The Night Corps

Chapter 3 - kill the nobles

By the time Keanu was force fed and locked in Hikari's room, night time had fallen. Night time was usually the time when the Night Corps went to work, and tonight was no exception.

In the cover of darkness, Hikari snuck into his room and swiped his Imperial Arms from under the bed that Keanu was sleeping in without waking him. The door creaked on the way out and Keanu stirred a little bit, but other than that he remained motionless.

Kaiyo was right though, he snored. Badly.

Hikari slung his blade over his shoulder, which rested across his back nicely, and met Kotori in the lounge room. She was dressed in her usual black jeans and a denim jacket, with her Imperial Arms gleaming on her left index finger.

"Are the others ready?" Hikari asked.

Kotori nodded. "They're waiting outside for us."

The two of them did a double check that Keanu was still asleep, then dashed out the front door without another word.

Keanu opened one eye and listened out for any more signs of movement. After confirming that no one else was in the room, he sprung out of bed and over to the door.

Get to the city. Then find a hotel or something.

He swiftly opened the door and darted down the hallway. When he reached the lounge room, he stopped dead in his tracks. A small brown cat was staring at him from on top of the kitchen bench.

It made a purring noise and Keanu inched closer to it. He wasn't sure if it was going to sound an alarm, or explode at any minute, or if it was just an ordinary cat. It jumped down from the bench and scampered to the middle of the room, blocking his way to the door.

"Going somewhere?" It said.

Keanu moved into a fighting stance. "What are you!?"

The cat smiled ominously and began producing a grey smoke. Keanu was on edge the entire time, holding his breath. The smoke faded eventually and the same suit of armour that stopped him earlier stood in its place.

"I don't believe I properly introduced myself." The armour said. "The name's Glen."

"Not to sound rude, but I really don't care." Keanu snapped. "Now get out of my way! I have more important things to do."

Glen shrugged. "Like what? Chasing down chameleon dealers?"

Keanu glared and struck out at Glen with his palm. It connected with his armoured face, but other than that nothing happened. Not even a flinch.

"Not a chance." Glen said, obviously pleased with himself. "You've got a tough hit though."

Keanu recovered from his state of initial shock. "I've been training since I was a child. If I wanted to escape, I would."

"But, you don't." Glen assumed. "Why not?"

After pausing for a second, Keanu sighed. "There's something... strange about you guys. You knew I was hunting chameleon dealers and the way you move... It's like you're not human. I guess I'm a little jealous."

"Huh." Glen nodded slowly. Then, with a little bit of white smoke, his armour faded away until it was just a chest plate. "You're more level headed than I thought. In fact, you're a lot like us."

Keanu rolled his eyes. "Cool, can I go now?"

"Nope." Glen answered without hesitation. "However, I have an idea. Do you wanna come with me on a mission?"