Confusion

Chapter 5

Also, time plays differently in different worlds. ;3 Just thought you should know in case you're all confused as to the events that happened. In this case, a few days in this world may equal a few weeks or months in the human world.

A portal opened up, and a stoic, cold Agent stepped through. He convinced the Light Forces to take him back when he learned where his target went (they returned his memories in the process), and now that he was here, he could start searching. Of course, he couldn't outright say that the 96 he was chasing came back, so he naturally searched on his own.

Astral floated through the alleys and hidden walkways, anywhere dark enough so that Black Mist could survive. He knew all too well that his brother was light sensitive, which was the fault of the previous Agents who arrested him (and also his fault for snitching). Unfortunately, he had no luck finding Black Mist.

He's a slippery one, alright...

Astral kept searching, and the more he kept going, the stranger looks people were giving him. That was odd; he was never looked at like that. When he caught someone's eye, he asked, "Why are you staring?"

The woman flinched at the familiar cold tone. "Well, we thought you'd already returned," she replied.

"I returned just now. Are you sure you didn't see something wrong?"

"No, we saw you! The same markings, same eyes. The one we saw just looked so confused, so we assumed that the Light Forces messed up the memory process."

"The Leaders fixed that many Cycles ago." Astral sighed through his nose. "Where did you see this being?"

"Over at headquarters, Agent 12."

~.~.~

Dark Mist waited anxiously for Astral to wake up, leaving him to wonder how exactly the other 96 knocked him out. Did he get physical, was there any poisons involved? Questions swirled in his head, and it was only when he heard soft groans that the thoughts stopped.

"Astral?" he softly called.

Astral looked up from his place on the floor, and when he realized Dark Mist was tied up to the wall, he shot straight up. "Dark Mist!!" he exclaimed. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine, if not a little sore. But how are you? You were knocked out!"

Astral felt his head for any bruises, and he found a few. "Good news is that it wasn't poison. Bad news is that someone got physical."

"I know exactly who it is," Dark Mist mumbled. "The 96 we saw our first day here is back, and he knocked you out. I think he was going to do something in here, but when he saw me here, he decided against it. It was like he was happy to see me here."

Astral blinked some. "He's back?"

"Mmhmm."

The sky blue spirit shuffled to his lover and tried to undo the bindings, which were unfortunately locked into place. It seemed like nothing could break them aside from a key, and neither one of them obviously had it! Astral cursed softly and leaned against the wall.

"We're done..." he sighed. "We can't go back home like this. Oh, I knew this was a bad idea!"

"Hey, hey," Dark Mist soothed. "Calm down. I'm sure it'll turn out fine."

"How!?"

Just then, a soft whirring noise resonated around the area, and the light was back again. They saw the same form, but instead of black, the light peeked through a sky blue. This figure was straight and had an air of practiced authority, as if he were someone of authority from a young age.

"Who's that?" Astral whispered, shuffling closer to Dark Mist, who only shrugged even though he knew who this was.

Agent 12 floated through and examined them with a cold, calculating stare. Then, he produced a key and unlocked Dark Mist. "You look like my brother, but he would never have such an...innocent look to him." He frowned. "How they could ever have missed that is beyond me."

When he was free, Dark Mist looked at the Agent. "Thanks," was all he said.

"Where is Black Mist?" He was very blunt.

"I don't know. He closed the door before running off."

Agent 12 cursed loudly and rushed off only to then clutch his chest and fall to his knees. Astral and Dark Mists hurried to his side and noticed for the first time a bandage heavily applied from the top of his chest to the beginning of his abdomen. Black peeked out from under the gauze.

"What happened?" Astral gasped.

"Nothing too important. Just go!" Just as they were about to leave, 12 called them right back. "One more thing. If you see Yuma, tell him not to get involved."

"Yuma's here?" Astral asked in slight shock.

"Black Mist killed him. Now go!" He got up, forced himself to collect himself, and flew off, leaving Astral and Dark Mist in his wake.

"...Where exactly does he expect us to go?" Dark Mist asked no one in particular.

Astral answered anyways. "I'm guessing somewhere we're less likely to get hurt."

"So he's saying we just have to stand by and do nothing?"

"Basically; although, I wouldn't say it's a bad idea. Think about it: we don't know truly how strong this Number is, so it would be best to watch."

Dark Mist furrowed his brow, but he nodded, knowing better than to argue with that logic. They linked hands so they wouldn't be separated and went somewhere to hide.

~.~.~

The black cut burning, Astral struggled to maintain his height in the air as he chased the dark energy of Black Mist. It was a slight struggle, but that was the price to pay for being so careless when handling his own brother.

Astral caught up to him soon enough, but as soon as he was about to grab him, a black, gloved hand grabbed his arm. The telltale scent of smoke reached his senses, and when he looked up, the face of Edward stared down at him. He had a cigarette clutched between his teeth, and he blew smoke out just as he flung the Agent into a building.

Black Mist looked behind him and smiled from ear to ear at the sight of his friend, who died from smoking. How great it was to see him again!! Heck, he didn't even care that he was smoking!

He wouldn't let this distraction go to waste. Black Mist pushed off of the ground to give himself an extra boost and hurried off to hide.