Darkest Days

15, A Rather Awkward Introduction.

(NextGens pov again)

Ari walked into the place and I started to shiver from the cold air coming from it so I tightly gripped onto the shoulder blades of her armour. I began shaking from complete fear of what was in front of us, I couldn't see anything since it was so dark. "A-Ari, a-are you sure we're n-not in the wrong p-place?" I asked quietly, my voice trembling.

"Nope, been here a thousand times" She replied calmly. She didn't seem to be in a fight stance or anything so I stopped shaking and put my face behind her shoulder, as if I needed to be protected.

I hate how scared I am, just be a little brave. I thought to myself, but still I couldn't even budge the thought emotion of fear from my head a bit.

"T-this is a little s-scary" I mumbled quietly, beggining to shake again with my same trembling voice. She then let me off her back and then all of a sudden hugged me.

What is going on?! I didn't even-- b-but... I...don't...mind...

I felt way more safe now than I was before. Though I could begin to feel my face heat up a bit...

Wait, no! Stop!

The one part of myself I hated a lot began to kick in. Yeah, I would get shy whenever I get in these kinds of situations. I didn't mind her hug though.

"You feeling any better now?" She asked calmly, with a warm smile. Her presence alone calmed me, but a hug? That's too much. "Yeah... thank you" I replied quietly, looking at the floor from slight embarrassment. We then walked side by side into this dark hallway until we reached a dead end and a light erupted from behind us illuminating the hallway.

The walls were completely white and in front of us was a door. Ari took a key out from her pocket and opened the door with it and I was the first to step in. I saw what seemed to be a round table in a dimly lit up room. There seemed to be a storage unit in the corner, packed with weapons.

On the table five people were sat, all of them looking rather old in age. There was a man who sat on the right with cybernetic arms, he had blonde hair and a patchy beard. Then there was a woman who wore a face mask, one of her arms were cybernetic and her hair colour was purple this time, her hair was also rather short. Then there was a person who at first glance would seem like an android (a person who's consciousness is in a robot) but he was just wearing some really advanced armour. (We referring to em as 'he' cuz u don't know who dat is ehehehe) Then there was another woman who was sitting on her chair the other way round. She was wearing an eye patch and had long, black hair. She seemed to be wearing armour that also looked rather advanced. Then there was this man who was wearing rather formal, traditional military attire (u know the general clothing that those people wear in those anime, like the fire guy from Full metal alchemist). They all gave me a cold stare and then burst into laughter.

My only thought was to stay behind Ari because I was so intimidated by the sudden introduction of these people.

"Who's that kid, Ari?" The woman with the eyepatch asked sternly.

"Well, I don't know but I was asked to look after him; and I might make him my student because he really needs training" Ari replied rather in a serious tone of voice. I couldn't see her face from this angle but it seemed like she was serious. "Kid, what's your name?" The one in the advanced armour called out.

"I-I'm...u-u-uhh.. NextGen" I replied quietly, literally shaking in place. I could feel sweat rise within my body and appear on the palms of my hand. I stood behind Ari and covered my mouth with one of the sleeves of my hoodie.

"Is he shy...? I doubt he'll survive anything if he's shy..." That blonde one said; his voice sounding really serious unlike the others.

"Hey! Shut up!" I shouted at him, I furrowed my eyebrows. "Don't tell a higher up to shush kid, you're lucky cuz I hate tryna fight anyone weaker than me" he says, now a slight smile appearing on his face. After a few moments I gained some courage to take a few steps forward and then I asked them. "What are your guys' names?" I asked them quietly. Ari then made a little giggle and said "Well, the girl with the purple hair is Xela, she's the boss. The guy with those cybernetic arms is called Mumba, then you got the girl with the eyepatch, she's called Daki amd then the guy with the posh drip? Well we call him 'General Rich' cuz he's rich as hell but he's actually called Takeio and the guy in the mad lookin' armour is called Gaia" She explained this as if she'd known these people before. I just looked at them in complete awe.

These guys must be mad strong!

"Well, what's goin' on?" Xela says, in a rather relaxed manner. Her eyes though say otherwise... they had an angry look on them.

"I was asked by sensei to tell you guys to go to him, he said he wanted to talk to you guys about something..." She replied calmly, her facial expression was relaxed. Xela started at Ari for a good two seconds before nodding.

"Ok then, dudes, disband..." She says quietly now. They all walked out the door that the rest of us went out and then. Only me and Ari were left... she took her katana out of her back and put it in it's seathe and hung it on the wall with all the other weapons before looking at me with a warm smile.

"You're really small, you know?" She said calmly, almost like she's trying to start up a conversation. I looked back at her, slightly annoyed...

"Shut up... I'm not that short compared to others." I mumbled angrily, almost sleepily as well.

"You look so tired from all that fighting, you wanna go back?" She asked calmly again, this time walking towards me.

"Sure then..." I replied quietly now, admitting that I'm actually tired.

She crouched down again and looked at me. "I'll carry you on my back again." She said calmly again, with the same quiet tone of voice. I then just walked over to her and climbed on her back again and then she got up and began walking away from the place...

Once again I felt safe. That same feeling as before had invaded my mind and I couldn't even think of anything else but about how safe I felt. After all that though I fell asleep on her back and just relaxed...