Project Jupiter

Chapter 3: Beneath The Surface

Author's note: howdy, my dear readers, I'm gonna introduce some signaling so that you know what's happening in the story in a more clear way

"Hmmm" - people talking

'Hmmm' - people thinking

~~~~~ - Scene Change
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As the smoke cleared following Ryuuji's massive attack, Jupiter could be seen protecting himself with a barrier surrounded by lightning, while Ryuuji was nowhere to be seen. Extra S.W.A.T teams were now arriving on the scene of the chaotic hour-long battle between the two superhumans, and the reporters who had chosen secure places to hide themselves were now coming out, trying to see if they could procure some information from any witnesses.

"We're standing here at the scene of a chaotic confrontation between two unidentified masked individuals. We are now going to try and get some information on the situation" - said the reporter facing the camera. But as soon as he turned around, only the recently arrived S.W.A.T agents could be seen.

One of the S.W.A.T agents came forward towards the reporter and made a gesture with his hand, waving away his open palm at the reporter and cameraman, clearly telling them that they had to leave now. More agents started getting closer and the reporter and cameraman decided to get into the van and drive away, disappointed that they couldn't fork out a scoop for themselves.

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A black car could be seen going through a rundown neighborhood, inconspicuously turning on several paths before arriving at a seemingly abandoned warehouse with 2 armed guards near the entrance, patrolling the area. The car stopped in front of the entrance as one of the guards, dressed completely in the Hoshi Strike Force black armor, came forward to the left-side front window of the car. The window was lowered and in the driver's seat none other than the red-haired, black-eyed commander Ryuuji without his signature mask and with visible cuts and bruises on his angular face.

"Is Nawatami in there?" - asked Ryuuji to the guard in an authoritative tone.

"Yes sir, he's here" - responded the guard who immediately stood at attention

"Good. Open it" - retorted Ryuuji as he raised the window of his car. The guard took a black remote from his pocket and pressed the green button, raising the door of the warehouse. Inside, various vehicles could be seen inside the warehouse, including trucks of the same kind that were at the city centre of Yokohama during the siege attempt.

Ryuuji drove his car inside and parked it. Once he got out of the car, he walked towards the far end of the warehouse, turned a corner on the left that lead to a path that seemed to have a dead end. He pressed his hand on the concrete wall that lightened up with red markings before revealing a door to a secret pathway that led to an elevator. Inside the elevator were only two buttons LVL0 and LVL1. He pressed the LVL0 button and the door closed as the elevator starts going down.

'That worm sure packed a punch. I haven't had a real chance to use these powers til today'- he thought as he felt his face, arms and abdomen looking for cuts and bruises.

The elevator came to a halt after some meters and the doors opened revealing a pristine and sophisticated laboratory. He stepped out of the elevator, taking a few turns and passing by various tubes and rooms before stopping by a room with a glass window where you could see from the outside in but not from the inside. In the room, were a few people, who looked to be between the ages of 10-18, all of them dressed in grey with electric collars on their necks, probably to make sure they comply with orders.

Ryuujin looked at the people and smiled before continuing his trek towards a large door with a facial recognition scanner to the left of the door. He approached the door, putting his face up for recognition. The scanner recognized him and displayed his face along with his codename *RYUUJI*. The door opened and inside the large room were various tables full of laboratory equipment and at the far end was a big table and chair, in front of which was an isolated tube, a sort of confinement for experiments.