Relic

Chapter 9: War

 R tends to the counter, wiping down the desk while the girls laze about in one of the booths, drinking some coffee R prepared for them. R could overhear them talking about the future and what should they do when they stop having to worry over getting caught. But R can't hear many of the details. A chime can be heard, signaling the arrival of a customer. R looks over to greet them, then stops. In the doorway, Monsieur and Calavera walk through the door, carrying a large suitcase each. Following close behind is Moxy, what could this be about?

Monsieur places the case down on the table. "We've uncovered something that we think you should know as well." Monsieur starts. He unlatches the case and reveals its contents. Weapons. Each of them having a familiar look and feel to them. But R had never seen them before. They look so alien to him.

It dawns on him as he realizes what they yellow glow is. Relic. These weapons contain Relic. "How did-"

"Peacekeepers have been busy, or at least their research department was." Calavera says. "A whistleblower working for them revealed the shady stuff they've been doing. Human experimentation, illegal Relic research."

"And this all started recently. Only a few years back, the research team seemed to take a different turn. The whistleblower said that Archimedes suddenly changed one day and started conducting some radical research."

The girls, their curiosity peaking, lean closer towards them from the booth. "Anybody know the reason why they changed?" R asks. "Nothing yet." Moxy answers. "But my guts telling me something big is coming. My intuition has never let me down."

"I know..." R sighs. "Flare, Jeanne, Ram."

"Yeah?" Jeanne answers for the group.

"Upstairs, now."

"What, why!?" Ram shouts. "Do as I say."

"No! This concerns us too!"

"This does not concern children. Let the adults speak in private."

"Stop treating us like your daughters!"

"Upstairs! Now!" R raises his voice. Finally, they retreat to their room. "Where were we?" R says.

"You know, you should give them some slack. You're not their parent after all." Moxy says.

"Your input is unneeded." R sighs.

"Anyways," Monsieur clears his throat before going back to the original topic. "I heard about the fight with Adam." R throws a glare at him. "Calm down super hero. I'm just trying to say that we may have to expect another fight. And our operations aren't doing us many favours on that front either." He points to the weapons.

"Why would they be experimenting with Relic, they know it causes mutations. Who does this benefit?"

"Don't know." Moxy shrugs. "Anything on your side R?"

"Actually yeah. Gilmore's acting strange. He called me recently for help, says that Diablo attacked his gang. Problem is, the location he gave me was Diablo's turf, and Gilmore was nowhere to be seen. Diablo is too dumb to lie to me either, you know how the Ring's leaders are."

"So, Gilmore lured you in to fight with Diablo?"

"Yeah, it seems that way. Not to mention, I haven't heard much of anything before that, and since. Another strange thing now that I think about it. His gang was quite small when I met with him for the first time. I heard his gang was on the rise. It didn't compare to Roy's or Diablo's, but it could hold its own. I came there, it was almost like a ghost town. Not to mention that a few of them had guns."