Fragments

Ch.5 - Saiken

Before departure, due to the confined spaces of the back seats of Aegis' vehicles, everyone split into small teams. Yuu, who paired up with Min, let out a loud yawn before pulling out a new creation of his from a bag he carried – a blue and black ball the size of a cantaloupe with 6 metallic discs on its surface.
Min leaned his chin on his hand and silently stared out of the car's window, seeing occasional passerby exchange nervous looks at the sight of impending conflict. It was still dark outside and the streets were mostly empty, which made the young Guardians feel a sense of solitude. Min overheard some rustling coming from Yuu, which raised his curiosity and made him look over to his teammate. "Hm? What does that do?" He asked with clear interest once he saw the spherical object. "Oh, this? It's my newest invention!" Yuu had no trouble explaining how the device functions, feeling excited that someone paid attention to it. "Once I give it power with my ability, I can turn that energy into fuel and shoot it out through these ports! It's like a rocket-powered bowling ball!"
"Oh, that's very… Unique."
"Do you like it?!"
"I do, I do… I'm just thinking how we'll approach this situation." Just a few minutes ago, Asuma contacted them through the earpieces and explained where the soldiers were taking them. "Saiken's leader is transferring something through this city… His identity and power aren't known. Surely he's come prepared for an ambush. Even though we have armed forces on our side, there could be conflict… Casualties… Who knows what we'll find there? I'm not–"
"Heeey. Hey!" Yuu snapped his fingers by Min's ear to snap him back to reality and stop his ramblings. "I never took you for a worrywart, aren't these soldiers supposed to assist us? Stop talking like you'll be the one taking on everything, we're a team!"
"..." Min silently stared at Yuu, surprised by his display of confidence, letting out a sigh after a moment of silence passed. "Y-yeah… You're right, Yuu." Though he agreed, cooperating with others still didn't feel right. Min was always alone, he barely knew how to rely on others, let alone entrust his life to them. "I told you about this thing," Yuu said, tapping on the ball, "because we need to know our strengths and weaknesses to cooperate properly."
"Right… Hey, you can't fight up-close, can you?" Min asked bluntly once he got a good look over Yuu's physique and what weapon he constructed. "Yeah, I'm… Not the strongest. All this stuff about martial arts and fighting styles never suited me, I sold fireworks for a living…" Yuu laughed off his apparent weakness, but Min felt an honest desire for strength in Yuu's words. "So that's why you didn't fight Reuel back then?"
"Yup… And also because he's scary. I was so surprised that I panicked."
"Hah, I agree. He is scary and I can never tell what he'll do. Let's not talk about him, though– it's not bad that you're a ranged fighter, Yuu. Every team needs someone to support from the back." The boy nodded, visibly relaxing from hearing some reassuring words.
After venting their hidden worries, the seats of the vehicles suddenly felt more comfortable and the mission felt more feasible. These two will go together well if a fight breaks out.

Meanwhile, in a car located in the back of the small convoy, two contrasting personalities butted heads. "Hey, Guild girl, what's your ability?" Lilly asked in an effort to distract herself from how nervous she felt. Yin calmly sat by her side, her eyes closed, and she was trying her best to ignore the small girl. "Why do you care?" She asked in her usual bossy and unfriendly tone. "I know what I'm doing, I'm trained for this unlike you peasants, so follow my orders and you'll live to see another day."
"But what's your ability? I need to know! I'm curious!" Whether not giving in to Yin's orders was a genius move or just showed how airheaded Lilly was, she persisted in attempting to find out the power she possessed. "Don't call me "Guild girl", do you hear me?" Yin scoffed at the nickname in agitation. "Okay! If I call you by your name, will you tell me your ability?"
"Oh my god… Are you deaf?"
"Hmph. Fine..." Lilly pouted. "I'll do what I'm best at, then."

The convoy's destination came into view slowly. As the tall buildings of the inner city were left behind, the walled-off outskirts became more defined and visible, and so did a district of abandoned warehouses. An almost cliché location for crime to take place. The armored vehicles sped up and surrounded one of them in a moment's notice, the heavy mounted weapons springing to life and zoning in on the structure with green lasers. The eerie, quiet surroundings were disrupted by the sudden deployment of armed forces, which surely caught the attention of those hiding inside the warehouse. The rectangular building had two large gates on either side and then several smaller doors, so there were plenty of directions to attack the enemy from. "Such an obvious hiding spot for a drug dealer," Reuel said to himself as he got out of the vehicle and scanned the surroundings. "It is obvious, you're right," Min responded as he crossed his arms under his chest. "Did you think of any plan?"
"Ya think I need one? I'll kill whatever comes at me."
"...Why did I even ask?"
"Wait!" One soldier disrupted the two from taking action, it was a female who had a specially designed helmet to accommodate for a pair of ram horns sticking out of her head. She looked more equipped than the others and was probably the leader of the squad. "Before you act, I want you all to remember something– we're only soldiers, you're the Guardians here. You're new and thus we'll give you backup if needed, but this should mainly be a mission for you to deal with. If things take an unexpected turn, don't be indecisive and rely on us to help."
"Right…" Min said quietly, focusing on a megaphone he held, which was found in the armored vehicle. "I'll try something first."
After successfully activating the device, Min raised it up to his mouth and spoke through it, attempting to peacefully get the target to leave the warehouse.
But it was to no avail.
No answer came, only the silent howl of a gust of wind that blew through the area. "Nothing… Damnit. Guess they won't cooperate."
They're being forced inside.
If a patient, peaceful approach won't work, they only have one other option. Two barriers appeared over Min's forearms, acting as large and clunky shields he'd force one of the doors open with. "Guys, hold on, isn't walking through the front door too obvious? We could get ambushed quickly!" Yuu butted in with a sensible proposal. "Let's burst through a wall to catch them off-guard."
"Gotta agree with Yuu here," Ku said, and Lilly quickly nodded as well. "And you, Rosea?" Ku looked back and asked the shy spider girl he drove with, who still looked like a normal human. "You seem to be a better strategist than a fighter if ya ask me."
"T-that's not true! I've never been in a fight myself, but I know some techniques! And plus, everyone else is surely nervous as well!"
"Didn't mean it like that, jeez. You've been studying a lot in the library. Tell us what ya think."
"Oh… Well… We're a team. So, we definitely should focus on cooperating. Min, Reuel, you guys seem strong up-close, so break through the wall. Ku, you go right behind them and try to use your ability on something sizable, then I, Yin, Yuu and Lilly will support you from the back."
"Screw that. I'm going solo," Reuel murmured. "Y'all can follow whatever plans you want," he said, turning his back to the group. "...Stop thinking you can do everything by yourself, you idiot!" Min lost his cool and snapped at Reuel's cockiness. Simply clenching his fist didn't suffice anymore, Reuel acted this way everywhere – at the Ceremony, at the station, now as well… Like he's the center of the world.  "Ah? Hell are you talking about?" Reuel asked and turned back, creating a strangely empty atmosphere between Min and himself. "I'm the strongest." He said vigorously. "Don't get in my way."
He's incorrigible...
Leaving everyone in silence from how uncooperative he was, Reuel turned back and got close to the wall as the soldiers silently looked on. Rosea tried to muster up some words but couldn't, Ku stopped her from doing so. "If he wants to divert all the attention to himself, we can surprise 'em better." Ku then began to whisper something to Rosea, which the girl abruptly nodded to.
"True, he'll make a really good opening," Yuu said, testing out his contraption one last time by making it gently float above his hands. "Works perfectly."

A moment of tension ensued as Reuel mutely stood against the wall, his fist wound back as far as it could go. "Stop getting in my damn way…" He muttered before unleashing an obscenely powerful right hook that dug into the brick wall, spreading cracks across it. The material quickly gave in to the force and collapsed, the rubble being blown into the dark interior. A several metres wide hole was made with a single punch. "That strength is always a sight to behold," Ku said with a smirk. "That doesn't matter. Move in." Min commanded and rushed inside after Reuel, covering both himself and his teammates with the barriers on his forearms. Immediately after, the soldiers and remaining Guardians poured in and assumed stable stances, all except for Ku and Yin, who stayed outside. However, no matter their plans, none of them were prepared for the enemy's response.
...Or lack thereof.
The enemy was a group of cloaked men in white, featureless masks that only had eyeholes, all of which calmly sat in a circle cross-legged, their boss sitting on a crate in the middle. It was obvious that he led the group, just from the atmosphere around him and the small purple horn that pierced through the side of the cloak covering his head. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," the boss said as he looked over the soldiers and Guardians. The otherwise pitch-black inside of the warehouse was somewhat illuminated after Reuel burst inside, which revealed large devices that were strapped to the chests of everyone but the boss. "There ya are, you bastard," Reuel whispered excitedly. The atmosphere was incredibly tense, everyone on the side of the Guardians teetered on initiating the battle. "Hold your horses, I'm not here to fight," the boss said calmly. "I'm here to negotiate."
"Huh? Negotiate?" Min repeated the boss's words. "We have nothing to negotiate with you."
"Min's right," Yuu spoke up from the back. "You're surrounded, give it up and stop stalling for time!"
"Hah, you think I'm scared of a bunch of amateur Guardians? That's a good joke," he said, laughing quietly. Reuel clenched his teeth at the boss's mockery, it took everything he had to hold himself back. Something felt wrong about fighting him though, and Reuel wanted to know what was up with such a strange greeting. "I'll cut to the chase since you all seem pretty impatient…" With a sigh, the boss took a small device out of his cloak and held it up. The men surrounding him tensed up, proceeding to shakily and slowly take their masks off. Each of them had a face full of fear, dread and tears. "Allow Saiken to trade in this city without Aegis' interference…" He paused to see the Guardians' reactions and revel in their shock. He was enjoying this.
"Or you'll have an outbreak of Reapers, right here, right now, at the press of a button."
Deafening silence fell on the Guardians. Was he bluffing? Did the men surrounding him possess abilities, or were they ticking time bombs? What are the devices strapped to their chests for? Can Saiken really turn people into Reapers? Aegis' information said such an effect was only temporary…
Ku and Yin, who stayed outside but still heard what was happening inside, were preparing something. "Let's add more fuel to the fire," the boss thought. "You might be confident in your abilities, but can you be certain Reapers will appear only here, in a desolate area in the outskirts?"
Nobody could utter a single word.
"If you don't agree to my conditions… Or if you try to backstab me… I'll create outbreaks until this city falls. Aegis isn't omnipotent, Station 1 barely has anyone and you're a bunch of amateurs…"
The boss splayed his hands out and smiled wildly under his white mask. "Which option do you choose?"