Arch-Nemesis (SakuAtsu Dystopian/Meta-Human AU)

5

Sweat dripped from Kiyoomi's brows as he unloaded everything he had into the punching bag in the corner of his apartment. It had been a month since the attack on the Adlers building. The city had since been in a constant state of high alert and all of its citizens had become majorly skittish.

This meant that Kiyoomi's duties had increased drastically. Luckily, the Jackals seemed to be laying low for now. Dealing with regular people was something Kiyoomi would take over fighting meta-humans any day, but he still absolutely hated social interaction.

It didn't help that he was mostly paired with the newbie Hoshiumi Korai – who was like a seagull on steroids with how talkative and energetic he was. Tobio, Kiyoomi could tolerate. Wakatoshi, he could tolerate as long as it was in small doses. Three weeks with Korai, however, had Kiyoomi at his wit's ends.

Kiyoomi knew that Korai had no idea about all of the dark dealings that the Adlers had going on behind closed doors. He'd been scouted less than two months back, meaning that the Adlers still didn't trust him enough to tell him much of what went on – they barely told Kiyoomi shit and he'd been there for three years. It also meant that he wasn't caged by them, and Kiyoomi couldn't help but feel both glad for the kid and envy him.

Kiyoomi breathed heavily as he took a short break before continuing his assault on the punching bag. He absolutely despised Bloodhound. Ever since their little fight in the hallway – plus, his pocket dimension, and the little bit in the sky – Kiyoomi was struggling to get his powers under control.

Raptor's feather had destroyed one of his guns, also known as one of his power dampeners, and Kiyoomi was feeling the void bubbling beneath his skin every time he got mildly irritated. Fukuro had forced him to wear tight cuffs around his wrists that dampened his powers to the point where he couldn't even open a wormhole.

When the strain on the chains became too much and the bag hit the ground with a loud thud, Kiyoomi took a deep breath and decided to take a walk.

He strolled down the road, not paying any mind to anyone around him. He needed to clear his head. He wasn't worried though, with the Jackals inactive for the time being.

Maybe he should have been worried though, because the next thing he knew, he was blinded and restrained and then knocked out cold.

When Kiyoomi came to, he was chained to a chair in a dark room. There was a bright light shining on him and only him. A figure, broad-shouldered and looming, stood just beyond the light.

"Hello, Vortex," a deep, distinctly authoritative voice greeted.

"Where am I?" Kiyoomi spat.

A warm chuckle came from the voice, "No need to worry 'bout that, son," it said.

Kiyoomi was surprised at how comforting the voice sounded, even with its source being the hulking male figure standing in the shadows just in front of him.

"I jus' need ya to answer some questions fer me, yeah?" The shadowed man informed, "'Bout the Adlers."

Kiyoomi somewhat recognized the accent but not the voice, "Why would I tell you anything about the Adlers?"

The man stepped forwards into the light, though his heavy hood still blocked his face from sight. At least Kiyoomi could now see his sculpted and scarred tan arms.

"We want to bring 'em down," the man said, "An' I think ya wanna see 'em fall as well."

"By the way you speak, I'm assuming you're from the Black Jackals," Kiyoomi thought out loud, "That means you should already know that I'm under contract."

The man hummed, "Yeah, but ya don't seem ta like 'em very much."

"Wow," Kiyoomi drawled, "What sound observation skills you've got there. You're very perceptive."

The man laughed, heartily, and something about how comforting it was made Kiyoomi uneasy.

"I like ya, kid," he said suddenly after he stopped laughing, "If yer ever wantin' to leave the Adlers an' the shit they get up ta, ya'll have a place with the Jackals. I can guarantee that."

"As if," Kiyoomi countered, "I bet you're only moments away from torturing information out of me. Well, I'm sorry but they don't exactly fill me in on most things considering that I 'don't seem ta like 'em very much'," he snapped, mocking the man's accent.

"Nah, that's not how we do things in the Jackals," the man chuckled.

Kiyoomi scoffed, "Maybe you just haven't seen the devastation your members cause. Perhaps that rule is only loosely enforced."

The man huffed a short laugh, "Nah. I made the rule myself: No bloodshed."

Kiyoomi's eyes widened, "You made it... But that would mean–"

"Yup!" The man laughed, "The Adlers call me Ragnar but I bet ya a'ready knew that."

Ragnar was the meta-human in charge of the Black Jackals – their leader. The first thing Kiyoomi noticed was that Ragnar was incredibly different compared to Fukuro. When he laughed, it was warming and comforting without the cold calculating edge that Kiyoomi had come to know through Fukuro.

The rule about no killing or torture also shed some light on as to why Bloodhound never took the killing blow. However, he'd gotten very close many, many times.

Kiyoomi frowned, "You have a no bloodshed rule, yet you can't keep Bloodhound from nearly murdering me whenever we're in the same vicinity?"

"Ah, well, Bloodhound holds a bit of a grudge," Ragnar shrugged, "But he won't actually kill, believe me."

"I can hear ya, y'know?"

Kiyoomi's attention snapped to the corner of the room, but he couldn't see into the darkness. He knew, though, that Bloodhound was standing there. It was his voice that radiated from that area.

Ragnar laughed, "'Course ya can. Yer standin' in the same room as us."

Kiyoomi tried his best but he couldn't see the blonde. Ragnar let out a sharp sigh.

"Well, I got work ta do, so Imma leave ya two kiddos down here while I get to that," he said as he turned and moved out from the light, "Bloodhound, do make sure not to murder our guest, an' see to it that he gets home unscathed."

He turned to look over his shoulder one last time, "Oh, an' Vortex? I do suppose ya have yer reasons, but my offer will stay standin' fer if ya ever change yer mind."

"Unlikely," Kiyoomi replied.

Ragnar chuckled and waved him off before he reached for a door and opened it. He slipped out, briefly enough to not allow much light into the room at all.

Now, Kiyoomi was alone in a dark room, tied to a chair, and his only company was a man he'd tried his damn best to kill every chance he got – Bloodhound.

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I know it's lowkey obvious but like– Thoughts on who Ragnar is, and what his power is?

Anygays, bye!
-CrackshotReaper

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