The Custodes

Chapter 22 - The Price To Pay

Nexus
"Bostro has been trying to get your attention all night. He's...adamant. I'm inclined to take him seriously." Daigo's voice came through the phone as Nexus merely sighed in boredom, scribbling numbers and calculations onto a piece of paper as he read through a document on his table. "I'm off duty. Anything he has to say he can tell you." He mumbled almost robotically, still using the 'off duty' card despite the fact he was sat in, what he consider, his office at home, reading through all the reports Daigo had delivered to him. He had a lot of catching up to do - he didn't have time to play Bostro's game. "It's not like that. He wants a meeting with you. It came out of nowhere an hour or two ago - he sat blowing up my phone, yet refused to tell me why." Daigo sounded slightly perturbed by the man's behaviour, and the mention of a meeting actually piqued Nexus' surprise, however he still refused to consider the matter to be of critical importance. "Tell him I want to know the reason behind it before I go off to meet him. If he refuses that then he can fuck himself." He said coldly, as Daigo gave an 'alright' from the other side of the phone. "Hey, how are you and Quinn?" He asked curiously after a short pause, eliciting an eye roll from Nexus, who had been waiting for Daigo to mention it. "I called you to discuss the state of the organisation, not to fucking gossip about girls like elementary kids." He replied, being met with only a hearty laugh from the other side. "Come on, we're friends, this is the sort of stuff you're meant to tell me. Plus, I've been waiting a long time for this to happen." Daigo said cheerily, and Nexus could tell he was grinning even without seeing him. "Me and Quinn are fine. We've been kinda living together recently; I left her place and came here to read up on some stuff not that long ago." Nexus told Daigo, refusing to let any particularly affectionate emotions towards her be apparent in his voice. "You know this should be a pretty big deal, but you've just said that like you read it from a fucking script. Thanks for killing my excitement." Daigo said flatly, as Nexus actually managed a small snort of laughter "Fucking moron." Daigo laughed again, always managing to find humour in Nexus' dry persona. Sometimes it irritated Nexus and sometimes it didn't. "Anyway, I'm currently doing that info-gathering you wanted me to do. I'll try not have too much fun with it." Daigo said, though whether his comment was sarcastic or not was difficult to tell through the phone. "Oh yeah?" Nexus said, a hint of amusement lining his words "Just make sure you don't fuck the informant this time." "That happened once!" Daigo shouted defensively through the phone, causing Nexus' smile to widen to a shit-eating grin "And wipe that grin off your face. I'm much more professional now...though I have to admit she is kind of hot..." "Jesus. I don't actually care what you do, just don't mess it up. Last thing I need is everything going pear-shaped cause you stuck your dick in something." Nexus said as he rubbed his temple, hearing Daigo scoff. "It upsets me to hear your lack of faith in me." "Cry about it." "Maybe I will. Actually, I should probably leave right about now. Time to do some 'informing'." He said jovially, which only served to patronise Nexus as he sighed and went back to writing at his desk "Bye." "Peace." He hung up, and Nexus placed his phone back in his pocket before picking up a certain piece of paper and skimming through it. A red light from the computer screen in front of him caught his eye, but he hardly acknowledged it as he stood up and walked over to a shelf, pulling out a drawer and slipping the paper into one of the sections in it. He paused as he shut the drawer, letting out yet another sigh as he turned and looked at the entrance to his office, which didn't have a door and led directly into the rest of his house "You know, for a kid with shadow powers you're pretty fucking terrible at sticking to them." For a second nothing happened, but Nexus remained waiting until Neo emerged from the dimly lit hall and stood in the doorway to the office. He looked fairly uncomfortable, and slightly indecisive about what to do or say with Nexus right in front of him - and not trying to kill him for that matter. "How'd you know?" He asked coolly, although that was shattered instantly as Nexus almost instinctively laughed in his face "You triggered every alarm in the house, fuck do you mean 'how'd you know'" "Dick." Neo scowled, crossing his arms as Nexus sat back down in his office seat, wearing his grin plain and clear on his face. "So. Why are you here?" He asked, as though it was an everyday occurrence for his younger brother to show up at his private home. "To talk." Neo stated, stepping into the room to stand opposite Nexus' desk. "Oh really, what about?" Nexus asked with a fake tone of curiosity, merely playing dumb to tease Neo. Neo refused to take the bait however, looking straight at his brother as he set his jaw "I want you to join me and the others and help us take down Zuro." Nexus watched Neo for a second, his smile slowly fading from his face despite him still wearing an amused expression "Zuro's dead. You beat him to a bloody pulp." "No, he isn't." "And how exactly do you know?" "It's complicated, but he has another form. His human form was nowhere near as powerful as-" "Oh, so you're telling me he'll come back stronger than ever in some super-powered form." Neo had walked right into Nexus' trap, and he suddenly realised how unprepared he was to take on his brother in this sort of debate "Yes, but-" "Then I was right to step in when I did. Thank you for solidifying my ideals Neo, now I suggest you consider leaving before I do Zuro a favour." His grey-hued eyes flashed dangerously as Neo flushed with anger, mostly at himself for allowing his argument to be shut down so easily. "His other form is badly injured. It won't take a lot for us to put him down for good." Neo said, slowly getting more of a grip of the conversation as Nexus smirked slightly "Yet you've still come to ask for my help." "This isn't me asking for your help, Nexus. Because quite frankly, we don't need it." Neo stated firmly, his eyes boring into his brother's to solidify the weight of his words despite the knowledge that he was bluffing slightly "This is me offering you a chance. If you get in our way, we'll kill you too. I promise. Join us, and afterwards we'll leave you to do your whole criminal organisation thing without getting in your way." Nexus watched his brother, unable to avoid thinking about how much he'd matured since the last time they'd talked together, and how much more of a fighter and less of a child he seemed now. Up until that point Nexus had gone against him believing him to still be the idiotic, naive boy that was throwing his life away in an attempt at being viewed as some righteous hero. Now there was fire in his eyes. He almost felt proud. Almost. "You seriously think threats are the way to get to me Neo? And as for your...arrangement. It means nothing to me. You have nothing to offer. I'll just sit back and watch Zuro take out you and your friends; leaving me to continue my little career." "That's not how it's going to happen." Neo knew he was fighting a losing battle - Nexus' stubbornness was something he'd encountered many a times times in the past - but he'd be damned if he gave up and left "He'll lose. And then afterwards, so will you." "No. I don't think so." Nexus seemed to almost lean back in his chair, a victorious smile plastered across his face "What's next kid? You gonna try to appeal to my humanity." "No." Neo growled, his mood noticeably souring as he felt his anger flare up "I already know there's none of that left." "Ah, so you are still peeved about that little alleyway fiasco." Nexus said with a dismissive wave of his hand, taking notice of Neo's fists becoming clenched tightly by his side "I genuinely can't imagine why." "Because you MURDERED an INNOCENT woman and her DAUGHTER!" Neo roared at Nexus, darkness swirling up his arms rapidly as his anger rose to a crescendo. "So what? The bitch got in my w-" Nexus was cut off mid sentence as Neo kicked his desk with such force that it flew backwards across the floor, taking Nexus with it and pinning him against the wall as he stared in shock. Before he'd even considered freeing himself, Neo was on top of the desk and grabbing him by his torso, raising him up as his dark fist shot straight for his face. Nexus had only a mere second to dodge, his head ducking sideways as Neo's fist flew over him and struck the wall, smashing clean through it with surprising ease. Before he could follow it up however Nexus' palm shot up towards Neo's chin, hitting him with a blast of air that took him clean off his feet and sent him tumbling to the floor as he pushed himself onto the desk and pointed both hands at his younger brother. Darkness swirled rapidly around Neo's arms again as he hurriedly pointed them at Nexus, remaining laying on the ground as blood trickled from his lip. Both boys stared at one another, waiting for the other to strike first, but neither fired any sort of attack. Nexus was the first to lower his guard, managing a tiny chuckle as he sat down on the edge of the desk and looked at Neo, who wiped his bleeding lip with his arm but refused to drop his guard. He slowly moved to stand up, keeping his hands pointed at Nexus, who examined him thoughtfully "If you weren't so sensitive you might make a good fighter. Your anger is what makes you lose, Neo." "I don't need fucking constructive criticism from you." Neo spat back, but he could feel his anger very, very slowly quelling as Nexus laughed at his comment. Nexus couldn't lie at this point; he was, at least to a certain extent, impressed with Neo. That by no means meant he was going to join him, but he was slightly less inclined to hate him as much as he had. Just then however Neo asked a question, and all thoughts of admiration diminished from Nexus' mind as he gripped tightly onto the desk. "Does Quinn know?" The mention of her name pierced straight through him, and for a split second his expression faltered and showed, for the first time, the real emotions he felt at that moment. It was a mixture of shock, anger, and confusion, but in the next instant his mental barriers re-solidified and his mouth curved back into a thin, emotionless line. Neo noticed the flash of emotion, however. "Know what?" Nexus asked, humouring his brother as he tried to reestablish his cold and uncaring persona as soon as possible. "About that night, in the alleyway?" Neo watched Nexus carefully, expecting another shift in his features, but he'd be damned if he let it happen again. He knew the truth deep down, however. The night in the alleyway - the first life he ever took. It scared him. And the worst part was, he didn't know why.