be at the same level of power I’m at, so if I’m fighting as Kite Cooper, they would probably be the same strength as they would normally...but if I were to be strong enough to bench press a mountain, then they’d be able to do the same.”
“Huh… that’s a fairly double edged sword? Does it only affect you and your opponent?”
“Well...maybe? Cause even though we kind of stopped fighting after Sly interrupted me yelling at the Panda King for burning my tail, mom knocked him out simply enough but the ground cracked underneath where King’s head was…” I explained carefully.
“So you don’t know.” Murray stated. “There’s no expert in this stuff you know from your godly friends?”
“I mean...some might know, and from what I’ve learned, the actual Expert in all this Ability shenaniganry has been dead for a hell of a long time.” I shrugged.
“Huh, well, all that aside how should we do this? We know the former Nexus will be dealing with the robots, and we will be dealing with Clockwerk, but who deals with dad?”
“It should be me cause I have the magic to hopefully save him.” I said honestly. “Then...maybe mom as well, since if anyone knows how to deal with dad, it would be her.”
Sly nodded. “I’ll go too. Best were all there when… if, we can free him.”
“I guess that leaves the rest of us to deal with Clockwerk while you all deal with your dad.” Murray said. “WIth your mechanical family and Matilda, I’m sure we can all hold our own against him.”
“I know you can.” I said honestly. “Cause we’re the Cooper Gang, and there’s nothing we can’t do as long as we’re a team.”
“Good, then let’s get going. Everyone has their gear together and are about ready to head out.”
With a nod I followed the others to the vehicles. It was gonna be a long flight.
We arrived in Russia to the sounds of heavy artillery and gunfire. The battle outside the armored van was loud. After a few hours it was still loud background noise. “Alright, we’re at Clockwerk’s compound gate.” Uncle Jim spoke up. “Coopers, good luck, your still around family and us will charge in and deal with Clockwerk once you all get Conner’s attention.”
“And whatever other robots he’s hiding.” I mentioned as I held onto my cane nervously.
With a nod, Mom, Sly and I all jumped out and climbed over the gate. Once inside we walked around. Our nerves were on high alert as… there wasn’t a single robot around here… “Stick close boys…” Mom said.
“Where’s the welcoming party?” Sly asked.
“If a trap does pop up, and we know it will...I'll make sure the both of you don’t get caught in it.” I said carefully.
“And who’s gonna stop you from falling into it?” Sly quipped.
We flinched, a loud mechanical caw screeched through the air. Looking up we Spotted Clockwerk, his body platted in metal, and various weapons ranging from chainsaw talons and motion tracking turrets covered his massive wings, back and torso. Standing atop his right wing was Dad’s bot, the glowing red eyes looking at us with Clockwerk’s pure malice and rage as it jumped off and free fell down towards us. It landed with a heavy crash, making a fair sized crater on impact before it stood up, twirling it’s mechanized cane.
Before we could act Uncle Jim hit the gas on the van, crashing through the gate and racing up the volcano to Clockwerk.
“Alright...just gotta deal with mecha-dad fueled by Clockwerk’s rage...simple enough.” I said as I readied myself to face off against dad.
“Collen…” Mom sighed, looking at dad’s bot form with so much hurt.
“Coopers.” Clockwerk’s mechanical voice spoke from the bot. “Two of you will die tonight.”
“Just two?” Sly asked.
“Of course. My vengeance on your family is just as immortal as my body. Why bother living when I can’t have my favorite… snack, every generation.”
“Man you need a hobby.” I said honestly. “At least yell at clouds like the old man you are Clockwork.”
“Murdering you lot is my hobby.” He replied, charging.
We all acted, trying to see if I can pin their body down long enough to try out that Dive to the Heart thing and free dad from inside.
“Jeez ya grouchy old owl, I just wanted your child support money, not a fight.” I told him as I jumped away from a cane swing, hoping that weird statement would confuse the bastard long enough to get him pinned.
He laughed, the bot head keeping it’s eyes on me. “Ah yes, the anomaly. The Admin who wanted to play and lied himself into the skin he was born into.”
“Already had that whole conversation, doesn’t matter anymore.” I rolled my eyes. “So the better question is, did you get any responses to all the eggs you kept guarded?” I asked him as I tried to sweep his legs.
He jumped, spinning just in time to knock Sly aside. “Insurance.” He said, his cane suddenly crackling with electricity. “Something left to rebuild should I perish.”
“Well that sucks for you cause I’m now they all see me...as their mother.” I answered. “All half racoon too.”
“Heh, then I guess nothing will rebuild.”
“Kind of expected you to be...a little pissed at me for accidentally making your kids half racoons cause…” I stopped for a second. “Okay seriously, how the hell did you manage to tie your children hatching to match your biosignature with whoever the hell activated the system? That seem’s like a retarded design don’t you think?”
“It was part of Vincent’s design. One of his loyal dogs was to hatch them should I die. But I suppose no plan lasts the battlefield.”
A rumble got my attention. Clockwerk’s body began to smoke as some of it’s guns were now missing.
“I can see that.” I frowned. “But we’re going to stop you here and now ya old bastard!”
“Try it and die!”
The fight lasted long, the area around us was scorched ground and mom and Sly were looking worn, bruises and cuts across them. Clockwerk’s body flying above was nearing it’s end. Clockwerk just laughed, Sly and Mom tackling the bot body of dad down finally.
“Let’s hope this works.” I muttered as I moved swiftly forward and used my keyblade cane and stabbed the bot in the chest, which instead of punching a hole in it, caused a door of light to start appearing. “I’ll be back with dad.” I said as I dived into his heart to rescue him.
I arrived at something that was a far, far cry from a station of awakening. It was just a pitch black void of darkness. Rage, Anger, Malace, all radiated from the environment.
Echoing from the environment was Clockwerk’s laugh. No longer mechanical, but just as twisted.
“The hell did you do to my dad!?” I called out as I flew around this dark void.
"Oh and I thought you were supposed to be a smart Admin." Clockwork said as his laughter grew louder and more manic.
“God damn it…” I growled as I started to fly around the place, trying to find my dad’s heart in this void of rage.
As I flew around I felt like something was flying around me, watching me. Eventually I did find a station of Awakening, but it wasn't dad's. It was… decayed, a huge chunk of it was cracked and flaking and crumbling. A smaller section looked fine, but pulsated with darkness… This is Clockwork's heart. His light half is completely dead.
“Oh this is not good for you.” I shook my head. “On the verge of becoming a Nobody all because of your stupid grudge.”
"Perhaps, but when all is said and done, I have already won." Suddenly I was tackled, the pitch black form of Clockwerk slamming into my glider, grabbing me in mid air and pinning me to his still healthy part of his heart. "Still Haven't realized it yet have you?"
“That...you somehow put your heart and soul into dad’s body?” I asked.
His laughter started again. "Fool. I never put your father inside this body."
My eyes widened as I realized it. “Oh...alright, then you can kindly go fuck yourself.” I said as I opened up my Destiny Link. “Cause with all my powers back, guess who I can borrow powers from?” I asked cheekily as I selected Heart’s D-Link.
"Not so fast." He said, his claws piercing into my flesh. "Vincent gave you a gift, Equilibrium, we'll still be just as powerful as one another. Just sit back," there was suddenly a flash, looking over I saw there was now a viewpoint from the eyes. Clockwerk's old body, dad, was one hit away from falling into the volcano. "And watch your friends and family kill the man you came here to save."
“Now if you'll allow me to finish.” I said as my link with Heart finalized as light shines forth from me, burning Clockwerk’s pure darkness from how pure it was. “I’m not aiming this at you ya broken hearted sack of shit.” I said as I raised my hand, the view we had showing all my friends and family starting to glow softly, as well as the old metallic birds body. “I’m aiming it at my family.” I told him bluntly. ”Yo, can you all hear me?” I mentally called out through my new connection to my family.
”Kite? What in the world are you doing!?” Connor’s voice echoed through everyone’s minds, the group seeing the light in the owl’s body flare up at that declaration.
“Saving you, what else?” I joked, helping him fly down to safety as all my friends and family were all sounding incredulous and confused in my mind. “Don’t worry guys, I’m in here with Clockwerk, old bastard had a decent idea to swap bodies on us, but he didn’t account for Family being stronger than his rage.” I said simply.
”So...what now?” Murray asked simply.
“I know we’re all master thieves, and the one thing we shouldn’t do it murder...but Clockwerk is too far gone…” I shook my head as I turned to face the shadow owl. “So I’ll do it, and deal with whatever repercussions afterwards.” I said as I readied my cane.
The shadow Clockwerk and I both circled around one another, this place was rapidly becoming even more volatile by the second as the very air was shaking as the already powerful rage and negativity spiked even higher.
“Aw, did I make the little birdy angry?” I taunted. “Is it upsetting that I literally stole your victory right in front of your very eyes? Cause it’s hilarious to me.” I said, wanting Clockwerk to be so blinding by rage that he’ll fuck up and I can fight him easier.
Clockwerk seemed to almost growl as we circled one another. He stared at me for a long time before, suddenly, it felt like everything here got more… stable. "You've won today, Coopers… but I will be back. My partnership with Vincent taught me more than you realize." He said.
I suddenly felt a pulse of… code?
I woke up back in the real world, Dad bot was gone too and mom and Sly looked like they got blasted away from where we all were.
"What? What happened?" Sly asked as he got back up. "Where did Clockwerk go?"
“So…” I sighed out, rubbing my temples. “Fuck...so good news and bad news.” I started. “Good news, we won.” I answered. “Bad news...Clockwerk’s on the run because the same bastard that gave me my powers back just so happened to teach Clockwerk way too fucking much.” I frowned. “Good knews, we have dad back.” I pointed to the owl. “Bad news...bad things will be happening later on.”
"Shit." Mom cursed, then looked up. "Conner!" She said, helping Sly and I as we ran for the volcano top.
Arriving there we spotted the heavily damaged former body of Clockwerk, the eyes no longer their going yellow, but now a glowing blue.
“Violet...my sons…” The bird said in dad’s voice, although a bit scratchy due to all the damage.
"Oh… Conner…" Mom said, hugging the bent and beat up head.
"How… do we fix this?" Sly asked.
"Miz Ruby still has Conner's body, maybe she can do the same now that she tried back then when she brought your mother back?" M brought up.
“And I can help her with that given I now have all my spells.” I mentioned as I brought out my Lexicon. “But...right now is making sure this body doesn’t fall about from all the damage it’s taken.” I started as I walked closer to dad’s body. “But...you okay dad?”
"Could be better. Wish I was…" He sighed. "This body is so… cold. Feels like I'm stuck inside an already dead body."
“The body housed a heart that was...practically dead from what I saw…” I sighed out. “Any good in him is long dead and it’s just cracked and breaking more and more, as he let’s his rage corrode his very existence.”
"Well… let's go home then." Spy sighed.
We headed back to Cane Island, after a lot of hard work Mz Ruby and I restored dad's old body. My magic made the transfer of his heart and soul, and brain, easier than what she had to do. Thankfully when it was over, dad was alive again.
He spent a lot of time in Clockwerk's old body, so getting used to his own again was rather challenging for him but we were there to help.
After a while things settled down in the world.
Two years passed and America, who's people demanded Mugshot freed and reinstated as president, got their wish because apparently he did fantastically as president. Mz. Ruby was freed but stayed with us on Cane Island to teach us all some magic while learning about mine.
Panda King was also freed and, despite everything, was renamed the 'king' of China, where he rules in a strict but firm manner helping the rest of the world rebuild.
Rowley is still in prison for his crimes as he was the only one to not regret anything, though Matilda told me he's on a work exchange program. He worked building tech for good and in exchange he gets one conjugal visit a month. Apparently he did have a wife and they missed one another greatly.
Crime was… a mixed bag these days. Most places that were hit hardest, Russia, Europe, Africa, and all them are littered with start up crime gangs since the fall of Clockwerk. Most are people who don't trust any authority anymore, others are just people still trying to survive after everything. Others, like myself, were raised in the chaos and know nothing else.
The world needs the Coopers again, if only to keep the peace.
“Alright...so right now I need to keep an eye on these five…” I muttered as I started to search online about anything revolving around the Klaww Gang, and Neyla. “Hopefully things won’t be worse than what’s been currently going on…”
My search brought up a few things. Mostly their heists. They started up shortly after the whole Clockwerk's empire began, starting off mostly as tech smugglers but after his fall jumped to arms and hired assassinations. While I know the names of all the members, looking them up here only brings up how they are to the public.
Apparently in this Timeline, Dimitri is a well respected artist for his unique… silhouette art. Apparently it came to him after an 'accident' on a trip to Mexico.
Rajan was still a spice lord at least, but rumors are around about him also running slave and arms trade to various other criminal gangs.
Jean Bison is front news, having only thawed from the ice recently and after various psychological and medical tests was allowed to travel where he's looking up his past home. Wonder if he is a member already or not?
Contessa is still the warden of her prison and… her husband is still alive? That's different.
Arpeggio is a well respected aerospace engineer, working with various governments to rebuild air forces and cargo vehicles.
Nothing on Neyla. No results, no pictures, no birth certificates, no fingerprints, nothing. It's like she doesn't exist.
“Alright...so we know at least where everyone is...but so far nothing too suspicious...except for Neyla, she should already be alive…” I muttered. “I’d rather not hack into Interpol for more…”
"And why would you need to do that?" I jumped, seeing Matilda behind me.
“Already thinking of what’s ‘supposed to happen next’...” I sighed out. “Or at least, who’s involved...have you ever heard of the Klaww Gang?” I asked.
"Little. They haven't been a top priority until recently, though that Top Priority list has grown a couple inches in the last two years." She sighed. "Anything specific?"
“Are any of the members known? And if not...have you heard of a violet Bengal Tiger named Neyla before?”
"... Purple fur, knows her way around a whip?"
“Yes and yes.” I nodded.
"Yeah, I know her…"
“Alright...so who is she, and why does she have literally nothing about her?” I asked carefully.
"Because she's like me. A keyblade wielder. She's not from this world, well, actually she doesn't technically have a world."
“Fuck…” I groaned. “When was the last time you made contact with her?”
"Little before this crap with the Furious Five started. So a long time actually. Last I knew she was hanging around the Refugee worlds."
“First Clockwerk has Code powers and now Neyla is a fucking Keyblader…” I rubbed my temples. “Fantastic...did Neyla ever mention anyone she’s visited on this world? Anyone at all?”
"Not really. Aside from me she kept a distance from people given her… heritage. Shit… she's gotta be like… thirty by now. Last time I saw her she was barely fourteen."
“I know a self fulfilling prophecy is always a thing…” I grumbled. “What we’re gonna need to do is watch out for these five.” I said while bringing up the people that were possibly in the Klaww Gang. “Dimitri, Rajan, the Contessa, Jean Bison, and Arpeggio, now while I have no grounds to think any of these bastards are in the Klaww Gang besides Rajan due to his spice ring and his new venture into slave and weapons trading…” I sighed out. “Only problem I’m having at the moment is how they’re going to go about their plan without the Clockwerk parts...and Clockwerk is still nowhere to be found…”
"Well, how do these events play out normally?"
“So the first part is already completely gone.” I started. “Where in the beginning, like...maybe a year after the first defeat of Clockwerk by Sly, Bently, Murray and Carmelita, Clockwerk was effectively in a comatose state and carted off to a museum...only for the Klaww Gang to steal his body and use his body and internal organs for their own purposes.” I explained. “Dimitri had the tail feather’s to mass produce fake money that’s believable enough, Rajan had the Wing’s as a trophy, and had the Clockwerk Heart to help his Spice Production, the Contessa had the Eyes so she could empower her hypnotism, Jean Bison had the Lung’s, Stomach and Claws, the Lung’s and Stomach being a perpetual engine to keep his trains going forever, and claws to help him in his one man army against nature after he was frozen...and when all of it was put back together, because Apreggio just really wanted to fly, Neyla fused with the thing with all her rage and become ‘Clockla’, and was going to become an unstoppable immortal due to all of France going into a Spice induced Frenzy and her siphoning it all from a massive airship Arpeggio made.” I explained to her carefully. “So you can already tell this is massively different just by there being no Clockwerk corpse they can steal.” I started. “And...well overall it was a bad experience for the Cooper Gang and Carmelita.”
"Huh… okay well I'll put some agents to keep an eye on them. As for Neyla… well I know a few worlds she visits regularly."
“Cool.” I nodded. “But be careful...Neyla not only fooled Interpol, she also fooled her own Gang...and the Cooper Gang. That’s how Sly, Murray and Carmelita were imprisoned by the Contessa.”
"Yikes. Well, if you want you can tag along with me when I head out."
“That would be good.” I nodded. “Which reminds me that I need to show everyone the first Sly Cooper game after everything that happened, just to give a quick ‘hey, here’s what I expected’ kind of thing.”
"That's probably a bad idea." Matilda said. "Might give everyone the… Wrong impression about why you chose to live this life."
“True...” I nodded. “I’d...rather not make things worse…”
"In any case, come on, let's get going. Our first stop is Traverse Town." Matilda said as she summoned her Keyblade and opened a DTL.
I can't believe I never tried to visit this world before! I felt hyped as a fan of Kingdom Hearts, then upset that in all my years back in my timeline, I never visited the main Kingdom Hearts one Hub World.
It had everything from the first game, and from Dream Drop Distance, and some other details I guess the games just left out for some reason or another.
There were a lot of people here too. All various races and species. "If I know Neyla, she'd be at the tavern if she is here." Matilda muttered as we walked through the crowd.
"Sounds about right." I nodded. "So off to the Tavern."
We walked through the first district, the layout was far larger than in game but kept the same general shape and form. Arriving at the tavern we entered to find a variety of people here. We walked up to the counter, where we were greeted by an anthropomorphic green fire cat lady. Upon seeing us she raised a brow, then both went up high. "Sweet hell, Matilda?!" She yelped.
"The one and only, Donna." Matilda replied with a smirk.
"How?! It's been like ten years since I last saw you and you look younger!"
"Long story…" Matilda sighed. "I always actually wondered if Neyla was around?"
"Huh. You'll have to tell me about it sometime. As for Neyla, she was just here an hour ago but left, something about some new world she needed to check out since it wasn't on any galactic maps yet."
"Well shit… any idea the general area she traveled to then?"
"Yeah. Somewhere in the Z.G.9.H system."
"Shit she went there? Thanks, I'll see ya around." Matilda said as we quickly left the tavern. "Well this isn't good…" She muttered.
"How bad is it?" I asked carefully.
"Z.G.9.H is largely considered a no fly zone. For all space travelers, it's the harsh and difficult cosmic weather, for we Keyblade Wielders, it's because the world's are so close to darkness they might as well be within the realm itself. There's nine worlds in total but no one has… returned from them. Traveler or Keyblade Master. If Neyla found a possible tenth then there is still no reason as to why she went there. The whole area is a deathtrap."
"Well...shit." I frowned. "And...also double shit we need to get to that tenth planet fast cause Clockwork might have made it…"
"... Isn't that just a tad bit paranoid?"
"Considering what Clockwork can do right now...no, no it's not." I started.
With a sigh Matilda shrugged and we were off again.
She wasn't kidding about the cosmic storms here being a deathtrap. I knew cosmic storms were a thing, but when they are the size of this entire Galaxy, filled with lightning, dust blowing so fast it can sand down our gliders, fucking space hurricanes! Molten glass rain! And to put the cherry on top some of the more large and most violent Heartless I have ever seen.
Despite all this, we managed to pick up the energy trails from Neyla's glider and used that to find the world she arrived at. We quickly landed on said planet and took a breather in the mountain forest we found ourselves in. "And THAT! Is why nobody sane ever comes to this gods forsaken system!" Matilda yelled as she tried to calm herself.
"Let's go again!" I laughed.
We both laid there for a while before finally getting up and that's when I noticed the changes. We were both humans. Sure we both still had our outfits and while my hair still resembled what I had as a raccoon it was also shorter. Matilda looked the same save the short cut black hair that only went to her neck. "Camouflage magic…" She muttered, looking herself over. "Definitely Neyla is here."
"Does she usually use it?" I inquired as I readied my cane. "Especially to...this big of an area?" I added, cause we just touched down and we're already affected by it.
"Normally yeah, but never this strong before. She must have finally earned her mastery to pull this off." Matilda said as she now looked around. "Think I can see a road down this way, hopefully we'll find something soon."
“I just hope I’m wrong about this…” I sighed out.
As we walked we found an old dirt road and walked up it. The humidity sucked but soon we arrived at a gated watchtower. As we approached the gate, two men walked up to us from the other side. Both wore well tattered clothing with leather jackets, one was more beefy, bald and missing their right hand, replaced by a homemade prosthetic with a blade welded to it.
The other was thinner but clearly has seen some combat and kept a rather large looking shotgun on us. "State your business." The bald one spoke.
“We’re looking for someone, and was wondering if they were in town.” I said carefully.
The two men looked at one another with a raised brow each. "And… who are you looking for exactly?" The one with the gun asked slowly.
“Has anyone by the name of Neyla been here?” I asked, hoping Matilda might add in whatever secret name she has to help get us in the place.
"She's likely wearing a scarf, and has a whip on her." Matilda added.
"Don't know about that but we did see someone run down the mountain a few hours ago." The bald guy spoke.
“Which way were they going?” I inquired.
"North. Assuming she kept heading that way she'd hit the old NERO checkpoint." The hat guy said.
"Thank you sir." I nodded. "Is there anything...of concern from here to the NERO checkpoint?"
They looked at one another again. "You been living under a rock or something the last few years, kid?" The bald guy said. "Ambushers, murderers, Freakers."
"Wait a moment Boozer." The hat guys said, looking us over. "How old are you two?"
"Fifteen." Matilda said.
"You two… how have you two been surviving?"
"Running, hiding, and the ingenuity of two fifteen year old prank loving teenagers." I said simply.
"Without guns, bikes or even a knife?" The bald man, Boozer, said. "Something's up here Decan."
"Your first mistake was thinking that." I said as, with a masterful bit of sleight of hand, I revealed three cherry bombs I made with Bentleys help. "We're not helpless or strange, and our bikes are hidden from thieves cause...force of habit." I explained carefully.
"Can't argue with that. This dumbass here got his bike gutted some months back." Boozer laughed, elbowing Decan.
"Shut it." Decan huffed. "Just head north, follow the road and when you come to a shit ton of trains, corpses and Freakers you found the place."
“Good enough.” I nodded while putting my cherry bombs away. “Thank you both for your time.”
We walked down and north for a while before Matilda spoke. "That was rather bold and cockey of you." She said.
“I did the right amount of both, all things considered.” I said honestly “If I was too cocky then I’d be called an idiot and survived on dumb luck, and if I was too bold I’d probably have been shot.”
"Even so, you forget we are still teenagers. And the guy with the hat is tracking us because of it. So, what do you think a Freaker is exactly?"
“Well, considering the outfits, the post apocalyptic vibe, and we’ve barely heard a peep from wildlife…” I said, which Matilda noted was true that there wasn’t much in the ways of wildlife noises. “I’d say...probably a zombie like virus spread around to humans and animals.”
"Zombies? Great, so we can't use our Keyblade either…"
“Not necessarily.” I raised my hand. “Cause our Keyblades can hurt Zombies, I have tested that and it’s still a universal ‘holy’ weapon against undead.”
"Yeah but with how close this world is to the darkness these undead will be drawn to them just as much as Heartless, plus that Ability of yours. If it effects all enemies, you don't want to be surrounded with that active."
“Well...it should also affect you as well cause when me, Sly and mom were facing against Clockwerk Sly and mom weren’t woefully underpowered for that.” I said honestly.
"Still, until we understand that little trick of yours we best not try and act like you're all that."
“Fair.” I nodded. “That’s why Nothingness still works wonders.” I smiled warmly. “So, when did you meet Neyla?”
"Little after my Mark of Mastery. She was a Lanes Born, and was mostly just roaming. Barely knew how to swing her Keyblade, it's a miracle she could open a DTL or even shift her glider. I taught her some things. Given she was a beastial race like me I offered a place on our world but she refused. Only ever visited a few times really."
“Wonder why?” I questioned, finding it a little curious that she’d be a vagabond.
"Like I said, she's Lanes Born." Matilda said as we dropped down some rocks and found the road shortly after.
“And a Lanes Born...I don’t think I’ve heard that term before.” I said honestly. “Albeit there’s still a shit ton of things I haven’t heard of yet even though I’m busy non fucking stop.”
"Lanes Born, it means her parents were from different worlds. Pretty common amongst Keyblade Wielders. They don't usually fit in in their parents worlds either because of physical looks or powers. The natural laws of the worlds also don't apply to her because most often they conflict meaning she's a walking magnet for non native threats. Primarily, Heartless and everything else."
“Well that sucks.” I frowned.
"Yeah. Lanes Borns are lives filled with moving from place to place, world to world and they can't really settle down anywhere. Honestly the fact she came to this system is a bad idea. All those big ass heartless we passed on the way here, yeah the longer she is here the closer they will get and if this place already has issues…"
“Honestly...not as bad as Void though.” I said honestly.
"Are you capable of sympathy?" She asked as we passed some ruined cars.
“I legit wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.” I told Matilda bluntly, which shocked her a bit at how blunt I was about it.
"Can you at least talk like it then? I get you're a god and all that but ever since you got your full mojo back you've kinda… been an ass."
“It’s not that I have my full powers back that’s the problem.” I brought up. “If it was just that, then I’d be pissed that my full powers practically mean nothing when I was given Equilibrium...I stopped feeling like I was lying about who I am…” I sighed out. “As well as...ya know, having acted like this for seven years because I almost lost my heart due to how outrageously depressed I was and...still kinda am, all the many…many decades I’ve lost with friends and family because everytime I want to have something good in my life bad shit has to come from it, and just…” I growled as I threw a lit cherry bomb at a sudden freaker dog and blew half it’s body up. “Everytime I want to be happy...something, or someone has to bring it all back...now sure that’s probably mostly me cause I’m just a walking dumpster fire...but just because I’m an Admin, doesn’t mean everything can just work out…” I sighed out bitterly. “So yes, I’m an ass, but that’s due to a whole host of things that I’m still working through, and it still probably won’t leave cause I’m me.”
"And I thought I needed therapy." Matilda said. "So despite everything you try it feels like the world and reality itself is against you." Matilda said as she jogged ahead of me, the trains in the distance were visible now. As was the stench of rotting shit and death. "Guess you can sympathize with her better than I expected." She gagged. "Sweet Light that's bad."
“Even though I have a loving family and wonderful friends,” I sighed out, even though it was terrible I’ve...sadly smelled worse. “They're all wonderful, they support me through thick and thin...but there’s still too much to do, and less and less time to do it.” I shook my head as I kept moving forward.
"Hey suicidal teens!" We turned. Decan now made himself visible. "There's a giant ass horde there! And your bikes aren't real are they, you walked here!" He yelled, his guns were holstered at least. "Just what the hell are you two thinking, everyone in this state knows this is a massive horde nest!"
“How big?” I inquired. “And what are we talking about in the nest?”
"What? Freakers what else?! Christ Boozer was right you two must have crawled out of a bunker or something." He sighed. "And how big, well, it's daytime right now, so only a quarter of the nest is in there… so probably still a few hundred."
"That's a quarter?" Matilda asked.
"Just be glad it's not night, otherwise it would be a thousand."
“Fair enough.” I nodded. “Also when you say ‘Freaker’s’, it could mean there are different types of the bastards, like either people or animals.”
"... Christ you really have been in a bunker haven't you…" Decan groaned.
I rolled my eyes. “Do you have anything else of importance, old man? Cause we have to find someone before it gets dark...or at least a suitable place to lay low.”
"Kite…" Matilda huffed. "Sorry about my boyfriend here, he's… an ass."
"Who isn't these days." Decan huffed.
"But, we do need to find our friend. She's a bit of a… magnet for trouble so, if we don't find her we just know something bad is gonna happen."
Decan sighed, contemplating a bit before speaking. "Alright, I'll take you to where we saw them and try and track them from there, just… keep him quiet." He sighed as he began walking back up the mountain and we followed.
"Old man, really?" Matilda whispered.
“I’m playing up the fact I’m a teenager who’s done nothing but survive the best I can with my girlfriend here.” I whispered back. “Also keep me quiet? He was the one literally yelling near the fucking hive.”
"He also is a native to this world and knows more than us, so if he's confident enough to yell then I'm betting he has his reasons too."
“Still…” I sighed out. “But yeah, this also happens when I’m trying to think of thirty different things while also trying to do other shit…”
"Do you ever just shut your brain off and not think for a couple minutes?"
“I did, I was then forced into a coma for thirty years as a current spouse of mine, who used to be a huge douche canoe, tortured and experimented on my daughter.” I frowned. “Turned her into a ‘Big Sister’ cause of course he was hiding on Rapture…”
"... There is no winning with you is there?"
“My life has been a whole lot of ups and downs, the ups being amazing and actually making me feel like my life is worth something...and the down’s being absolute train wrecks that nearly kills me…” I sighed out. “I...am trying not to...but you can see why I’m like this…”
"Not really. I only know Kite Cooper and his story, I don't know… the rest of you. Heck I don't even know your real name… I only know what you tell me and lately all you tell me is what you expect of our world and complain when it isn't what you expected." Matilda sighed. "Why… did you choose to be reborn like this?"
“I haven’t complained about what I ‘expected’ and the complaints I have...is the fact that me being born has made everything worse for people I care about…” I sighed. “I did this not as some weird boredom because I’m a god...some might argue it is because that’s why it’s called an ‘Admin Game’...” I shook my head. “Why did I choose to be reborn like this? Was so I can...understand things I can’t have anymore…” I sighed out. “Somethings being about what I’m fighting for, others being about having a life outside my current work cause...holy hell…” I sighed out. “I don’t know...these all sound like excuses, everything’s falling apart because I was born...hey would you look at that, everything’s come full circle in my life.”
"Are you really that unhappy with your life?"
“I’m unhappy about myself.” I answered. “There’s a major difference, cause I’m super happy with my life, a loving family, wonderful kids, unimaginable power...so why am I still a depressed sack of shit?” I asked. “Even after I’ve done so many amazing things, saved so many lives...proved so many wrong and just done so many amazing things...why do I still suck as a person?”
"... Maybe you just prefer to live for other people rather than yourself? Or, maybe you want to live for yourself but only when there's nothing in the way."
“This is why I’m seeing the best therapist I know.” I said honestly. “But...maybe your right? I don’t know...I just want to be happy damn it...but no matter what happens, I always manage to fuck it up somehow…”
"Maybe you can't be happy because in your mind you still think you don't deserve it?"
“I mean...I can be happy.” I said honestly. “But...it’s hard when your entire life has been a massive train wreck for way to long…” I sighed out. “Like in my life before I even got my powers, when I was just a simple human being...my life was completely ruined, and I had to have it explained to me two different times to completely show me how fucked it really was, cause when you die, lose your light half to supplement your soul, and have both of your parent’s murdered in staged suicides that you blame yourself for for at least five years...yeah.”
"Think when it's all over you'll finally be able to be happy without the guilt?"
"I sure hope so." I said honestly. "Cause I haven't busted my ass and nearly died a dozen or so times not to be happy at the end of this...hell, I should be happy right now but...things still suck…" I shook my head. "I'm probably just being selfish all things considered...and that makes me feel even worse.."
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be selfish from time to time. Especially when it comes to what makes you happy."
"Who knows…" I grumbled, sagging my shoulders as I was just tired of running around in circles.
A short hike Later Decan showed us where he last saw the person, possibly Neyla, on the mountain and began tracking them.
He was… good. In my normal form I'd have tracked her already, but my nose in this form isn't so adept and he's tracking her by sight and footprints alone. I respected that, begrudgingly. Eventually we ended up going south to a place called Copeland's Camp. The place was small but well built and went up into the trees.
We spoke with the man in charge, Copeland, and after some back and forth with Decan learned she took a job for credits, a form of currency each camp of survivors uses for trading. She went out to gather meat, so we headed back out. Eventually we caught the whiff of a familiar foul stench and Decan had us hide.
Soon the road we were walking on became covered in… ten, fifty, eighty… safe bet is about two or four hundred of these… Freakers. They were all horribly malnourished, huddled together like roaches or ants and marched along mindlessly. Most were either partly nude or completely naked and many had grotesque looking wounds that were scrapped or scarred over and they all hissed or growled as they marched. Eventually, they passed and once the smell was just a lingering stink, Decan said. "And that, is a horde. Must be heading our from their nest after hunting."
"Well...alrighty then." I said, not the biggest or worst zombie horde I've seen but at the moment it was big enough to hide from.p
"How often do they do this?" Matilda asked.
"Everyday. Well, night. Little after sundown starts they leave their nests to hunt and little before sunrise they march back to it. Doesn't matter how far they go either, they always find their way back to their nest."
“So they are weak to sunlight or something?” I inquired.
"Sunlight. Heat. Every winter they are out constantly and when it rains they come out and play. They love the cold or humid temperatures. Let's just be glad we haven't run into any mutants yet. Fuckers have been popping up more and more."
“That’s concerning.” I said.
"Hopefully once we can clear out the hordes and seal off their main nests we won't be dealing with so many."
“Gonna need a lot of fire for that to happen.” I said.
"That's the plan." He said. We arrived at a small, ruined camp with one tent.
Decan picked up the trail here and after a short hike we spotted a purpled haired, scarf wearing and whip holding woman circled by several gun holding bastards.
"Yeah, that's our friend." I muttered. "And who are those assholes? Any known gang or just a bunch of rando's?"
"Marauders. Fucking," Decan cursed, pulling the… large rifle off his back and taking aim. In rapid fired, three shots, three exploded heads.
"Damn. Military training?" Matilda asked.
"Once." Decan said, putting the rifle away and we headed down.
“Must have been some pretty good military training for that to happen.” I said honestly.
"I did as told and hated every second of it." Decan shrugged.
Upon seeing us, Neyla sighed. "And to whom do I owe the favor?" She asked.
"Long time no see Neyla." Matilda said
"... Matilda? Oh, by the light I'm in for it now…" She grumbled.
"If you three are good, guess I'll head out now." Decan said. With a nod and a goodby he was gone.
"So… why in the FUCK are in in this system?!" Matilda yelled.
"... Nothing special." Neyla said with a sheepish smile and a shrug.
“Do you know of a parrot by the name of Arpeggio?” I asked. “Cause if you don’t want to talk about why your in one of the most dangerous area’s around...might as well start with that.”
"Ar…" Neyla said, looking a mix of conflicted and upset. "Y… yeah I know him. What about him?"
“Has he ever been able to fly?” I asked, cause I remembered one very strange key detail about Arpeggio from some news footage...and that was him flying.
"No." She said with a sigh. "It's been his dream and obsession for as long as I can remember."
“Uh...shit…” I started carefully. “Now...I’ve got good news and bad news.” I started. “Which do you want to hear first?”
"Who are you?" She asked.
“I’m Kite Cooper, and I’m here with Matilda, my girlfriend, because Arpeggio...might be in danger.” I said carefully, even though I just threw two massive curveballs at her.
"If he is then he deserves it." Neyla spat. "Look, whatever Arpeggio got himself into he's smart enough to get out of it. And if not, well the bird made his own nest, so let him lay in it."
"Did… something happen, between you two?" Matilda asked.
"You," Neyla pointed at Matilda. "Don't get to be concerned. I haven't seen you in ten fucking years and you and your… fuck boy here show up out if the blue asking crap!"
“Because it might also affect you.” I said bluntly. “Cause hey, Arpeggio can fly...and I’m scared I know how, and if you give any semblance of a damn about the bird you’ll at least listen to who might also be hunting you.”
"And why would they be hunting me? I'm Lanes Born, just trouble for everyone and every world."
“Because Apreggio still cares about you?” I suggested. “And by god does it feel like I’m talking to a mirror with what you just said.”
"I doubt he cares. If he did he'd have never asked me to give him a keyblade."
“Why’d he ask? So he could learn how to fly with it or something?” I inquired.
"Yes. Bastard thought if he could use the Keyblades magic to make himself fly."
"Well… it can, but how did he even know about Keyblades in the first place?" Matilda asked.
"He… saw me summon it once. Fucking Heartless." She huffed. "I had known him for a year at that point and owed him an explanation. He was thrilled at the idea of magic that anyone can be given or inherit."
“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “Did he try forcing you?”
"We argued for hours about how he could do so much with alien magic tech or whatever. He can barely lift a pencil, I was not risking his life for his dream."
“Yeah...that sounds about right…” I sighed out. “Sometimes people do stupid thing’s when it comes to their dreams...and one decision he’s probably regretting right now.”
"Good. He should. Damn bird has no self preservation when it comes to him and flight. Got bones like toothpicks."
“Jeez…” I frowned. “What...was your relationship with him if this one instance pissed you off so bad?” I asked, wondering what would cause such a big reaction cause if it was ‘just friends’ then it wouldn’t feel like it was this big.
"He… wait, I'm not telling you! I don't even know you!"
“Well then here.” I said while pulling out my Cane. “Let’s fight, since you're not in the mood for talking, let me just know how you feel through your actions.” I said honestly.
"Bring it twig." Neyla said, grabbing her whip and with a quick motion, struck a nearby oak, the trunk exploded in a shower of splinters as the rest fell over.
"Neyla, please, do you really want this?" Matilda asked.
"Fuck yeah I do." Neyla replied.
“Don’t worry Matilda, she’s just massively stressed and probably hasn’t had a good fight in a while.” I said simply, lightly fixing my blue beret. “Matilda’s gonna be the referee just to make sure neither of us go too overboard alright? No keyblade’s or their magic, just what we can do with our weapons and whatever skills we got alright?”
"Fair enough." Neyla said, snapping her whip again.
Matilda sighed. "Alright, just don't blow up anything alright?"
"I can do that." Neyla nodded.
“I’ll try my best not to.” I said honestly. “Alright, let’s do this.” I said, dashing towards Neyla swiftly in a zigzag pattern.
Reacting fast, Neyla spun her whip around, forcing me to jump to dodge and seeing I did she charged at me, blocking my counter kick with her arm then grabbing my leg and throwing me into a nearby tree. Shit, She's actually pretty damn good.
“Pretty good Neyla.” I said. “Who’s your master if I may ask?” I asked, using my Cane’s feature to fire a taser shot at her.
"Learned from whoever would teach me." She replied, using her whip to slash apart and absorb, then deflect the shots into the air. "But dad taught me how to use a whip."
“Fair enough.” I nodded as I tapped my Cane on the ground as Neyla saw...a clone of me rose up. “Alright, let’s keep going.” I said as my doppelganger and I rushed her.
Without Hesitation Neyla jumped up, spinning her whip under her. "Bladed Vortex." She almost muttered, her whip spinning fast enough to create some suction that began pulling us into it. I immediately latched my cane hook around a tree. My clone however came face to face with the attack, proofing away in a puff of smoke and shredded cardboard.
“Good to know…” I muttered while throwing a decoy beret into the suction as it was immediately sucked into the bladed attack and caused a mini explosion that spread chili powder all over the feline.
When the chili powder his her eyes Neyla crashed to the ground, giving an almost primal roar only her true form could pull off. "That's playing dirty!" She yelled, trying to rub the burning spice from her eyes.
"Kite what the hell!" Matilda yelled.
“Ah shit...Bentley always tells me to label these stupid things…” I muttered to myself, having wanted to throw a smoke bomb. “Firstly, this is an actual tactic, don’t start with me on that, I literally spent over a month talking with Rioichi who’s a literal fucking ninja.” I started as I moved over carefully to the pained tiger. “And there should be a river nearby so we can get it out of your eyes…” I said.
"Bastard!" Neyla roared, her camouflage spell breaking as her true form came out. She looked basically like she did from the game, just younger. "Want to play it dirty? Then so can I!" She yelled, finally opening her red sore eyes as her body morphed, rapidly becoming… a feral Bengal tiger. Almost as large as my feral form as a wolf. With a roar she lunged at me. I raised my cane to block but she bit over it and into my arm.
"Shit! NEYLA!" Matilda yelled as she rushed in, kicking Neyla off me and into a tree. I had a pretty bad wound here. "Crap, when she does this She's completely feral for ten minutes."
"Great…" I groaned as I managed to regenerate from that bad bite. "This is my fault, just stay back and I'll deal with her." I said as I got back up. "Probably gonna need some more exhausting techniques for this…" I grumbled to myself.
"You have to be quick, she can still use her Keyblade in that form." Matilda said.
I nodded and rushed in, shifting to my own feral form where I stood a good five feet over Neyla's form. The feral tiger didn't care though as she charged me. Hehe, Cats vs. Dogs. Why did I think of that just now?
"This is irony in the making…" I chuckled as I dodged to the side of her charge and tried to hip check her to get her off balance.
That was less effective than I hoped. Crap, between Equilibrium, her natural feline agility and the raw feral strength, this isn't gonna be good.
She rapidly clawed at me, cutting deep through my hide. I snapped, trying to bite at her paws as they passed but barely missed as she suddenly pounced in my back, biting into the nape of my neck and drawing blood.
Shit! Every cell in my primal form screamed to get her off, an unexpected fear hitting me as I shook and managed to knock her off and into a bolder she broke on impact.
I rarely ever felt a sensation of fear in my primal form before. As an Apex Predator, it was a rare emotion. These days it only happens for two reasons. My kids are in danger… or there's another, equally powerful Apex predator. And Neyla was currently the latter.
“Well isn’t this fun.” I said with a smile, wondering what other race she was besides Bengal Tiger, cause even strong tiger’s wouldn’t stand a chance against me. “Alright, let’s do something dumb.” I muttered as I took a deep breath and charged at Neyla.
I regretted it instantly.
Neyla charged also, ducking under me and taking a large bite into my under belly. Pain that was definitely new to me hit and I roared in response. She rapidly spun, clinging to my sides as her claws dug into my hide as her jaw worked to tear open my Insides.
My primal nature forced my mind into a panic, making me bite into all I could at this angle, her tail. Her blood hit my mouth and the taste snapped part of my brain back to sanity.
The Bengal Tiger was there, clearly… but the other, I recognized well. I tasted it whenever I did have a wound to lick. She's part Dire Wolf!
“Cause of course your part dire wolf.” I muttered bitterly, as I started to run around and practically ramming Neyla into the hard ground, rocks and broken tree branches with each strong, causing small indents in the ground with how hard I was slamming her into the ground.
Stubbornly she held on, gashed and bruised she held on. I could feel her pulling and starting to tear open my underbelly.
I needed to act fast. I'd survive the wound but risk Neyla getting away in this form. She-
Suddenly the pain subsided. Gone as if it didn't happen. Looking down I spotted Neyla. Normal form Neyla, passed out and badly hurt. Oh thank God she timed out…
I shifted back, letting my regeneration heal the worst of it.
Matilda ran over and immediately began trying to patch Neyla up. "That was… terrifying." Matilda said.
“And now we need to get her off world and healed.” I said bluntly. “Seriously, how the hell is she half Dire Wolf?” I asked, as I tried to see any defining feature that would have shown it.
"Her Mother was a Bengal Tiger, from a world kinda like ours. She was it's Keyblade wielder. Her father was… a slave. His master forced him to hunt and slaughter for money. Her mother freed him and the two went after his former master. She gave him a Keyblade and the two traveled the world. His was no longer habitable, it's all poison now." I sighed, knowing this story all too well… "Time passed, they fell in love, and had a kid. Neyla here."
“Well…” I sighed out. “I’m gonna need to patch thing’s up with Neyla if she remembers any of this…” I said softly. “And...if she isn’t pissed at me, I can at least tell her that...our home world is saved and safe.”
"What? Bullshit." Matilda said. "We passed it on the way over here, it's still poisoned. Or are you talking about in your timeline?"
I frowned. “That’s...shouldn’t be true...also Time broke so maybe it’s another version?” I asked, finding that really weird cause I could have sworn there was some time shenanigans cause I still had my Hunter Necklace even after giving the First Hunter’s teeth back.
"Well, whatever the case, let's get out of here. Last thing we need are locals asking questions."
The trip back home was uneventful. Matilda got Neyla into the medical wing and she was rapidly healed with magic. Now we just have to wait for her to wake up.
To kill time I decided to test something. Predator and I were in the training room. He was always in feral form. I wonder why? "You want to know about the other Dire Wolves?" He asked/repeated to me.
“Yes, yes I would.” I nodded. “Also, if I may ask, why do you always stay in your feral form?” I inquired my good boy.
"I don't have a humanoid form." He replied simply. "My race lacks that mana gene sequence."
“Alright.” I nodded. “But now onto Dire Wolves cause I only know...like two races, the race I am which is the progenitor from what I remember Den talking about, and the Void Dire Wolves.”
Predator nodded. "Well, if you get into genetics there are only a few trillion wolf species in the realm." That's oddly small. "But when you go into Mana genes, there's more like seven octillion." There it is.
I took a deep breath. “Jesus hell…” I muttered. “This is gonna be a long talk.”
"It it helps, most are only different because of their Mana genes. For example. A DNA test will tell us that you and I are of the same Dire Wolf Race, but a MNA test will tell a whole different story. Such as your ability to shift between feral and humanoid is within your MNA genes while mine lack that entirely, rather my MNA focuses more on defense, and enhancing my senses to their peak at all times."
“Huh, that’s really interesting.” I said honestly. “Is it just the one type of MNA per wolf or can there be multiples in one person?”
"Multiples. Easily. Take the hybrid you brought here. Upon her arrival I could smell her unique MNA and DNA. Quite the issue with her MNA though."
“Is it because of her berserker rage?” I asked. “And I might need to get an MNA test to see what’s special about me…” I muttered to myself as I wondered what else could be different about me besides my shapeshifting.
"Possibly. I could smell an instability but a proper MNA test will tell more."
"And is it like a normal DNA test?" I inquired. "Or is there something else to it?"
"It's similar. You take some blood or spit or even hair and run it through a magi-tech device that can pick up and display the Mana Genes and relay their functions."
“Neat.” I nodded. “Should I buy one or do you have one just randomly on hand?”
"Vamp probably has one. Any of the former Nexus labs should too, it's standard issue medical equipment." Predator informed.
“Ah.” I nodded. “And the closest Nexus lab that...I own is where?” I asked, not having actually went around to see where each one was on this planet yet.
"Two miles east. One mile under the ocean." Predator stated.
“I shall keep that in mind.” I nodded. “So, what are some of the more...common Dire Wolves or MNA traits?”
"Howling magic, lycanthropy, Moon Healing, Predatory senses heightened, and intelligence are the most common."
“Fair enough.” I nodded. “Also, Moon Healing? Like faster regeneration during the night or something?”
"Basically. It can vary from race to race and effect either healing items or regeneration abilities."
“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “So besides the fact you can’t turn into a beastial, what other things does your MNA say about you?”
"Kite, I'm a Cript. It probably has more there than it should."
“Yeah.” I nodded while gently patting Predators head. “But you're still a good boy.”
With a kiss goodbye I left Predator to their business.
I stopped by the medbay, hoping to get a sample of Neyla's DNA…. Or was it MNA? Either way that got derailed as she was awake now.
“Afternoon sleeping beauty.” I said. “How you feeling?”
"Like a fucking truck ran me over." She groaned, popping her joints as she stretched. "How did you do that? I remember… changing, but not even Matilda could fight me in that form?" She asked.
“Because I figured out who your father was.” I answered. “And for me...well…it’s a bit complicated.”
"What does my old man have to do with it?"
“Your old man is probably the reason why you go into a berserker rage whenever you get like that.” I said honestly. “And how I know this? Well first of all, how are you hiding the fact you're half Dire Wolf?”
"I'm not." She huffed, flopping onto the bed again. "It's… my mom came from a unique beastial world. There was some magic, but their entire race, every race on that world evolved into how they are through pure evolution. No magic involved. As a result, the magic that was there focused less on the physical aspects of evolution and focused more on the primal instincts. It left something in predators like mom, a desire to consume flesh. Not fun when everyone on the world is a sentient creature. When I was born, that primal instincts and my primal form… happily went hand in hand as whenever I turned into it, my mind basically goes to sleep and mindless pure instinct take over. In that form it’s got the body for it too. On top of that, it can use all my spells and magic and Keyblade, though not as effectively. Not sure if that’s good news or not.”
“Well, that helps at least explain it a bit more than just your Dire Wolf father’s MNA.” I said as I brought out a needle. “But I’m still gonna need some of your blood to make sure...also you fought really well, never seen a Whip cut through a shadow clone like that.”
"Thanks, but try and take some blood and I'll show ya where you can shove that needle." She replied plainly.
“It’s just a small little blood test, are you really going to start that?” I asked the cat.
"Yes, actually." She said, sitting back up. "I don't do blood tests. Been down that road too many times. Main reason I was on that deathtrap planet is for herbs. Have to make my own medicines."
"Well, you don't have to anymore." I answered. "Cause you're staying here, and as your doctor I need to make sure you're healthy." I said in complete seriousness for Neyla's health.
"I don't do Doctors. Last five I met gave me these." She pulled the fur along her arms back, showing deep, old scars. Her belly has three and there was even one along her skull, all hidden by her coat. "So, I repeat, take your needle and shove it."
"Cool." I nodded. "So can you please just lift your arm up? Cause I'm not going to do this roundabout when you actually need the help." I told her bluntly, the sincerity in my voice at me wanting to help her being pure.
"I don't want your help. In case you forgot, you looked for me. To ask about a guy I haven't spoken to In a year. Not to have you play doctor in your cave sex roleplay dungeon." She growled.
"Yes you do need help." I stated simply. "I should know, I'm in your position as well, and why I asked you about Arpeggio is because he's one of the few people apparently that cares about you and he's in danger." I told her. "And if you can stop thinking about yourself for five seconds that would be appreciated."
"Really? You're Lanes Born?" She asked, the venom in her voice present.
"...No, but I know hell, and I know loss. I know what it's like to watch the people you love most taken from you, and unable to do anything about it. I know what it's like to want revenge and to not trust anyone. And I know what it feels like to believe you're truly alone because you're different from everyone else." I stated, keeping my voice firm yet calm. "Now I can't know what you've been through but I can get a pretty damn good idea based on those scars. But I can't know why if you don't tell."
Neyla looked at me for a while, probably gauging my response. "I still don't want the fucking needle." She huffed.
"And neither do I." I said in agreement while putting it away. "But I wasn't joking about me being a doctor." I said while pulling out my medical doctorate for her to see.
She took hold of it. "Bullshit, how does a sixteen year old get a medical degree?"
"Because a whole lot of things that are complicated and weird." I answered.
"Whatever…" She said, tossing my degree aside. "So, what do you want from me exactly?"
“Well first up, is me doing a check up on you cause as far as you told me, all the doctor's you’ve met have been completely insane quack’s that wouldn’t know how to take someone’s blood pressure without a knife.” I said with a frown as I started to grab something’s in the med bay. “One of the many reasons why I was in agreement to having a fully stocked med bay…”
"Unless you can give me a checkup without touching me, I'm not for it. I can smell Matilda and… some panda chick all over you. Pervert."
“Me and Matilda have been dating for years as well as Jing King, which Matilda was happy to have as apart of a harem.” I said honestly. “And fine, I’ll just use some magic to do the check up.” I said while bringing up my cane and using a Medical Scan ability to check everything about her. “And also, couldn’t have stopped the lovely Panda even if I wanted to considering it was her idea.”
"I am not surprised that cougar is dating a younger man." Neyla rolled her eyes as my scan finished up… Jesus Christ.
Complete immunity to bacteria, infections, and Kidneys and a liver that could filter out pure ethanol. Her immune system is insane! White blood cells and Killer T cells that are basically single celled Doom Guys crossed with Kratos! Her cells are so fast at regeneration she's probably going to live to be a thousand or more before she gets a wrinkle!
And THAT is JUST her biology!
Magic wise, she's got everything I got when it comes to Wolf and primal magic affinity on top of her Tiger Primal instincts magic and her Keyblade magic levels are insane. I did a quick scan with code. Not a god… but God damn lucky with all this. No wonder those wackjob doctors cut her open. Her blood could probably cure every disease on their planet.
“Okay, so I have a question at this point, and that’s how you still have those scars.” I started. “Cause your regeneration should have made those go away rather quickly.”
She shrugged. "Dunno. Didn't listen when the doc's told me. All I heard was blaw blaw, cure all illness, blaw blaw, harvest your body, blaw blaw, dying for a good cause."
“Your blood is one of the strongest I’ve seen, as you’re blood literally makes you immune to all known diseases, there’s literally no way you would have died cause they regenerate to quickly and efficiently you’d be at least a thousand years old without so much as a wrinkle.”
"Huh. Well, that explains why I'm thirty but look seventeen." She said, looking herself over. "Also explains a lot of… other things now that I think of it…"
“What other things?” I inquired as I gently took some of Neyla’s shed fur, cause apparently even if her cells regenerated fast that doesn’t stop her fur from shedding like mad in a new environment.
"Well, this one time I was on a world kinda like the one we were on earlier, but replace the virus with a crazy fungus. Didn't kill me and honestly the soup I made with it tasted like crap. Another time a vampire bit me but rather than turning he turned human again."
“Blood so strong it can literally reverse vampyrism? Damn, that’s pretty good.” I said honestly. “And I think I know that Fungus world, The Last of Us was it’s name.” I said honestly. “But otherwise, your of perfect physical health...mental and emotional on the other hand…” I started. “What really happened when Arpeggio asked you about a Keyblade?”
Neyla sighed, Frowning as she looked over at nothing. "Like I said, he saw me using it. By then I knew him enough that I thought he could handle the truth. So I told him. But… he began thinking, and out loud at that. For as long as I've known Arpeggio, he's been obsessed with flight… and finding a cure."
"A cure?" I asked.
"Maybe cure is the wrong word. He wanted to change his body." Neyla said. "As you probably know, he has the body of a toddler. While his mind is one of the greatest of his time, his health has always been… bad. Basically the complete opposite of mine. I get a cut, I can shrug it off. Him, he'll bleed out in minutes from a simple paper cut. I break a bone, it heals in a few… hours at most. Arpeggio… well, his bones are like glass being held together by cheap tape and a glue stick. I've never gotten sick. He catches the flu and it's like he has cancer." She laid back on the bed.
"I first met him eleven years ago. I was looking for certain metals the Moogles pay good Munny for. I wasn't doing so well then. Rotten scraps would have been Nirvana to me then. He caught me raiding the recycling bins of his lab. I was too weak that the panic made me pass out. He got me inside, and when I woke up, for the first time in a week I had a real meal. I kept visiting, at first to repay him. I'd bring him metals and he'd give me a meal, but then he found out I didn't have a real education. Began teaching me. Over time, he felt kinda like a father to me."
“Jeez, I knew him being born more feral than anyone else was a detriment to his flight but...I didn’t think it would have made him literally Glass.” I said.
Nodding, Neyla continued. "It's not like I did think about it before, taking him to another world, maybe some magic or technology from somewhere could help him… but with how he is, I'm not sure he'd even make the trip to the other world alive even in a Gummi Ship."
“And he didn’t take any of this well I assume?” I inquired.
"I've never seen him angry until then. It was… different. The madder he got the more pale he got and… I thought he was gonna give himself a stroke or a heart attack. I cast Sleep on him, and put him to bed… then left. That was the last I saw of him."
“I don’t think he was mad at you.” I said honestly. “I think he was...legit furious that, even with salvation at the tips of his wings with your help...it was still out of reach to his own frailty.” I sighed out.
"Even so, how can I go back and see him?"
“With me shadowing you.” I answered simply. “Arpeggio would still care about you, and if he’s smart about this he’d understand you were worried for his safety and ran because...well this would probably be the first time your father got that pissed.” I said honestly. “But...as a quick warning...if I’m right, which I hope I’m not, he might do one of two things, push you away so you don’t get caught up in whatever mess he’s gotten himself into, or ask you to join in on whatever insane plan his new boss has planned for this world.”
"Hard to tell with him." Neyla sighed. "I doubt he'd get himself into trouble without a backup plan of sorts. So, what do you know that I don't?"
“Well…” I started. “He is able to fly first of all, but I’m worried that he got that from a very dangerous benefactor that would only have ‘Cooper Gang’ as his backup plan...and that benefactor would be Clockwerk.” I frowned. “A robotic owl, now in a robotic body in the shape of my dad, who now has powers he really shouldn’t have, as his entire life is now just pure unbridled rage and hate to the point...his Light half is Dead.”
"Hmm… okay so I know this place was a shit show when I left but… really?"
“Have you heard of a group called ‘Nexus’?” I asked.
"Hmmm… it rings a bell… shit I know I headed that name somewhere… was it dad? Yeah I think… damn it I know I heard that name before…"
“Well good news and bad news.” I started. ‘Bad news is that Nexus is a multiversal organization that was run by someone that wants the mass extinction of all life because fuck you, and the good news is that the bastard handed me nintey nine percent of that organization he was going to slaughter anyways because the vast majority didn’t want to cause genocide on that level.” I said honestly. “Also I got a bunch of nifty things, only one of which actually matters because this stupid ability he gave me makes me having my powers back practically worthless.”
"Where have…" Neyla said to herself. I don't think she heard me. "I think dad mentioned… ugh, where have I heard it. I know my dad mentioned the name before but I can't remember why or when."
“I literally just explained it.” I said to Neyla a little louder.
"Yeah, Clockwerk, benefactor, Arpeggio can fly, but what are you not telling me?"
"I literally just explained things about Nexus…." I told her carefully.
"Name still rings a bell but I don't know why. But I mean what is it you are expecting to happen?"
"What do I expect to happen with what thing specifically? Cause three things I'm expecting at this point." I stated simply.
"In general." She asked. "Cause something still don't add up."
"What doesn't add up?" I inquired.
"The fact that you came looking for me specifically to ask about Arpeggio when no one, not even Matilda knew I knew him. So how did you know to look for me?"
"Do you want the simple version or the complicated version?" I asked.
"The version where you get to the point and don't long winded talk about the reasons."
"I'm a reincarnated God that chose this world to relive life as a 'mortal' under the supervision of a special interest group...and I had to experience pains I haven't felt in ages before I became a god…" I sighed out, not bringing up Admin cause that would have been a whole other thing to explain. "Like experiencing my parents murders again and blaming myself for being powerless to stop it…"
"Stop it there, I asked for the no bullshit reason, not your first and second life story. How did you know to look for me specifically and skip the backstory crap."
"Because time and the multiverse is weird and I'm just going through key points that was most likely to happen through a thousand different ones." I said carefully. "And most of them involved you being apart of a criminal gang led by Arpeggio to use Clockworks corpse for one reason or another." I explained. "Just...Vincent threw a massive wrench into all of this…" I added.
"So basically gods fucked with mortals, you are one and are trying to help?" Neyla repeated In a fairly simple version of my explanation.
"Pretty much." I nodded. "And in this case, it's one god giving Clockwork powers they shouldn't have."
"Alright, fair enough." Neyla shrugged. "So what's your plan?"
"My plan at the moment is to check on who's a part of the Klaww Gang at the moment, and so far it's Arpeggio and Rajan the Tiger." I said honestly. "I'm on the fence with another and am pretty sure I can rule out two others."
“Okay, and how do you expect to gain the information on who is in the Klaww Gang?”
"Mostly surveillance, keeping an eye on these certain individuals at a safe distance so they don't know their being followed or watched." I said simply. "Can't be too direct or else it'll cause more trouble than needed."
“So the slow and takes forever route? Great… now I gotta hang around here and do something.”
"Not necessarily on the slow and take forever part." I said with a raised hand. "One of my targets, Rajan, is a known Illegal Spice Trader that's been dabbling in Slave trade and Weapon Smuggling, so you can help us take down several of his compounds to stifle his business." I explained.
“Fun.” Neyla said, cracking her knuckles.
Rajan’s compounds were all still largely located in India. Many were heavily armed and under constant guard. Thankfully, he had a smaller project working out of his old hometown of Calcutta. Apparently, the more exotic and… desirable of his goods, be them weapons, spices, or slaves, he held an underground auction for. Where the auction takes place though is still unknown.
I took Neyla, as well as Uncle M, Dad, and Matilda for this job while the others looked into all the other possible Klaww Gang members.
Arriving in Calcutta, we were met with a city in ruins, held together by the half hazard rebuilds of Rajan’s goons at work. They controlled the food, water and medicine; and therefore the locals.
Looks like we have our work cut out for us here.
We set up base just outside the city limits, in a former subway entrance. Once the gear was all set it was time to get jobs. “Here you go Neyla.” Uncle M said, handing her a Binocucom. “This will let us communicate as well as locate your mission locations and gather photographic data.”
“Cool.” Neyla said, pocketing the device. “So what am I doing?”
“Right now we need information.” Matilda spoke up. “Conner and Kite will head to an old factory on the north side of the city. We think this is a storehouse for his… products. While you and I recon outside of Rajan’s local office in the area. He sometimes makes an appearance and with luck we can plant a bug in there and pick up some sensitive phone calls.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I nodded. “Finally get to have some father son time after...way too long.”
“Heh, yeah.” Dad said, giving me a one armed hug.
We headed out rather quickly and climbed up the buildings. When we made it up I noticed dad was holding the family cane.
“Did Sly give you the cane back dad?” I inquired.
“Yeah, before I left. Said since I was back I should see which of you boys should inherit it properly.” Dad said, gripping the old cane in his hand. “Honestly, I think he did it to help me get back into things better… and I won’t lie, second I held it again I felt… better.”
“Like an extension of yourself is finally back?” I asked.
“I guess. This cane was your link to me when I was… away, and for me it’s the same. Even with dad back it’s still weird… spent so long…” Dad shook their head. “By the way, what did you all do with Clockwerk’s old body?”
“I took it and, in a fit of cathartic rage that I’m so glad to have gotten off my chest, destroyed it to such a degree that not a single atom of that bastard owl’s old body remains.” I said with a smile.
“Right… Sorry, I still find it strange that the baby boy who’s diapers I changed is also a god…” Dad said. “Though, thinking back that might also explain a lot…”
“At the time I was just Kite Cooper...it wasn’t until I was going to fight the Panda King that I got my powers back.” I said honestly. “And...I’m sorry for lying about who I am dad...even if everyone is alright with who I really am…” I sighed out, not sure how to properly say about how upset I still was at myself.
“In my line of work, you can fake a lot of stuff.” He said, walking over and scruffing up my hair. “But from what I saw when you were little, and what you did, even before you got all your mojo back, you can’t fake love. Not with all you’ve done Kite.”
“Thanks dad.” I said with a warm smile. “Still means the world to me to hear...anything positive about me from my family here, after all of...this.”
“Hey, you did more for this family than any Cooper before you. Clockwerk may still be out there, but he’ll have to think thrice damned as hard before going toe to talons with Kite Cooper.” Dad laughed. “Come on then, M said that this warehouse might be for storage, and we best make sure nothing fishy is going on.”
“Wherever a Cooper goes, something fishy is happening.” I joked.
Racing our way to the warehouse, Dad and I stopped to pickpocket a few guards and kept going. The warehouse was once used for semi trucks to load and transport goods. Now only a few of the loading docs were open, the rest were all welded shut and the whole of the grounds were surrounded by makeshift watch towers, gun toting guard patrols, and even some drones were in the air. Definitely keeping something valuable in there.
“Jeez, Rajan really must not want people in that warehouse.” I muttered as I pulled out my Binocucom and started taking pictures of the defenses here.
“Making it rather obvious isn’t he?” Dad said as he scanned the building. “No way in from the roof with those drones. The ground area is a death sentence… Let’s scout the sewers then.” Dad said as he put his coms away.
With a nod we ran over to a partly hidden manhole, prying it open easily and we jumped in. Down here was secure too. Mostly, lasers, automated turrets, and… robot alligators?
“Robogator’s...jeez this guy does not want visitors.” I muttered. “Think an EMP will set it all off?”
“Relax. If you saw my video, we can easily bypass most of this.” Dad said, pulling out a laser light from his pocket, turning it on and immediately jumped on it. Smiling, I followed. I was surprised he brought out a slingshot and with a few rapid shots, destroyed the turrets.
“Quite the quickdraw ya got there.” I said honestly.
“Got the idea when reading up on Kid Cooper. Not a fan of guns myself, so I picked a Slingshot since I was able to have M create a variety of ammo, from my usual high density impact shots, to smoke bombs, to sleep pellets, even explosives.”
“That’s a good idea.” I nodded. “Just...I wish I could have met him under better circumstances… the poor guy practically begged me to… let him see his family again.”
“I can imagine…” Dad said, sighing.
We made it through the sewers and entered the warehouse through an old drainage pipe in a no longer working refrigerator. Once inside we slipped around. Opening a few boxes showed us various military grade weapons, Illegal drugs and Spices, but oddly, not a single prisoner.
“This place is well stocked but...something doesn’t feel right…” I muttered carefully.
“Yeah, where’s he keeping the… live Merchandise?” Dad asked. We took photos and ran through the building, avoiding guards and the occasional camera. We did manage to find a hidden doorway, and it was here we found them. A single, chained up slave. They were a young sloth bear, black fur and rather well fed. Even with chains on their legs and wrists.
“Hello?” I carefully asked the young sloth bear.
They looked over at me, tilting their head in confusion as they looked at Dad and I.
“Are you alright?” Dad asked, carefully approaching them. “How long have you been here?”
They didn’t speak, rather they counted their claws and held up four claws.
“Four years?” I asked worriedly to the young bear.
They nodded.
“How old are you?” Dad asked.
They pulled up a fifth claw.
“We’re gonna get you out of here.” I said carefully, but before I moved I checked the entire area to see if there were any hidden alarms or anything worse.
There were. Built into his cuffs, all four of them were sensores with small explosive charges. If they break, they go off. If they open without the right fingerprint, they go off. The explosives wouldn’t kill him, but would probably blast his hands and feet off at the joints.
“Why so much security for a kid?” Dad pondered.
“Either one of two things...either this little bear is being sold for a very high price...or Rajan weirdly took fancy to him and want’s to ‘have an heir’ because his fascination with being seen as royalty is literally driving him insane...more so than usual.” I said carefully. “Also explains why he’s so well fed all things considered.”
“No idea…” Dad muttered. “How… how do we get him out of here?”
“Hmm…” I hummed. “I wonder…” I muttered as I tried to look at it’s Code to see if I could just deal with it that way.
I immediately pulled back. This was Admin made… and Clockwerk’s ever familiar hatred was all over this Code. Crap… “What’s wrong?” Dad asked.
“Clockwerk made this.” I sighed out. “I thought I could use some of my more...special powers to try and deactivate it fully...but sadly I can't without delving deep into the thing and...if I mess up it’s probably the same response as everything else…”
“Shit. Who are you kid?” Dad asked aloud.
A loud set of footsteps began echoing towards us. Rapidly I grabbed dad and cast invisibility over us.
Walking into the room was one of the guards, carrying a plate with some kind of stew. “Here you go.” He said, placing the bowl down for the kid. “I’ll be back in a few for the dishes.” With that, he left.
Once he was gone, the kid began eating and I dropped the spell. “That was… interesting.” Dad muttered.
“Do you have a name?” I asked the kid softly, really wishing I had my Assistant to give me a translator cause I wasn’t sure if something was magic sensitive in here with Clockwerk’s efforts put into it.
The kid used a claw and lightly carved into the wall ‘Shaan’ on the wall.
“He can spell. If he’s been here since he was one, they’ve been teaching him.” Dad said.
“Why are you here?” I asked carefully.
They shrugged, quickly finishing their meal and placing the empty bowl aside.
“Do you have parents?” Dad asked.
The kid nodded.
“Who are your parents?” I asked softly.
The kid thought for a moment, then drew on the wall the image of a crown.
“They’re royalty?” Dad asked, the kid nodded. “Looks like you might be right about Rajan wanting an heir, who better than someone with an existing bloodline?”
“Fair enough.” I nodded. “You happy here or do you want to leave?” I asked the kid carefully.
They shrugged.
Uncertain, but taking too long as is, Dad and I left the kid. We would be back.
Arriving back at the hideout, We exchanged info.
Matilda and Neyla managed to plant the bug within Rajan’s local office, as well as took photos of documents about shipments, but whatever the addresses were, were not part of any maps from before everything went south.
“Alright, so we got plenty of info, and we also have Rajan holding a poor Sloth Bear hostage and using him as a makeshift ‘heir to the thrown’ to keep up whatever delusion he has about being royalty.” I brought up.
“It might be worse than that.” M said as he went over the info we all gathered. “According to some of the documents I’ve been able to hack thanks to the planted bug. If my assumptions are right, this child has a far darker past than expected.”
“How so?” Neyla asked.
“Well, when India fell, the royal family went into Hiding. When Rajan rose to power, he hunted them down, slaughtering all but the youngest prince.”
“The kid?” Dad asked.
M shook their head. “The prince was nineteen.”
“So it’s his son… did he… have a wife?” Matilda asked.
“No. He did have a few noble women lined up, but most fled the kingdom.”
“So…” I started. “Can you please tell me Rajan isn’t using the young prince to try and breed a princess and...then forcefully marry her when she’s of age?” I asked carefully.
“That’s what I believe to be the case.” M said with a sigh. “I will keep hacking to see if young Shaan doesn’t have any siblings… and if possible, the location of the Prince and his Concubine.”
“I’m amazed Rajan is keeping these infant Princes alive.” Neyla said.
“Weirdly this asshole has some modicum of standards.” I started. “Why murder innocent and defensless children when you can just literally slaughter them when they come of age?” I frowned.
“Any idea how… long ago he captured the Prince and started this mess?” Matilda asked.
“The Prince, that was seven years ago, I am not sure when he captured a noble concubine, however, it could have been before or sometime after. That data will take some time to collect.” Uncle M said.
“Is there any rebel force against Rajan or is no one wanting to fight him?” I asked.
“There was…” Matilda started. “I believe he piked their heads atop his palace gates.”
“Damn.” Neyla said. “Guess that just leaves us to deal with him, one small bit of territory at a time.”
“True.” I nodded. “Just wondering how we can spin this to either rally support from the people or cause Rajan to absolutely lose his shit and start messing up a crap ton.”
“Well, can’t do much unless we get to work. What do we do first?” Neyla asked.
“Where to start?” M said with a sigh. “The main issue will be the warehouse. It’s bad, but we also need to find his primary slave warehouse and the auction house location.”
“So, what’s the plan there M?” Dad asked.
“Well, obviously some Underground types will arrive here and buy either weapons, Spices, Drugs or Slaves. I can build and set up cameras to scan and recognize any and all major underground types and alert us, then we can tail them and hopefully they lead us to the auction house. Tearing that town will also lead us to where they store the slaves.”
“And hopefully Rajan is dumb enough to just need a dress code only instead of needing an actual invitation.” I said honestly. “And if you're wondering why I’m...weirdly specific about dress code...has anyone ever seen his guards? Seriously, does he have that shit tailor made?” I asked, cause for some reason all of Rajan’s guards I’ve seen were weirdly well dressed for being armed and ready for murder.
“What? Are you suggesting his slave auctions would also be a fashion show?” Dad asked.
“Honestly...weirdly wouldn’t put it past him.” I said as I thought for a bit.
“In any case, gives me an idea.” Neyla said as headed for the door. “Saw an old fabric shop on the way over to the office. Gonna see if anyone is still working there.”
“I’ll come with, cause I have a really good eye for detail, especially when it comes to fabrics.” I said as I followed after Neyla.
“Nah, I got this.” Neyla shrugged as she rushed out.
“Still gonna follow her?” Matilda asked.
“Am I that transparent?” I asked in mock surprise.
I rushed after her, following at a distance. She rapidly jumped and swung from the rooftops and soon she jumped down the air ducts of the fabrics store. Following I was met by the loud noises of automated machines sewing and rolling fabrics. This building was packed with them. I found Neyla in the former main office. Her whip was tied up and wrapped around a jaguar, hanging upside down from the ceiling.
“Now then, where’s your shipment going?” Neyla asked.
“Piss off!” The Jaguar yelled, earning a hard punch from Neyla that made him swing around like a punching bag.
“Wanna try that again?”
“Alright you two, let’s try this again.” I said carefully.
Neyla rolled her eyes as she looked over at me. “Not surprised you followed.”
“You know me so well.” I said jokingly. “So, what’s the cause for tying him up and using him as a punching bag?”
“He’s the guard here, so he knows something.” She replied.
“You can all burn in- Gack!” He tried to yell but another punch from Neyla silenced him and sent him swinging again.
“We find out where these fabrics get shipped, we can figure out not just the auction house location, but also the main guard barracks and other tidbits of Rajan’s operation.”
“Cool.” I nodded. “So my fine jaguar friend? Do you want to do this the easy way?” I asked while motioning to Neyla. “Or do you want to do this the hard way?” I asked carefully, the Jaguar suddenly feeling his instincts screaming at him to run from whatever the hell I have in store.
“Awh, that’s cute, you think you’re worse than me?” Neyla chuckled.
“Yes.” I answered bluntly, which caught Neyla off guard a bit with how blunt, or how quick it was.
“Oh really?” She asked, now circling me. “And here I thought the Cooper’s didn’t do torcher.”
“Cooper’s don’t…” I said, which I wanted to stay true to the Cooper beliefs. “And I am a Cooper...but there’s somethings I can put past when it comes to animals like Rajan and his pack of cowards.” I growled.
“Is that what dear old dad would want to hear from his son?” Neyla asked, making me wince. “I’m doing you a favor, Kite. I can see the will, the fire in your eyes to do what needs to be done, but I know that’s a line your family can’t, won’t cross.” Neyla said, her eyes shifting to a familiar red but her body didn’t change. “Just let a real animal handle the bloody work.”
“If only you knew…” I muttered. “Well good news and bad news. Good news is, my friend here wants me to still have a conscience and not skin you alive at least three different times,” I saw the guy actually flinch in fear as to the fact I just said that oh so casually. “But bad news is, you done pissed off someone that can kick Rajan’s ass six ways from sunday, so I ask, do you want to do this the easy way? Or the hard way?”
Neyla didn’t give him a chance to answer, and got to work. I stood back… and watched. It was bruitle, she even used a few variations I know of and finally he cracked.
Rajan’s main slave warehouse is in the old movie theatre, while his auction house is in the old capitol building. The main guard barracks is within an old hotel called Royal Reserved.
“Thanks for that.” Neyla said, spinning the bleeding and swollen jaguar goon around. “You’ve been quite helpful.”
“Good enough.” I nodded. “Now to make sure there’s no proof.” I said while casting a sleep spell on the jaguar, knocking him out instantly as I started to heal his many many injuries. “See any booze around here?”
“You really think making it look like he was drunk is gonna work? Rajan might be crazy but he isn’t stupid.” Neyla said, still spinning the unconscious feline around.
“Then what would you think we should do with this guy?” I asked curiously.
"I have several ideas, none you'll like." Neyla said, looking over at me.
“Either eat him or slit his throat and throw him in an undisclosed ditch?” I asked.
"Not my preferred method… not like my primal form hasn't…" She sighed. "We could also seal his heart. Will pretty much put him into a coma. There's a few worlds we can drop him on. His species would blend in perfectly and anything he says, he'd be thrown into a loony bin."
“Fair enough.” I nodded. “Better than murder...cause Cooper’s don’t do murder.”
“Yeah.” Neyla said, grabbing some paper and writing something down. “Here’s a good world’s coordinates, send him off. I’ll tell the others about this news.”
"Fair enough." I nodded as I looked over the coordinates and grabbing the guy as I made a DTL. "Let's hope he doesn't cause too much trouble…" I muttered as I dragged his unconscious body into the door to a new world.
Arriving at the world, it looked almost like a human world. Save for the Anthro, very human body animal people, there was almost no difference. I dropped the guy off in an alley way and left.
Or rather, I would have.
Right as I was set to open a DTL, I saw plastered on a nearby wall, the long aged paper of a missing person’s poster. She looked… a lot like Neyla.
Missing: Hannah Pirkenson.
Gender: Female
Carnivore
Species: Bengal Tiger
The rest of the paper was torn off. It’s been here for a long time… Is that, Neyla’s mother? I looked around, taking in this world and it’s magic… it was faint… yet still so… wild… primal…
This is Neyla’s mother’s world.
“Uh...that’s concerning…” I started carefully.
Using some magic I preserved the paper before removing it from it’s hanging place… Does Neyla know?
I sniffed the paper… old. Slightly molded… this is almost… forty years old. Neyla is in her thirties…
“Okay so...maybe Neyla’s mother went off-world or something?” I muttered in concern. “Something doesn’t feel right here…”
I pocketed the paper and went back. Maybe Matilda knows something?
I arrived back home and managed to take a job with Matilda for setting up the special cameras uncle M made so we can know which scumbags were going to be at the auction house. Now that we knew where the pens and where the shop was, we figured it best to learn who would be there.
“Neyla’s mother? What about her?” Matilda asked as she placed the final camera.
“So Neyla made me go to her mother’s home world and dump off a freshly knocked out guard Neyla damn near mauled to death...so then I found her mother on a missing person’s flier that’s...forty years old.” I explained.
“Huh… Well, sorry Kite but I never knew her mother, and Neyla didn’t talk much about her parents.” Matilda said, scratching her head. “All I do know is that she was a keyblade wielder, so there’s only a handful of people who could have been her teacher.”
“Well, that might explain the ten year gap between her disappearance and Neyla’s birth.” I said honestly. “But I wonder why she never went back to her homeworld...if that wasn’t just on pure coincidence and she actually is on that world still.”
“Dunno. Only Neyla would know for sure.” Matilda shrugged.
I frowned, gripping my cane. All that Neyla has been through… and that bit about Arpeggio… he was like a father to her…
Back at the hideout, I was about to confront Neyla, but stopped as I reached her room’s door. There was… music, a soft hum Neyla was singing.
I listened for a while, the soft melody was rather sad, but something about it hit me… something relating to my nature as a Dire Wolf…
I knocked then entered, shaking that from my head. Neyla was laid along her makeshift bed. “Goon number three has been dropped off?” She asked.
“Yes, and I also found something...concerning while I was there.” I said carefully. “But before that, that was a great Dire Wolf song.”
“My dad used to sing it to me when I was little. I can’t remember the lyrics, but I remember the tune.” She replied simply. “So, what’s so concerning?”
I pulled out the missing person flier. “I randomly found this forty year old piece of paper saying your mother’s gone missing.”
Neyla looked up, seeing the paper. “Yeah. And?”
“Is everything alright?” I asked carefully. “Cause...seeing this as it’s forty years old...Arpeggio basically being a father to you…” I started. “Is everything okay?”
“Kite, look at me.” She said simply, cracking a small smile. “What about me is Okay?” She said, sitting up. “So, what does the nosy raccoon want to know so badly exactly?”
I gently walked over and sat down next to her on her bed. “I may not be a professional psychiatrist...but what do you want or need to talk about?” I asked softly, trying to show my concern and care for the poor tiger. “Anything you want to get off your chest, I’m here to listen.”
She laughed. “Yeah, cause that’s what I need in my early thirties, therapy from a god of… whatever you’re a god of.” She shrugged. “There’s not much to say really… I’m lanes borne, a natural magnet for heartless and the darkness at play on any world. Add in a Keyblade and I basically ring the dinner bell. My Keyblade manifested when I was thirteen. Happiest day of my life… Til the Heartless came. I didn’t know how to disband it. They kept coming, and coming… and coming. Mom opened a DTL and threw me in. Last time I saw her or dad and a Demon Tide was about to devour them.” Neyla sighed. “I landed at her old master’s place. He taught me how to use Keyblade magics without a Keyblade in hand, then sent me off.”
“If...you want, I can do something very important.” I said softly.
"No." Neyla said flatly. "Mom and Dad are… gone. Besides, I'm not the little girl they left behind. I'd like to let them rest in whatever afterlife awaits us."
“I understand.” I nodded. “Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?” I asked.
"Not really." Neyla sighed. "Life isn't fair, and I get that."
"It isn't...but it can be somewhat fairer." I said. "And all you need for it...is a friend."
"That's cheesy as all hell."
"But it's true." I said honestly. "From someone with personal experience in this, friends and family make things a hell of a lot fairer."
"Whatever you say, random god guy." She chuckled, messing with my hair a bit. "So, how long do you think it will take to tear down all of Rajan's empire?"
"Depends on if he has any backup plans, cause if it's just this than...maybe a month, or at least a couple weeks." I said honestly. "I'm being cautious here instead of saying 'in a week's like the others…cause a lot more is happening behind the scenes."
"When isn't there? So, are you gonna go? I was planning on taking a nap."
"A nap would…" I suddenly yawned. "Ugh, okay a nap sounds good right now." I nodded while heading off to bed after a long day.
To be continued...