“Uhhh, ALEX! What are we gonna do?!”

Kaizen and Alex darted through an alleyway between the Podshut and the prostitution house adjacent to it. Their feet splashed through puddles of questionable liquid as they ran and rats skittered away as their feet stomped by.

“Why are we running away from the graveyard? How are we gonna escape?”

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to lead an enemy back a LifeGate Kaizen?” Alex responded. Kaizen went quiet for a moment. That hadn’t crossed his mind. Alex turned the corner and spotted a Cy-Pickup. It was definitely existing beyond its usefulness. Worn hover tires, more scratches than paint and its seats torn asunder. 

Alex smiled.

“It’s perfect.”

The two dashed towards the truck and Alex pointed to Kaizen to hop in the back. He took the driver seat and broke the back glass separating him from the cargo bed. Kaizen awkwardly crouched in the back and leaned his face near the newly open space.

“What’s the plan Alex? How are we going to get away without a LifeGate?”

“Easy Kaizen. Trust in the Most High.”

“Okay, Okay.” Kaizen said, more trying to reassure himself than agreeing.

“You know how to hotwire a truck?”

“Even better,” Alex responded.

Alex held his hand over the dashboard of the pickup. The translucent sleeved hummed to life and Alex began to tap away.

Vrrrrrrrrrrr…

A Cy-Car came tearing around the corner of the street. It was jet black with some white highlights. It was sleek all around and its edges met sharply at each end, giving it a pyramid-esque look. On its roof rested a large bulb which flashed red and blue lights in rapid succession. They had a Hunter on their trail.

“Alex! They’re here!”

“A moment Kaizen?”

The police Hunter tore up the road approaching them. Kaizen felt his chest beating harder as he saw one of the droid’s driving and Crimson grinning in the passenger seat.

Grikitiktikitiki…

The truck’s engine sputtered and then failed.

Grikitiktikitiki…

Grikitiktikitiki…

“ALEX!”

“A moment…”

Grikitiktikitiki…Budooooov

“Got it!”

Alex took off down the road without any hesitation, grinding away the asphalt below them.

Kaizen’s focus went back and forth between the road in front of them and their pursuers behind them.

“They’re gaining, Alex!”

Alexander already knew this of course. He reached into his pocket and pulled an item to lay on the seat. The object appeared to be a miniature toy box, no larger than a fist. There were colorful childish patterns painted on the sides and the front face had “T+A” embossed in gold. 

<<Blessed Item 413 : Toki’s Treasure Box >>>

With one hand still on the wheel, Alex pushed his hand down into the box and rummaged around for a bit. Quickly but steadily, he pulled his hand out revealing what looked like the barrel of a rifle. The barrel bumped and scratched the roof as Alex awkwardly and seemingly mystically removed more and more of the weapon from the opening. The length of the rifle far exceeded that which could be contained in such a small box. After much difficulty he managed to retrieve it as the flaps on the box swung close on their own.

“Here! Hold on to this!” Alex yelled to Kaizen as he passed the butt of the weapon to him through the cracked glass. Kaizen, more than happy to have a way to defend themselves, took hold of it without hesitation.

<<<Blessed Item 72 : The Good Judge >>>>

The gun looked like a hunting rifle, but…it was beautiful. Upon sight, Kaizen considered it more akin to an instrument than a weapon. The silver barrel flowed seamlessly from a gold-covered muzzle into the  forestock. The wooden butt had beautiful gold engraved designs and the words “Anche Tu Sarai Giudicato” delicately painted on in a cursive font. The rifle was shaped like a bolt action but had no chamber to speak of. Instead, there was a very slim canister with a dial attached to where the magazine should be.

“You ever shoot?” Alex asked.

“Some turtle doves with Sacclin every now and then?” He answered unconfidently.

“Great, Great. Same thing.” Alex assured him. “It’s easy to use, just point and pull the trigger. Aim for the bots.”

“Okay…Okay.” Kaizen responded, trying to calm himself. He fumbled the rifle around in his hand for a couple seconds and finally held it outwards from him. He put the butt against his shoulder and held the rifle up towards the pursuing hunter. As he aimed outwards, four golden rectangular bars detached from the sides of the rifle and floated over to the top of it. The bars swirled and formed a cross-shaped sight floating over the forestock for him. The sights zoomed into Crimson’s maniacal face as he hung out of the hunter. He shifted aim to the left at the police-bot driving the hunter. He centered the sight on the head of the humanoid machine and finally, he pulled the trigger.

FSHOOOOOOOM!

The rifle released a powerful yellow beam that was far wider than the muzzle itself. The initial force caused Kaizen to fly backwards and the rifle to kick upwards. His back slammed hard into the separating wall of the cargo bed. The beam from the misfire flew upwards and struck a huge neon sign hanging from the side of a nearby building. The sign broke off its hinges and tumbled downwards to the road. 

CRRRRSHHH!

The sign crashed ahead of the hunter causing the bot to try and swerve. The hunter skid several feet horizontally before it screeched to a stop.

“Ugghhh…” Kazeni groaned, regaining his bearings. As his blurry vision adjusted, he saw the crashed sign getting further and further away from them.

“Did we stop them?” He said to himself.

Suddenly, there was a bright red flash from behind the sign.

BRKSHHHH!

The large metal sign burst into two halves that went flying forwards. One half crashed and lodged itself into another building. The other flew over the truck and landed several feet in front of them, causing Alex to dodge around it.

“How did they…” Kaizen started, taken aback. Through the dust of commotion, the hunter teared through at full speed. 

“Kaizen! The dial at the bottom.” Alex yelled back to him. “Turn it to the right to compress the shot. The thinner it is, the more it will pierce.”

Kaizen picked up the rifle that had slipped away from him when he got thrown back. He observed the silver canister and dial he had noticed earlier.

“That makes sense.” He said to himself annoyed as he turned the dial to the right.

With his head pounding, Kaizen took a crouched position on the cargo bed. He held the rifle up once more and watched the sights float into place. His aim was shaky from his wobbling hand. He took a deep breath… and another… and another.

He thought back to shooting turtle doves with Sacclin.

“Bring your target closer to you with your eyes,” he thought to himself as he closed his left eye. He locked his sights on the driver bot.

“Breathe in to build…” He inhaled as breathed in. Slowly his finger went over the trigger.

“Fire to finish.”

SHOOOOOO!

The shot that he fired was so quiet he barely heard it leave the barrel. It fired so fast that he couldn’t tell if it hit or not. As he looked at the bot through the sights, he noticed a small hole in the windshield. The bot tilted its head slightly as a small stream of oil began to leak from where its forehead should be. Its red eye pulsed once more before it slowly faded to gray. 

The hunter began to swerve violently as the bot went offline, so much so that it threw the other police-bot out the passenger window. Crimson looked down frustrated and the hunter continued to go off the rails. He reached forward out his window and grabbed the dead police bot from the driver seat and tossed it into the road. He kicked his door open and struggled as he tried to climb atop the roof.

“This guy,” Kaizen thought to himself, “I don’t know why…but this guy’s dangerous.”

He pulled the rifle back up swiftly and aimed at Crimson.

“He can’t be allowed to follow us.”

Alex watched Kaizen through the rear view mirror.

“Kaizen! No kill shots!”

Kaizen stood up as he focused in on Crimson’s forehead. As he aimed at him with more intent, several more rectangular bars floated up from the gun creating a row of sights along the barrel,each set of sights incrementally smaller than the last.

“No kill shots!” Alex yelled at him.

Kaizen blinked twice and the Beholders flashed themselves to life. They scanned Crimson and identified his head as his weak spot.

Crimson looked up at Kaizen as he finally managed to get to the roof. His face changed to shock as he saw Kaizen confidently aiming at him from the truck.

“Fire to finish,” Kaizen mumbled to himself.

SHOOOOOO!

The needle thin beam zipped through the air towards Crimson. As the beam approached a spot between Crimson’s messy hair, a red aura began to illuminate itself around him. Crimson rolled off the roof of the car and landed on the road, tumbling several times.

Kaizen’s eyes widened as he watched it unfold. The hunter finally swerved and hit the edge of the curb. It flipped several times until it finally skidded to a halt on the asphalt. The truck tore away from the scene as both Crimson and the hunter laid motionless on the road.

…………………………………………………………………………….

The truck sputtered as it finally ran out of gas. Alex hopped out of the driver’s seat and saw Kaizen already leaning against the outside of the cargo bed. Kaizen’s bangs hung in front of his face, hiding his eyes. He clutched The Good Judge in his right hand beside his leg and did not move or speak. Alex grit his teeth and anger rose up inside of him as he walked over to him.

WHAM!

Alex slammed his fist into the side of the truck near Kaizen’s face, causing it to dent and his knuckles to bleed.

“What…was that?!” He said in a quiet but extremely angered voice.

He didn’t respond.

“I told you to stand down! Why did you kill him?” 

“I didn’t kill him…” Kaizen responded.

Alex looked confused, then his face turned to shock as he looked at him. Kaizen’s face was filled with rage. His teeth were clenched and several red veins forked through his eyes as he frowned.

“I don’t know how he did it…but that brute…I HATE THAT HE GOT AWAY!” Kaizen yelled.

“I’ve seen this before…” Alex thought to himself, still in shock.

 He stared at Kaizen for a moment, then sighed as he adjusted his glasses. He placed one hand on Kaizen’s shoulder.

“Look, all that matters is that he isn’t dead. We’re agents, not mercenaries.”Alex smiled slightly,

“We completed our task. That means you’ve earned your place on this mission.” The statement shocked Kaizen and he looked up.

“Now they can’t leave you behind.” Alex finished.

Kaizen stared at him for several seconds and then sighed.

“Good.” It was only one word but Alex could feel the relief behind it. 

Kaizen handed him the rifle and he took it with a smile.

“This is a family heirloom you know? The legendary gun with zero confirmed kills, The Good Judge,” Alex told him as he struggled to slide it back into the box resting in his palm. “Thanks for not breaking the streak.” 

Kaizen laughed and followed Alex as he walked away.

The two enter an empty park. Kaizen didn’t question why they were there as he learned to trust Alex’s plans from here on out. Alex stopped at a large tree in the center of the park. He opened Toki’s Treasure box once more and began rummaging. 

“Okay…just what is the box?” Kaizen asked, unable to ignore the logic breaking items Alex keeps using.

“This is my first and most embarrassing invention,” Alex scowled. 

“Why’s that?”

Alex paused for a moment before he answered him.

“Creations designed with emotion tend to lack efficiency,” he stated as he continued to rummage. Without even looking at Kai he could tell he was confused.

“I made this to impress a girl. She wanted a way to easily transport things in the field. But I focused more on the design than the function, thus, I can only retrieve things of a limited size.”

Kaizen believed that Alexander was being way too hard on himself. To have the genius to create something like this in the first place is an achievement in his eyes.

“But, how does…”

“How does it work?” Alex finished for Kaizen. 

He pulled out a small white utensil from the box. It looked like… a dinner knife? Except it was white and completely made from some strange metallic material. Several circuit lights began to draw themselves on the blade’s side. Alexander slashed across the tree with the knife, scarring it.

Suddenly, the trunk of the tree began to crack and break open. The loose wood began to contort itself and shape itself into a LifeGate. The design was much more jagged and unrefined than the others Kaizen had been through so far, but he assumed that was because this was an emergency exit. The golden portal shimmered to life as the two stood before it.

“Toki’s box works just like this,” Alex smiled as he turned to face him.

Kaizen’s eyes widened as he caught on.

“A pocket life gate! Clever.” Kaizen laughed as he saw Alex has some pride in his creation after all.

The two boys entered the golden portal and it disappeared behind them. Leaving nothing but a cracked open trunk behind them.

…………………………………………………………………………….

Hours Later

“I’m telling you, the one with him was different,” Crimson commented as he touched the edges of the cracked trunk. A huge grin came across his face.

“I mean, these Saints or whatever you call them, you said they weren’t killers,” He scratched his head furiously.

“But this kid… there’s venom in his eyes!” He said with ecstasy in his face.

“Isn’t this exciting…V?!” 

Ding Ding.

A man leans on another tree nearby. He’s fully clad in a purple robe so dark it almost seemed black. His hood had long silver blades attached to the  edges making it resemble a rack of teeth. The sleek robe had silver buttons attached in the shape of diamonds to compliment his hood. 

The figure gave a slight smile from under their hood.

“Yes…exciting indeed.”