First Arrivals: Trouble in the Neighborhood
#2 of World of Cyberon
And here's the first episode of the Cyberon series. Let's hope I do keep working on this one instead of shelving it like many others. XP
[We are arriving in Central City's airspace in 45 minutes. All passengers are advised to return to their seats, put on your seat belts and prepare for landing.] The shuttle's intercom blared with the pilot's voice making the announcement.
Seijriou didn't have much when it came to luggage, just his backpack and a duffel bag filled with starting essentials, he'll have to buy anything else, though. The tall, grey wolf sat in his place and latched the seatbelt on, the rest of the way he just kept looking out the window as the shuttle made its ever-so-slow descent. The switch from airplanes to shuttles was a great choice in the past, as they are sturdier, making them even safer than most planes and even more resist air turbulence.
Seijirou was almost lulled to sleep by the serene sight of the passing clouds, his shaggy hair covered his eyes provided the perfect cover for them from the light, but another announcement from the pilot's intercom woke him right up, they were about to arrive in the airport soon, so he and the other passengers were instructed to get ready to disembark. Of course, he stayed in his place until he was among the last people to leave, not wanting to deal with the pushy douchebags who would love nothing more than to be the first out, which only results in denser traffic of people.
Finally out of the shuttle, he had to cover his eyes as the sun was hanging high above in the sky, glaring down on everyone with its hot, summery glare. He took his time walking into the port, looking around and people-watching, as he did so, noting how all the men were in various, casual states of (un)dress, guess Central City, is no different than everywhere else, just a bigger cluster of various cultures and personalities, he himself was dressed in a crop top compression t-shirt and thighless pants, with a crotch pouch.
With his bags in hand, he made his way out the arrivals gate, and soon after out of the port, he was instantly greeted by the vibrant and flashy colors and the multitude of holographic billboards that are floating around all over the city. "If it's this busy here, then I wonder how things will be in the city itself. Let's hope my accommodations are not as 'busy'." He mumbled to himself as he flagged a cap, with his bags in the trunk and him in the back, he gave the driver the address.
As they drove to their destination, Seijirou looked out the window, watching the large buildings and the many people passing by as they drove past. "So, what brings a handsome, young fella like you to the big city?" He suddenly heard the driver speaking to him from the front. "You clearly don't look like you're from around here."
"Starting anew, if that makes sense." Was the short reply from the wolf. Of course, that wasn't the real reason he was here, but this man didn't need to know.
"Ah, yes, of course. The city of opportunities and beginnings." The driver said with a small chuckle as they stopped at a red light. "For me, I mainly moved here to... sample the locale, if you catch my drift~" The man licked his lips as he watched the various types of men in various types of skimpy, revealing clothing walking by, minding their own business. "Quite the buffet of... culture, let's say."
"If you say so."
"Hmm... not much of a talker, huh? It's fine, I can do with the silence." The light turned green and they soon resumed the drive. "But, if you are looking for excitement, you sure came to the right city." After that, it didn't take long for them to reach the address that Seijirou gave. "Ah, here we are. Pretty nice place to stay at." The place in question was an apartment complex and it looked pretty nice, not too fancy or luxurious though.
"Thank you." Seijirou said as he got out, grabbing his luggage before paying the fare, doing a small bow to the man before he drove off and the wolf began walking up to the complex. The insides, again, looked pretty nice and homey, but not too fancy, just how he liked it.
"Hello there, young man." The doorkeeper, an old, white-furred goat with organe-yellow horns got his attention with a soft smile, the old man wearing some round, small-lensed glasses, a long, robe-like outfit and apparently nothing else underneath. "Can I help you?"
"Uh, yes." Seijirou walked up to the old goat before explaining. "I came here regarding an apartment, I spoke with the owner about it. My name is Seijirou Mayonaka, by the way."
"Ah! You're the young man I spoke to a few days ago!" The goat finally realized as he gently tapped a fist into his open palm. "Let me just... grab the book here..." The goat leaned under his desk, ignoring the wolf's question, he fumbled around for a bit before sitting back up and producing this large book that he put on the desk with a hefty thud. "Let's see here..." He flipped the book open and began sifting through the pages. "Seijirou... Mayonaka... Ah! Here we are. Room 510." He looked up at the wolf with his small smile. "You already paid for the first couple of months online, so..." He turned around on his chair reaching into a drawer on the side... then pulled out a a couple of keys attached to each other and to a tiny card of sorts. "Here you go, your keys. The normal one is for the room, the smaller one is for your mailbox, and the card key is for the main door, in case I wasn't here."
"Alright. Thank you." The wolf grabbed the keys, gave the goat a small bow before walking away.
But, the goat caught his attention in an urgent manner, especially since something caught his eye in the young man's bag. "Oh! Young man, you're bag is open!"
"Huh?" Seijirou looked back and true to the man's words, the bag was slightly open, but the opening was wide enough for certain objects to slip through. "Oh, dammit. Thank you." He thanked as he quickly zipped it back up.
"Say, are you a Wizard by any chance?" The goat asked as he slowly rubbed his beard.
"Yes, I am."
"Then you might want to register with the Cyber Wizard Association if you're going to do any battling, after you get settled in, of course." He then pointed to the door, or beside it more accurately, at a map of the city. "Be sure to look at the map to know where you should go."
"Thank you, sir. I'll be sure to do that." "Again, Seijirou gave the old man a small bow before walking away, making his way to the elevator just as it came down. Once inside, he pressed the button for his floor and waited...
But just as the door was about to close... "Hold!" Someone came practically racing in, on closer look, it was a lithe-bodied cat with dark-blue fur, with a lighter hue at the front, and some tiger-like stripes, his snow-white hair slightly shaggy and matted with sweat, so was the rest of him really, he was wearing nothing but a fanny pack, water bottle strapped to the other side of it, a speedo to keep his junk from bouncing around, and jogging shoes, showing off a pretty lean and fit body. "Oh, hello there! New arrival?" He finally asked the wolf once he caught his breath, noticing the luggage.
"I am, just arrived." Came the short and simple answer.
"Oh nice, can't wait for us to... get to know each other." The cat said in a somewhat sultry tone, pressing himself against the taller wolf, one hand shamelessly rubbing the bottom of the wolf's bulge. "You seem to be fun to hang out with."
"I don't do 'hanging out'." Another short and curt answer, just as the wolf arrived at his floor and stepped out of the elevator... "Why are you following me?"
"Not my fault we live on the same floor~" The cat replied in a playful tone, walking closely behind the wolf and admiring his buff, impressive body, especially that shapely, plump-looking rear.
Seijirou finally arrived at his apartment, putting the door key in and unlocking it, quickly turning to the feline and leaning down to look him straight in the eye. "Well, you keep out of my business and I'll stay out of yours." He quickly stepped into the apartment and practically slammed the door shut.
"Sheesh, antisocial much?" The cat muttered under his breath, but smiled as he looked down at his palm. "Pretty big fella, though. Can't wait to see the actual thing~"
In his apartment, Seijirou put his luggage in the living room, which was pretty spacious, in fact, the entire apartment looked a bit too big for just one person, least it came completely furnished and had a fully-stacked kitchen of its own, the bathroom was nicely sized and pretty clean, and the bedroom was pretty comfy to even look at, not to mention the queen-sized bed. "Quite the steal with such a price, too." He muttered to himself before he started putting his clothes and essentials away in their proper places. One of those items was a black magatama necklace with eight, colorful beads separated by smaller beads, once he saw it, a small smile curved his lips.
Once that was done, he took off his clothes and tossed them into the laundry basket for later, then laid down on the bed, necklace in hand, he held it up to marvel at it, that small smile returning before he brought it to his lips, giving it a small, loving kiss. "I hope you're safe, Meiji. Wherever you are." He then placed it against his chest, right over his heart. "I'll come for you, when everything's ready." After that promise was made, jetlag finally reared it's head as he had trouble keeping his eyes open, until sleep finally claimed him.
Seijirou suddenly woke up with a start, shooting up in bed with a loud gasp, body dripping with sweat, he sat there panting for breath, the room somewhat dark with only a sliver of the early morning sun coming through the window. "Dammit... that dream again." This is one of the very few dreams that he remembers so clearly, not helping that he sees it pretty frequently as of late.
He looked to the nightstand where the digital clock was sitting to see the time. "Huh... didn't sleep that lo-" Then his eyes fell on the date below... It was the next day. "Whoa, guess I was more tired than I thought. Then again, I didn't have a lot of time to sleep when planning this trip."
He got out of bed, wincing a bit as he noticed the imprints of sweat, but decided to leave that for later, as he got into the shower, his heart wished that his beloved was with him, showering together like they used to. He quickly shook his head as determination glowed brightly in his eyes. "No use fretting over it, this is why I'm here. To make it all right." Finally done with his shower and a quick freshening up, he put on some clothes, a t-shirt that rode above his pecs and some baggy sweatpants, no openings on them, his necklace around his neck, and finally a square container with a cyber-crystal embedded in the middle strapped around his right wrist.
With that and a final check of his looks, he finally headed out. When he walked out of the elevator on the ground floor, he noticed a glass door to his right that opened up to a large room. Out of curiosity, he walked in and was blasted with the sound of gunfire coming from the large TV on the far right, looking around he saw that this was a lounge of sorts, a place for the inhabitants of this building to gather and enjoy some downtime together, complete with a pool table, a small area for poker, a bar-like kitchen, a large area in the middle just for sitting and relaxing, then finally the area for the TV on the far side with a cabinet full of games, movies, shows, you name it, not to mention the multiple gaming consoles there as well.
He saw the cat from yesterday sitting at the bar and having a fun conversation with an athletic monkey with orange and white fur with medium-tan skin tone and his brown hair styled into a wild hairstyle, with his eyes having a green-ish marking under both of them. He wore nothing but what looked like a green rubber band around his right bicep and a very short sash around his waist that easily rode up his body, exposing his very naked bits underneath. Right beside them was a lean-fit-bodied greyhound with white fur and dark-grey spots, nursing a cup of what looked like a soft drink of sorts, he noticed others littered about the lounge but didn't pay much attention to them.
He walked up to the canine. "Excuse me."
The greyhound turned to look at him... and his expression quickly perked and his ears shot up as a fierce blush covered his face. "Uh, um, y-yes?"
"I was wondering if you know the way to the CWA. The owner said there was a map near the door but I'm bad with those." He asked as he scratched the back of his head.
"Um, w-well, it's uh..." The greyhound could barely form a coherent word, his eyes drifting over the wolf's buff, muscular body, briefly staying on that hefty-looking bulge of his.
"Um... is there something wrong?" Seijirou asked in genuine confusion as he saw the canine's face growing redder and redder.
"Don't mind him, buddy." Suddenly, the monkey was beside the wolf before he realized it, leaning on his shoulder. "Poor Jessie here doesn't get it often and usually crushes hard on the first hot stud that walks in. Hint-hint, wink-wink~" He said as he poked the wolf in the bicep. "Holy shit, feels like I'm poking a ball of steel. Can you... give us a little flex?" Seijirou gave him a raised brow look, which wasn't that clear behind the mop of hair over his eyes, but the monkey felt it. "Come on, pretty please~"
Seijirou didn't reply, just slowly lifted that arm... and flexed, hard. The bicep bulged out with raw power as veins popped out and mapped the hard mound of muscle. The monkey let out a happy squeal as his eyes glowed in admiration, while the greyhound suffered a pretty powerful nosebleed. "Oh dear me~ You could break someone with those arms, big guy~"
"If they deserve it, then yeah, I'll break them." Came Seijirou's reply as he relaxed and lowered his arm.
"Well, you're obviously new to the city, so... how about I show you around? Maybe you can return the favor, afterwards~?" The simian offered as he shamelessly licked his lips, one hand gently rolling the wolf's bulge in his hand. "My name's Tian Xu-Mei, by the way." He nodded to the canine and cat still sitting. "The cat is Alister Leeman and the horny doggo is Jeesie Faraday."
"Seijirou Mayonaka." He replied with a small, brief bow.
"Welp! Introductions over! Time to head out!" With that, Tian pulled and dragged the wolf out of the lounge and out of the building.
"Here you go bud." Alister the cat handed Jessie a napkin for his nosebleed.
"Thanks..." The greyhound accepted it, albeit with a hint of shame for such a display.
Surprisingly enough, it didn't take long for Seijirou and Tian to reach the CWA building, it was the biggest building in the city, located right in the center. The insides were pretty spacious with lots of people walking around, Seijirou did notice a few men handing out what looked like pamphlets. "Over here!" Tian called to get his attention as the monkey was leaning on one of the reception desks. Once the wolf came closer, he spoke to the employee behind the desk, a slim, fair-skinned human male. "My friend here is new to the city, so an explanation of how things work would be nice." Seijirou knew how Wizards did things and how the associations worked, but he held his tongue as he thought they perhaps did it differently here.
"Of course, sir." After a brief bow, the human gestured to his side, just as a holographic screen appeared out of things air, right beside his head. "In every region, Wizards get registered with their local CWA to be given exclusive permission to do many things, battling on official and sanctioned duels, included." He kept on explaining other things.
Wizards have to get registered with the association of each new region they visit, a tiring process, but pretty swift if they're already registered someplace else. Registered Wizards are the only ones who can go out on missions that are posted on the board located in the local CWA building or the net board that can be accessed anywhere, those missions can vary from simply finding lost objects/pets to eliminating Glitches, dangerous beasts that have a bad habit of popping up all over the place whenever they feel like it, creating nothing but chaos in their wake. Registered Wizards can also go out on dungeon and/or lair runs both to eliminate Glitches and for the chance to earn powerful Familiars in the process.
"There are also the occasional tournaments and events that promise great rewards for those who place high on the leaderboards. If there are any questions feel free to check on our internet support board or contact us through our various media to get a hold of a support employee." The human finished his explanation with a small bow.
"I see." Seijirou held his chin in thought as he realized things were a bit different on more official levels. Once he understood it all, he walked up to the clerk. "I would like to register please."
"Alright, let me see your grimoire, please." Seijirou handed the pouch he had latched onto his wrist to the man, who placed it on a scanner beside him and began tapping away at his keyboard. "Alright, you're already registered in the system back in Akatsuki, so this will be quick." Just as he said, it only took about a minute or so. "And there, now you're officially registered in Core's system. Welcome to the city of Central, we pray for many victories in your path." He ended that speech with a final bow.
Seijirou took back his grimoire and re-strapped it to his wrist, then he noticed the platinum-colored, wing-shaped badge right under the crystal of his grimoire. "What is this?"
"That is to show your Wizard rank to others. Yours is platinum because that's the rank we found in your profile in our systems."
"Oooohhh, platinum rank right off the bat~! You must be quite the powerful Wizard, eh~?" Tian suddenly piped up, his eyes glimmering with excitement. Seijirou didn't say anything and just began walking away, making for the door...
Only to be pounced by other Wizards in strange uniforms, all carrying bundles of pamphlets with them.
"Yarr, matey! You be looking for life of freedom and adventure, lad?" A mouse wearing a ridiculous pirate's outfit spoke in a butchered pirate talk. "Then the Sea Shanks arrre tha place ta be!"
"No way, bra! You're looking like the athletic type, bra!" A pair of beefy jocks, a tan-skinned elf and a red-white colored kangaroo practically squished him between their large, sweaty manboobs. The roo was the one talking. "Then join the Alpha Frat! Those muscles still have room to grow some more, bra! And we'll make that happen, for ya!" Followed by an enthusiastic and very loud "FUCK YEAH!!" from the elf.
Seijirou barely managed to escape and take a breath of proper air, until... "Psst, hey." He turned around to see a gecko bundled up in a long coat, looking around all suspicious-like. "Need some juicy intel or keep up with the latest sweet tech?" He looked around some more... then flapped his coat wide open, revealing his very naked form underneath, as well the various types of high-tech-looking grimoires strapped to the insides. "Then the Under River Society got ya covered, my friend.
He kept getting swarmed by others with similar offers, practically drowning under the sea of people. All the while, Tian was cackling like a madman in the background.
It took quite a bit of time before Seijirou was finally free from the swarm that pounced on him. Turns out those were guild members recruiting people into their guilds, and a certain simian had to be a loud mouth when talking about his Wizard rank.
He looked disheveled and ready to burst at any moment. "Uh, excuse me?" He practically whiplashed in anger, fangs already bared and clenched. The person who called to him was a white wolf in a full, black and blue spandex suit that hugged his body tightly, displaying his athletic, fit body without exposing him, and an eye mask that concealed his eyes completely, his entire outfit had a pretty sharp and edgy motif to the design and decal, the emblem on the chest was that of a speeding shuriken.
The white wolf was taken aback by the sudden aggression but nervously held out a copy of his guild's pamphlet to the grey wolf. "Pamphlet?"
Seijirou didn't say anything, just calmed down a bit, not breaking eye contact with the other wolf as he slowly took the pamphlet, adding it to the pile he received earlier... only then did he turn to walk away.
"Someone's gonna be popular for a while~" Tian said with a mocking chuckle. "So... now that I helped you out, how about a-" He turned around to regard the wolf... but Seijirou was nowhere to be seen, just the pamphlets he had scattered on the ground where he was. "Reward." The monkey crossed his arms and let out an irritated huff. "Wow, not even a thank you."
High above the buildings... *FWOOSH* Seijirou was running at full speed, hopping and jumping between buildings with masterful acrobatics. On one of those jumps, his legs got covered in purple-ish energy before kicking the air, boosting himself a greater distance.
He reached a pretty tall building and latched on to it, before running up at full speed, his legs leaving spark trails of that same purple energy as he sprinted up the side of the building until he reached the very top, crouching right on the edge of the roof as he overlooked the city. Not the same vintage as he would've gotten from climbing the CWA building, but that place has a lot of people coming and going from it, so this building was the second best.
He pulled out a small device from his pocket and placed it right on his ear, pressing a button on the side which produced a holographic screen visor across his eyes. "Huh... Kouta you intelligent bastard, this thing actually works." He complimented with a smile as the device scanned the city, analyzing the Wizards it finds. He kept scanning around the city, but only to a certain distance. "Hmm... nothing in these parts. Change of location is required." With that, he freefalls down the building to a certain distance, before kicking off of the wall and disappearing out of sight.
That night, Jason Barrels a.k.a Razor Edge was sitting in his cubicle at his guild's headquarters. It was always the white wolf's dream to be like the superheroes he saw in the comics, tv shows, and movies, but now that he actually joined the Guardians, a guild of real-life superheroes, things were as valiant and dandy as he felt.
"Ayo! Edge!" He jumped in his seat, letting out a low growl of irritation as he looked over the separator of his cubicle at the boisterous gathering near the water container. "Mind fetching us some drinks, man? Getting a bit dry over here." The man calling to him was a large, buff tiger with a wild, fire-red fauxhawk.
"Why don't you get them yourself, you lazy slob." Jason muttered under his breath, venom dripping from his words.
*Krr-ZAP* In a flash of electrical energy, the tiger was right in his face, their noses inches from touching. "What was that? Couldn't hear ya from over there." The feline's eyes silently dared the wolf to repeat what he said.
"It's nothing. I'm going." Obediently, Jason got out of his seat and made his way out of the office area he shared with others.
"The usual is fine, my dude!" The tiger called behind him right before he got out of sight.
The vending machines were a good distance from other offices, all the way in a lounging area which provided some privacy. *BANG* Jason couldn't stop himself from punching the machine, which dropped quite several drinks and snacks into the collection part below. "Well, let's hope this keeps them off my back for a while."
"You take those and I might have to arrest you for theft." Jason jumped with a small yelp before whipping around to see this tall middle-aged german shepherd wearing a black and dark-green, military-like uniform that was mostly just belts and straps all over his body and just shorts to cover his lower bits, showing off a pair of very powerful-looking thighs, his face and muscular body littered with scars and various types of old wounds. "Running errands for Minx and his goons again? You really need to learn to stand up for yourself." Marcus Ackerman a.k.a Commando was quite a veteran Wizard and hero, he is also one of the leaders of their guild, and is related to one of the founders of the Guardians by blood.
"Fighting back only makes it worse later." Jason replied in a pretty defeated tone as he knelt down to collect the snacks and drinks that dropped. Completely disregarding what the german shepard said earlier. "So far, being a hero isn't what I imagined it to be."
"Being a hero isn't just about saving lives and having your name on the paper, ya know." Ackerman explained as he rested his hand on the wolf's shoulder.
"What? Is bullying rookies and those smaller than you in the job description as well." Even the g.shep could feel the thick venom dripping from the wolf's words. "Sorry. Just not feeling it today."
"Yeah, I'll bet." The g.shepard remembered how Jason and a couple of other rookies were chewed out by their PR manager because they didn't distribute enough recruitment pamphlets, especially the wolf since he distributed the least. And now he has to deal with that tiger and his minions on top of it all. "Know what, drop those, I've got a mission for you."
Despite it being a bit of good news since he wanted something to do in this place, he just couldn't produce that much energy and/or enthusiasm. "Of course, sir. What can I help you with?" He said as he obediently placed everything on the small table nearby and stood up.
"Solo patrol." That caught Jason off guard, usually rookies like him can only go out on patrol unless in the company of another, more experienced guild member. "I've seen how you fight and I've seen your holosseum scores. I do believe you can do this one alone."
"And if I fail?"
"I'll bear that responsibility. You just go out there and do your best." He looked at his watch and pressed a couple of buttons on the side, producing a holographic map of the city. "Sectors C and D have been left unmanned tonight. Choose whichever you want when you head out."
Jason just rolled his eyes, not really caring that he was doing it in front of a senior member of the guild. "Alright. Be ready to be disappointed then." Then turned around and walked away.
"That boy needs a major confidence boost." A third, larger figure appeared behind the german shepherd and spoke in a deep, yet gentle voice.
"You're telling me." Ackerman said with a worried look on his face as he watched the wolf walking away in a slouched manner. "He changed quite a bit from the eager, enthusiastic pup that joined us." He said as he turned to the larger figure behind him.
Standing at almost a full eight feet tall was a massive, tanky-built, white-furred lion with a luscious, golden mane and tiger-like stripes on his face and neck that were just as golden in color. His suit was a mix of black, red, and golden colors, covering his entire body except for his head, chest, and abdomen, the crotch area bunched up in a huge bulge that bounced and swayed freely with every move he made. "Maybe I should have a talk with Minx and his... 'group'." He said the last part barely masking his disgust.
"With all due respect, boss, but that won't solve shit. He either stands up to himself or keep hanging his head low."
"If it was up to me, I'd have kicked Minx and his cronies out a long time ago." The lion said with a frustrated huff through his nose.
"Welp, that's what we get when we let a sponsor do the recruiting, no? Gotta slide their families in, somewhere, somehow."
"Never again." The lion turned to walk away. "Do try to keep an eye on young Jason there. Don't want him hopping the crack to the other side, just to spite a bully."
"Already on it, boss man." Ackerman replied with a mock salute.
In the locker rooms, Jason was already in his own suit, holding his mask in his hands as he was deep in thought. Before, he always thought that being a hero was the best thing he ever did in his life, but now... "This is the stupidest thing I ever did in my life." He muttered frustratingly to himself as he finally put the mask on. "Let's get this shit over with."
A short time later, Jason found himself perched on the corner of one of the rooftops in Sector D, the southern part of the city and home to many apartment complexes. "Alright... this part has no problems either..." He made a mental check of that as he stood up, overlooking the city, the cool, night air flowing through his exposed fur. "What's the point of forming a group of protectors if they themselves are bullies and corrupt assholes?" He asked no one in particular, letting out a defeated sigh. "Just one more round before calling it a night. Strider." He called as a spark of electrical energy traveled from the buckle of his belt, which was his grimoire, all the way to his feet, creating power boots of sorts. He started sprinting along the roof's edge, the boots providing a great boost in speed as he practically flew threw the air whenever he jumped.
He stood above an abandoned building looking out at the immediate area below when. "HELP! HELP!" A high-pitched voice called out in distress somewhere below.
That caught Jason's attention. "That didn't sound good." He jumped down, freefalling through the air before fixing his position, landing hero-style on the ground, right in front of the entrance to an old construction site, the boots dampening the force of the fall. "Hello?"
"Help! Help!" The person calling for aid waved to him from behind a stack of wood... but then walked out from behind it, revealing a large-bodied boar, dressed in a biker-like attire with the pants being crotchless with a hefty crotch pouch at the front, complete with a red and black bandana around his head, carrying a large baseball bat, covered in barbed wires. "Hah! So fucking predictable."
Jason immediately sensed danger, reaching back for his weapon, only to realize he was completely surrounded at this point. "Shit... where the hell did they all come from!?" He muttered to himself in disbelief as he looked around, seeing no path of escape, he tried to discretely reach for a distress transmitter that all guildmembers carry.
Only for his hand to be yanked away from it by a buff hyena. "Uh, uh, uh~ Can't have you bringing more of your buds to the party." He held both of Jason's hands behind his back, one hand now free to relieve him of his transmitter. "You are the only guest of honor, tonight~" Then dropped it to the ground and stomped on it, completely crushing it under his boot.
"You won't be needing this, either." The boar yanked his belt and grimoire right off of his waist, tossing it aside for another member of this gang to catch it. "You and your buds should know by now that these parts are Hell Bikers' turf. Your kind ain't welcome here."
Back at the Guardians' HQ, the guildmaster, the white and golden lion was lazily sifting through a novel with one hand, his reading glasses resting just above the top of his nose. Just then, Ackerman burst into the office looking greatly distressed. "Edge's DT just went offline!"
Not losing a hint of composure, the lion quickly stood up, glasses ripped off and placed on the desk. "Where and when?" He demanded as he stomped past the german shepherd into the hallway.
"Somewhere in Sector D, but we lost his signal before we could pinpoint the location." Ackerman replied in a pretty military-like manner.
"Call everyone close to or in that Sector, have them do a full sweep, search every corner and leave no stone unturned, no matter how small." As he spoke, he opened one of the hallway windows, his mane slowly glowing brighter by the second. "I'll go on ahead. Make sure everyone gets the message." Then he jumped right out, right before his mane began glowing brightly and flowing like a burning flame. "Hyperion!" With a flash of light, a large, mechanical chariot appeared below him, drawn by feral horses made of pure energy, riding on it through the night sky like a comet.
"So boys? What do ya think we should do?" The boar gang leader asked mockingly, his eyes never leaving the now tied-up hero.
Jason was in quite the bind now, no pun intended, he had a simple job, and even that he blew, he was pretty sure that after tonight, his days with the Guardians are over... but will that be a bad thing, though? His train of thought was cut short by someone poking at his mask. "How about we take this off, eh? See the pretty face under the mask before we ruin it." The hyena sneered much to the cheering and whooping of the other gang members.
"Hey now, man, what's the rush? No one's coming to this dump, especially not this late at night. How about we... take our time with this one?" He lewdly groped at the large bulge in his pouch as he said that, the others oohing in confirmation.
"Now that's an idea. Haven't had a bitch to fuck in a while." The hyena quickly agreed as he wasted no time pulling his own aside, revealing a short, but pretty girthy shaft.
"Don't you fucking dare! Get this filthy- Ah!" Jason protested, but the boar's thick and heavy hand grabbed a handful of his headfur tightly.
"Does it look like you have a choice, bitch? This shit's going down, whether you like it or not." The boar finally pulled his own aside, revealing a much larger, uncut cock than the hyena, both in length and in girth, the size shocking the hero into silence. "And this is going straight up where the sun don't fucking shine." He mockingly laughed as he shoved the wolf right against his cock, watching the hero visibly flinch in disgust. "Oh yeah, I haven't washed below the hood recently, so you better get your cleaning game on while you're down there." The other gang members laughed and mocked, others mock-gagging as they cackled like mad men.
This was not how this night was supposed to go, especially not with some thug's repulsive, unclean manhood shoved under his nose like this. Jason protested and struggled some more, but this boar was just too strong and his grimoire was taken away from him.
He was just contemplating whether to just open his mouth and get it over with. "Excuse me." Everyone turned to the new voice that joined, seeing this grey wolf with shaggy hair, standing at the entrance and casting quite the shadow due to the placement of the moon.
"And who the fuck are ya? Scram unless you wanna join this bitch here." The boar growled at the grey wolf in the distance.
"What bitch?" Seijirou asked with mock confusion.
Just then, Jason delivered a powerful punch right to the boar's large nutsack, the swine squealing loudly and doubling over, the others were busy with their boss long enough for the hero to jump away from the group, landing right beside his fellow lupine. "Thanks man. I owe you one." A few seconds earlier, Jason felt a sharp object cutting through his ropes, glancing back, he saw a pair of tiny, mechanical arms that almost looked like a wooden puppet's, one holding a tiny knife and quickly sawing through his ropes until he was free.
"Don't thank me yet. We're still not free." Seijirou warned as his body went into a semi-battle-ready stance.
Just as he said that the boar stood up, albeit with effort, his face twisted in pure rage as an angry vein popped across the side of his head. "You, motherfuckers are dead!"
"Yeah! You hoes can't do shit without this!" A llama gang member mocked as he smugly juggled Jason's grimoire and belt with one hand.
"Oh? You mean this?" The new wolf asked as he held the belt and grimoire in his own hand.
The llama looked at his hand... they weren't there. "What the!? How did you do that!?"
"Tch. A speedy one, aren't ya? No matter..." The hyena growled under his breath just as purplish energy gathered in his hand before extending to take the from of a heavy, spiked club. "Just one more pretty face to beat on" The other gang members followed suit, their own weapons materializing as well.
"So this is what it guilds do, eh? Bully others into submission?" As he said that, he tapped the crystal of his grimoire with two fingers, a burst of energy covering and transforming it into an armguard that covered his hand and forearm, the crystal now placed right in the center of the back of the hand. He tossed Jason's grimoire and belt back to him. "Don't lose these again."
"Don't have to tell me." As soon as the belt was fastened into place, it changed into a thick, mechanical belt with the crystal growing in size as it was placed in the middle.
[DOMAIN EXPANSE!!] Everyone called in unison as their area was covered in blinding light, right before shrinking into a large, glowing orb that hovered above the ground, with no one to be seen.
"This can't be good." The lion guildmaster said to himself as he hovered a short distance above the orb.
"Boss!" Ackerman called to him as he flew over with a winged jetpack strapped to his back, with a short, lean cheetah in a suit resembling a male nurse's, but was made out of spandex and hugged his body tightly, tiny, glowing cherub wings flapping cutely on his upper back. "We saw the light and came over as fast as we could." He saw the lion pointing at the orb below. "Oh... that can't be good."
Inside the orb was a pocket dimension, exclusive for Wizard battles such as this one. The world inside was this large field of green grass, a mountain rocky hill on one side and a giant sakura tree on the other.
Jason, in his Razor Edge persona, was now decked out in a light armor that resembled his suit from earlier, complete with a green visor instead of the mask and four large blades attached to his forearms and heels.
Seijirou's outfit also changed to resemble that of a ninja, complete with a mesh shirt, shoulder guard on the right, guards on both forearms and forelegs, crotchless pants, and a large blade, larger than Edge's own, attached to the side of his right forearm.
The Hell's Bikers gang were all outfitted with a mix of fabric and armor, with metallic skulls for helmets, resembling the skulls of their respective species. But the hyena and swing were nowhere to be found. "Guess the bosses are hiding somewhere. Typical, letting the goons do all the work." In a sudden surge of confidence, Jason shook his arms and cricked his neck in preparation. "This should be easy eno-AAAHHH!" He was suddenly tossed to the back a good distance. "What the hell was that for?" He growled at the grey wolf who shoved down like that.
"You'll just get in the way. So be a good boy and stand back." Seijirou instructed in a deep, strict voice.
"Hey! In case you haven't noticed, I can fight as well!" Jason angrily hopped back up to his feet. "I can handle myself."
"Like how you handle yourself before?" That was a pretty awful jab from the grey wolf and he knew it.
"I was jumped and surrounded, alright? I wasn't ready! And in case you have forgotten: I was greatly outnumbered too!"
"Excuses, that's all I hear. Still don't hear a reason why I should trust you to have my back."
That only burned the fire under Jason even hotter, he just stomped over and stood beside the grey wolf. "Well screw you, asshole! I'll prove to you and to everyone else that I can fight. And after this is done, you better be ready for me to smack that snarkiness right out of you!" Not waiting for another word from the other wolf, he stepped forward with one hand stretched out. "Strider!" A portal opened behind just as a motorbike rushed through it, drifting in a full circle around the whie wolf before it transformed into an android with a sleek and smooth design, his Familiar. His colors being similar to Jason's suit, albeit with lighter shades of blue.
"Alright, but don't come to me when you're down on your ass." With that, Seijirou extended his left arm to the side. "Jiraya!" Slowly, a humanoid figure materialized as he called out, revealing his Familiar as an anthropomorphic, reptilian android dressed in a similar way to himself, perched weightlessly on that extended arm before hopping down and taking a fighting stance. "Let's get this over with. I have someplace to be before the night's over."
The Hell Bikers finally summoned their own menacing-looking Familiars before charging at the lupine duo. Seijirou swiped his right arm widely, revealing six cards made out of pur energy, quickly swiping two of them and stroking them across his long, arm blade, filling it with green energy, two android-like weasel humanoids with bladed tails suddenly appeared behind him, before turning into energy and infusing into the blade. [Wind Style: Kamaitachi!] He struck the air in front of him with a long swing, sending a wide, powerful wave of sharp wind sailing right at the Hell Bikers, taking out a large number of them with just that one attack. "Here! Have another one!" With another swing in the opposite direction, he sent another wave crashing into another group of them, sending them flying as well.
Jason himself was faring much better now that he can fight back fairly, taking out member after member with very impressive martial arts skills. Six cards barely appeared above his grimoire before he effortlessly picked three up, three, feral-like canine androids briefly appearing before turning to energy as well and combining into a cartridge of sorts, his grimoire opening up for him to slide it right in, opening his palm and taking aim at a charging group. [Surging Force!] He shot three successive blasts of energy, all three hitting one member before bouncing among the others gathering close by. [Resonance: Fusion Impulse!] As he called out, Strider came out from behind him with his hand stretched out, the same shots from before crashing and fusing in his palm, right before throwing the bigger, stronger bolt right back where it came from like a ball, creating a powerful explosion of energy that took out a great area along with the thugs inside.
It didn't take long for the two wolves to dispatch the thugs, their Familiars doing the same to the enemy ones. Jason smugly rested his foot on one of them who groaned weakly. "Well, that wasn't so bad."
"Don't celebrate just yet." As Seijirou warned, two large shadows loomed over them. "We still have the boss fight to go through." The boar leader's Familiar was a much large humanoid boar, with a big belly covered in armor, carrying two, massive war hammers, angry flames bursting out of the top of his robotic, skull-like head and sides of the mouth. The hyena's Familiar was a large, robotic oni with a large mane made out of pure energy, large arms and upper body with a slightly smaller lower body, almost giving a gorilla-like look. Both boar and hyena were dressed in a similar way to their gang members, but their clothes were more polished and had more armor than they did.
"I take the pig, you take the crazy guy?" Jason asked as he smacked his fist into his palm.
"Sounds like a plan." With that, they dashed away from each other as to not get in the way of each other's battle, the bossing following their respective targets as planned.
The boar swung his heavy war-axe down, barely missing the white wolf, but crushing the ground below, the laser blades burning into the grass and debris around it before he picked it up. "You're gonna pay for what you did. Gonna mess you up reeeeal good before I make you the obedient bitch you are!"
"Fat chance, pig!" Jason charged right at him, electrical energy gathering around his fists and feet, right before delivering many punches and kicks to the boar, who blocked most of them with his axe or beefy arms. Seeing his attacks are futile, Jason quickly jumped back and away from the boar. "Meaty fella, aren't ya?"
"Hah!" The boar laughed as he smacked his belly and arms. "This is the 'fat' you've been mocking just now, boy!" Menacing energy gathered right into the blades of his axe, right before smashing the ground in front of him with it, sending a powerful surge through the earth right at the wolf who effortlessly jumped high up to avoid it. "Gotcha." The boar sneered, just as a pillar of burning energy surged upwards, completely catching Jason off guard.
"GGYYYAAAARRGH!!!" Jason felt like his body was being burned from the inside out, falling to the ground and rolling away, his body covered in visible burn marks, just as his Familiar was sent flying into the wall beside him. "Strider!" He looked up to see the boar's familiar with not a single scratch on him. "Dammit! Losing to a bunch of street thugs." He growled to himself as he stood up, leaning on the wall behind him. "Not a good look."
"Too bad for ya, pup, 'cause you're gonna look much worse once I'm done with ya." The boar smirked with a wide grin, tapping his axe against his palm, which surprisingly doesn't seem to hurt him. "Gonna enjoy breaking ya down piece by piece till there's fucking nothin' left." Just then *thunk-thunk* "Huh?" He looked at his arm armor to see a couple of small, glowing shurikens lodged into it. *thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk* Similar shurikens struck the Familiar's back and stuck there.
[Fire Style: Combustion] Seijirou said in a low, even voice, making a gesture with one hand, just as the shurikens exploded, not enough to deal damage, but enough to disorient the boar and his Familiar enough for Edge and Strider to get some distance to regroup and heal. "Consider this a service." He said as he casually held onto the head of the hyena's club, the hyena himself was struggling to remove it from the wolf's surprisingly strong grip.
"Let go, you sonova- GYAH!" The wolf finally released his club, only for the hyena to start swinging again wildly, Seijirou dodging each strike effortlessly. "Stop *swing* moving *swing* around *swing* you wriggly *swing* mother-*swing*-fucker!" With that last swing, he smashed the ground below, completely missing the wolf. "Hold still you little- GUHO!" He was silenced by a firm kick to the side of his face, the boot's sole covering it entirely and leaving quite the print, sending him rolling a short distance away. The hyena sat up, holding his face in disbelief. "You kicked me! You kicked me in my face!"
"Oh? Isn't that what city people do? Kicking trash around instead of picking it up?" Was the wolf's oh-so-casual and 'innocent' question.
That made the hyena's blood boil as angry veins popped on his head. "Hey, big guy! A little fucking help over here!?" He called to his Familiar, but to his dismay, the oni was already beaten, ages ago, with the reptilian ninja casually sitting on the large being, yawning in boredom. "YOU USELESS BITCH!!!" He cried out in both shock and fear, his voice cracking a bit. Just then, he saw the wolf looming over him, looking down at him menacingly. "Ehehe... uh, mercy? I yield? Timeout?" His voice turned to a tiny squeak as he spoke.
But obviously, none worked, as he soon felt the wolf's heel smashing right onto his head, greatly denting his metallic helmet as he sent his head crashing into the ground below, knocking him right out. "Pathetic." Seijirou growled lowly in disgust, resisting the urge to spit on the hyena, but now, he turned his attention to the white wolf's fight, crossing his arms as he watched.
Jason was not faring well, it seems. He managed to get a few good hits in, but they weren't enough to do enough damage, meanwhile, the boar was tossing him left and right like a ragdoll, Strider wasn't faring any better against that robotic boar. "Dammit, there's gotta be something I can do here..." He looked around, trying to find a solution to finish this fight quickly, barely noticing the boar swinging down with all his might, leaving him no choice but to block as he wasn't fast enough to dodge, sparks flying from their blades as they ground against each other.
"And to think the Guardians are supposed to be a bunch of big shots. Guess I was wrong, eh?" The boar mocked as he put more force into his push against the wolf's blades. "Might go and march right in and take that big base o' yours, eh? Since you 'heroes' are a buncha spandex-clad bitches. HAH!" The boar continued his taunting as he slowly but gradually added force into his push, taking his sweet time as he slowly pushed the wolf onto one knee.
Jason looked to the side, his eyes silently pleading to the other wolf to offer his aid. But Seijirou just stood there, arms crossed and watching, not lifting a finger to help. For some reason that sparked something inside of Jason, feeling a sudden surge of power he didn't know he had, he began pushing against the boar who was taken off guard. "You sure love... to talk... a lot!" With a wide cross swing of his arms, he pushed the boar away, taking this chance to jump up, delivering a powerful knee right into the boar's face, actually breaking a tusk and some teeth, sending them flying, he then finished his attack with a strong, aerial roundhouse kick, right to the boar's head, which sent him flying a good distance and skidding on the ground a bit further more. "Just shut the hell up, already."
"Ah! My 'ose! You broke my 'ose!" The boar cried out as he held his bleeding snout, right before snapping it back into place and blowing out the blood blocking his nostrils. Just as his Familiar was sent crashing right into him.
Both Jason and Strider were just bursting with this strange surge of energy, the wolf picking a new card without looking, he knew it was the one he needed, but instead of changing it, he crushed it into his hands as it changed into a strong concentration of volatile energy. He suddenly went behind Strider and slammed the ball of energy into his back, the android convulsed with the sudden burst of power before his body transformed again, this time into a cannon, with Jason behind him and looking through the holographic scope, the barrel started gathering energy, the more it gathered, the more volatile sparks it sent around them as small objects and debris began floating around them.
Seeing this, the boar knew he was fucked if he didn't move out of the way, but just as he and his Familiar were about to move, they felt something coiling around their lower bodies and legs, chains made of dark energy holding them in place. He looked around to see the other wolf holding his hand out, with a sharp look in his eyes. The boar, now sweating in actual fear, looked back at the white wolf still charging his attack. "W-w-w-wait, WAIT! I take it back, I take everything back! We'll leave you and your guild alone! W-w-we'll leave this neighborhood for good! Turn a new leaf! Whatever it is you want, it'll be done!" But clearly his pleas were falling on deaf ears as the wolf continued charging. "H-hey! I'll step down as boss! You can have my place! I'll be your bitch!" Again, nothing. "Hey man! W-we were just playing! We weren't gonna hurt ya or anything! C-come on, man! Do a bro a favor!"
Suddenly, everything fell completely silent as Jason spoke. "I'm not some low-life scum, like you. Don't ever call me 'bro' again." The cannon finally reached full charge. [Ultimate: Tempest Buster!!] The cannon finally fired all of its gathered energy, blasting everything in front of it in a wide area to complete dust, the boar and his Familiar, with nowhere to go, were caught in the full blast of it.
[Game Over] Came a strange, robotic voice out of nowhere, announcing the end of this battle. Just as the entire world around them turned blinding white once again, when Jason opened his eyes once again, he found himself back in the real world, with the unconscious bodies of the gang members littering the construction site they were in, the boar and hyena included.
He jumped a bit as he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see the Guardians' guildmaster standing there. "Sir Solaris!"
The lion was beaming with pride as he looked at the wolf, tapping him praisingly on the shoulder. "You did well, for a solo patrol. Very well, indeed. You go ahead and rest, we'll take it from here."
It didn't take long for the police to arrive, handcuff the Hell's Bikers and take them away, leaving the boar and hyena for last, Jason sitting on a small bench nearby, watching it all as he nursed a bottle of water. Just then, his expression perked as he finally remembered something. "Hey! Where did he go!?" He began looking around for the wolf that helped him out, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Tian was sitting in his apartment's living room, completely in the nude, flipping through the channels in absolute boredom, letting out a disgruntled huff through his nose as he left the TV on some toony, horror flick. "For a cartoon, this sure has a lot of blood and detailed gore." That made him chuckle a bit, but his mood was still a bit sour.
*knock-knock-knock* He looked at the direction of the door with a raised brow. "Now who the hell is that in this hour?" He kept the TV going in the background, but lowered the volume, as he got up to get the door, when he opened it though he instantly had a scowl on his face. "Oh, it's you."
Seijirou stood there, looking a bit bashful as he scratched the back of his head. "Hey."
"What do you want?" The monkey asked as he leaned on the door frame, crossing his arms.
"I, uh... felt bad about leaving you and poofing like that, especially after you helped me as you did. Soooo..." He trailed off as he held up a bag of takeout, the front showing the logo of a pizza restaurant. "Didn't know what you liked, so I got a Veggie Lover's Mix and a Meat Lover's Supreme. With some side orders."
Tian was a bit taken aback, blinking a couple of times before letting out a small snicker. "You do realize I had ulterior motives in helping you, right?"
"Ulterior motives or not, help is help, and it should be appreciated." Seijirou replied with a straight face and matter-of-fact tone.
Again, Tian was taken aback, but he just smiled and took the bag from the wolf. "I'll accept this... on one condition." His tail gently coiled around the wolf's neck as he pulled him close by his shorts. "You stay the night."
"That's reasonable and manageab-WHOAH!" He barely finished his sentence when he was yanked right into the monkey's apartment, the door slamming closed behind them. Seems like he already made a new friend in this city.