Chapter II

Justin

With my back pressed to the barricade and the sound of paint splattering against my teammates, I stared forward into the air. As my name was being called, I just stared forward. That moment playing in my head over and over again… The alarms were blaring, I was flat on my back, staring up at the sky, hearing the screams. The panicking. I could feel it. The toll of the fight. At least a dozen were dead. But I didn’t care, not compared to my dad. They took him into the facility, to the medical wing. But me and my mother got no updates. 

My back was aching, but my best friend scrambled to me, and he began shaking me. “HEY! C’mon! We’re getting our asses beat out there!” 

“Like every week.” I said with a croaky voice. He looked at me with that look, the later Justin look. 

Brian had thick eyebrows, brown hair, and hazel eyes. “GRENADE!” A voice called, I saw something small soar over my head and fall next to me. “Shi-!” Paint exploded in Brian's and I’s faces. “Let's talk…” Brian said. He grabbed me by the shoulder and trailed me away to the tagged area.

The arena itself was a large field with obstacles on it. A mandatory part of schooling on Monktanos. Had been since the war. The tagged area was a bus stop-like area. A few kids sat in it as we approached. But there was a small hole at the back of it. The kids on the benches blocked the teachers from seeing it. 

Like we had so many times, we ducked down and crawled through it. It led up to a forest-y path, narrow and full of nettles, an area no one else would go through. It was a bit uphill, but eventually we arrived at a small opening. There were trees surrounding us, fallen trees acting as benches, and a small pit of stones lay where we had started fires for the past few years we knew of the spot.

Brian sat me down. “So! Justin! What now?” He joked, taking a seat opposite me and placing his chin in his hands. My nose scrunched up, I sniffled back a cry. I fidgeted with my fingers. “Justin… Oh Justin…” He didn’t even know what was wrong yet, but he pulled me into an embrace. I rested my chin on his shoulder and let the tears out. It was all so much. “Want to talk after school?” Brian said, pulling away. 

No. The voice said to me, somewhere… Deep in my head. “No,” I repeated. “I mean… I… Just need some time to… Process this all alone.” I offered a weak smile. 

~~~

“Why did you make me say no?” I said out loud, walking home. Of course I got no answer. I never would, not really. 

Trade district. 

“Is this how it's gonna be? You, telling me where to go and me, having to go there?”

Silence. I sighed and reached to my belt. I unclipped the cat mask and rested it on my head. Lightning pierced the clouds and struck my back, my kimono-like outfit crackled into existence. I began to run as fast as I could in the direction of the trade district. 

Brian

I was too curious not to check… Ever since the earthquake I had been analysing the crevasse. More recently the ice receded over the lake, but now as MAB agents gathered around to investigate it was getting colder again. As if it was trying to shake them off. Almost the entire Moren lake was frozen. 

It was late, about midnight, the agents had all gone home. And my time to strike was now. I was wearing a red jumper and a green coat, cargo trousers, thick gloves, and a beanie. I crossed a platform to the crevasse which MAB had set up. They had various platforms and equipment in it. I began to climb down it, the coldness bleeding through my gloves. 

Along the way I gathered a few samples of ice. I dropped down onto one of the platforms. There was a ladder… It’s not that I didn’t notice it, I just like the adventure… We’ll run with that. My excitement of being in there was admittedly distracting. I was relatively popular among kids my age then, but I had sides I couldn’t show them, in case… Well… They didn’t like those sides. 

I was freezing but I still wanted to explore. I began to make my way down a hallway of ice, using the torch on my phone to see the way.
02:12 “Damn its getting late…” I didn’t care enough to stop searching, I felt so close… Close to… Something. I kept walking through the hallway for about twenty minutes until: BZZZT! I sighed and brought my phone down to my eyes.

JUSTIN

“HEY!” 

YOU

“Y r u texting me at this time emo boy?”

JUSTIN

“U r soooooo kind” BZZZZT! “I need to tell u something, u free?”

YOU

“Srry im busy being responsible rn :/” 

JUSTIN
“Surrrrrrrrre”

I laughed and continued to light the way. I kept going, and going… Until something caught my eye. I saw a shard of ice blink with light… Or at least I thought I did. I quickly nodded it off and kept going. But I thought I saw it again, and again… I realised all around the ice was beginning to blink with blue light. “Woah…” I smiled looking at the marvel around me. 

I plucked one of the shards, to my amazement it kept blinking. I placed it into my pocket. And decided to call it a night. 

YOU

“Hey u still free?” 

After five minutes(it was really seconds) I sent another…
“Ignoring me? Or asleep? I don’t know which is worse!!!! >:(”

No response. I just sighed and put my phone away. When I got home I slept sound. I had a nice dream. I dreamed I told my truth, truths, to everyone. And everything was okay. The next day things would go downhill for me. I like to think that dream was a cushion to soften the blow of what was to come; the worst day of my life. 

Justin

BZZT! BZZT! My phone buzzed as I was getting my ass kicked across the warehouse. I gripped my kama hard and flipped out of the way of the next attack from Raven. “Could we just call this a draw for now?” I said flipping away from a kick. I’m getting stronger… 

Raven growled and leapt into the air. I screamed a war cry and let my kamas slip out of my hands, out of the backs of them golden chains shot into existence wrapping around my hands. “Let’s see how ya’ like this!!!” I said swinging one into his side. Electricity burst off him and knocked him off course. I threw the other one up into his chin. He grunted in pain and surprise. “Guess I really turned the tides here…” I said, trying to catch my breath. 

“I. Will. Kill you.” He said before jerking forward and charging at full speed.

“YOU SHOULD KNOW AT THIS POINT!” I said flipping out of the way. “I’M FASTER!” He teleported behind me…

“AND YOU SHOULD KNOW AT THIS POINT-” He teleported us away to a support beam. “I’M NOT AN IDIOT!!!” He slammed me into it… Just like last time. He landed gracefully on the ground, I… did not. Raven made a claw with his hand and approached my crumpled body. “Just like I said. I will kill you.” He leant down placing a talon like finger to my throat.  

“I’d sharpen it a little more.” I joked.

“Joke behind your sadness little fool. I do not give a fuck!” Before he could slit my throat I threw my legs into his stomach. 

“Fine. No more joking!” I got up, my kama had fallen a bit away, but they hissed with electricity and flew into my hands. Electricity pounced off my body and down my spine. I leapt forward… Raven threw himself into the air… I struck the bottom of my kama into his side. The chain shot out the bottom of the other, I whipped it around and wrapped it around him… Pulling myself closer to his falling body I struck him in the back with the blade of one of the kama. Pink electricity shot through him, we launched into the sky once more, steam rolled off him. I pulled away the chain disappearing again. I pierced the blade through a support column as Raven fell to the ground. 

My whole body ached… How had I even won the fight… Luck? 

“This… Is a… You will never beat me again…” Raven said before disappearing. 

“Rot in hell.” I said lifting my mask enough to wipe the blood away from my mouth and nose. Stay. The voice said. “Sure…” I said my eyes were teary, my voice sharp. “Whatever you want.” I began to hyperventilate. “No. He’s not getting away that easy.” I ran out of the tall doors of the warehouse, I ran the streets of the concrete jungle like a mad man. Staring up at the skyscrapers looking for him, that rat. I ran through the skyline district crying. Imagining that moment, the beam of light shot through my dad. I collapsed to the ground… Tears filled my mask. I hit my fists against the ground in frustration. 

“Thats a dramatic meltdown.” A voice said. I looked up. Sitting on a bus top roof was a man in a… Cat costume? It was metal, jet black, his eyes were glowing white, He had sharp long claws. 

“W-w-what? What do you want!?” I said lifting my mask to wipe my tears away, not letting the man see my face. 

“Well… I would like to know how you were running that fast… But I guess it isn’t the time to ask questions. You don’t look too hot though… You need a shoulder to cry on?” I couldn’t see but I knew he was smirking under the mask. 

“W-What? No I-I-I’m okay…” I said, I was confused. I was able to fight my emotions off in the moment quick enough. “Who are you? What are you??” 

“Careful there I only answer one question at a time. So I’ll answer the first. I am Jaguar…” He made a big act of bowing while sitting. He propped himself up with one arm. 

“Okay well what are y-” I started.

“No! I get to ask a question now. I think that’ s how this whole conversation thing is supposed to go.” I nodded resisting a smile under my mask. “How did you run that fast?”

“Short answer-I don’t know.” I said honestly, I was just happy he was pretending to not see me cry.

“Well you see I want the long answe-”

"Hmmm! I think I get to ask a question now..." I matched his tone. "I heard that's how this whole conversation thing is supposed to go..."

“Wow-” Jaguar whispered. “You’re evil!” He leant in.

“UHUH! No! Like I said, MY turn! What are you doing out here?”

“I’m a vigilante.” He said dropping to the pathway. He landed on his feet. A tail swept the air behind him. 

“Your’e-” I started again.

“This was fun.” He interrupted. Meet me up there tomorrow? Same time?” He walked closer as I tried to talk. His face centimeters away from mine… I felt glued in place, my cheeks were red under my mask… I was sweating. Then after a few seconds he put a phone between us. MY phone. “Added my number to your phone.” He said before dashing off pushing my phone into my arms. 

I opened my phone to see if he actually did but instead I saw:

Brian

“Hey u still free?” 

“Ignoring me? Or asleep? I don’t know which is worse!!!! >:(”

I panicked and quickly got to typing, I knew Brian was joking in the last message but still…

YOU

“OMG IM SO SORRY I FELL ASLEEP ISTG”

“He’s probably asleep…” I said to myself. “Gotta get home…”