"Jesus," The man said, pushing the two back gently before shaking his hands. His eyes fell on the palm Takabi punched, smoke rising from the deep burns. With a narrowed gaze, he said, "We don't fight amongst ourselves. What's going on here?"
"You're the weirdo from the park," Takabi yelled, pointing at him.
"And the guy you fought before you came here. Let me reintroduce myself, I'm Ga-" He was cut off, Takabi's fist slamming into his jaw and knocking him to the floor.
Shink held a blank face, but everyone else had their jaws to the floor.
Raising his head, the man cracked his neck and laughed, "That's one way to say hello. My name is Garuga," He said, shaking his head and fixing his demeanor. "I knew you had potential, but wasn't expecting to get clocked in the jaw."
"Screw you! If you were involved with all of this, why didn't you just bring me yourself?!"
"I was supposed to, but after observing you for a while, I noticed your lack of battle sense. You seemed like a normal human, and I was convinced we had the wrong kid, until I saw what happened at the bank that day. The way you transformed destroyed any doubts I had about you." He rubbed his now freshly shaven face.
Pouting, Takabi asked, "You were there?" He grit his teeth. "So why didn't you stop me from killing those cops? Or help me when I was attacked in the forest? Wait how long have you been watching me?"
Garuga walked around for a bit, before saying, "I can't exactly say. Figured it was best not to completely reveal myself to you just yet. Not until you knew more, which thanks to Nana, the time is now."
"Well we can't exactly afford to wait. Now that you're here though, we can get down to business." Nana walked next to Takabi, looking at him. "We're going to find your sister now. You think you can keep your head together enough to come with?"
He didn't acknowledge her at first, his eyes locked on Garuga and Riki. The two looked so similar now that he took a good look at them both. He wondered if they were related, but a closer inspection, and after taking a quick glance at their Mana pools told him they weren't.
Riki chose to modal himself after Garuga. It was an odd thing to do, but he could at least respect the decision, even if he got a creepy feeling from being spied on.
Nana shook his arm, and he muttered, "Yeah, I think so."
"We'll take your word for it. So, come with me." She took his hand, leading him out of the computer room and down the hall.
Looking back, he noticed Garuga, Shink and Riki following them. Raia must've been following too, because he could make out the faint sound of heels clicking against the metal floor. They came into a boardroom. Brown round table in the center, made of polished oak, and about twenty chairs littered around the sides. There were no computers, but Takabi counted three cameras hanging from the ceiling, and one in the corner furthest from the door.
Nana moved towards the large black chalkboard in the back of the room, while Takabi sat in the closest seat near her. Shink sat behind him, Garuga and Riki taking a seat across the table from them. Raia walked in the room last, but moved towards the board with Nana and clapped her hands together.
"Okay, people. We all know Takabi here, and the main reason he came to us. His sister is his priority right now, and we agreed to help him find her and recover his lost memories."
Nana began writing on the chalkboard in an extremely neat cursive. Her back faced everyone, and Takabi couldn't stop his eyes from scanning over her. Her shape, the way she filled out her outfits and how smooth her exposed skin looked to him.
Takabi caught himself and placed a palm against his forehead.
Focus damn it, He thought.
Nana finished writing and turned back, momentarily locking eyes with Takabi before saying, "Shine Yamishito. Her last sighting was two or three towns over from WaterSlum, the town I met Takabi in. This was around a year ago, however, and she disappeared off the face of the earth. The only hints we have that she's still alive is the sightings of a white winged Angel. Not much else is known. We can tell it's her because her magic is almost identical to yours, Takabi."
"That so? What makes you think it's not his brother or father? There any female features," Garuga asked, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms.
Takabi looked at him, activating Mystic Eye and gazing closely. He couldn't see any magic emitting itself from Garuga, but he already knew the man was powerful. There was something inside of him though, like an entire different beast that was itching to release itself.
"Nothing we can be too sure about exactly, but judging from the simple fact we confirmed Kairas' body after the explosion, it can only be assumed." Nana said, a slight sadness in her voice.
Takabi felt his insides stir when she mentioned that name.
Kairas. That's what his brother's name was.
"We already checked the surrounding areas, and there have been reports of strange activities. The random murders, as gruesome as they were to look at, did let us know someone is killing people indiscriminately. Everyone is a target, there's just worst things done to women. Shine isn't alone, and it's very likely she gave into her evil side after being alone for so long. When we get back, it will have been a couple months since Takabi and I left."
"Wait, what," Takabi asked. "What do you mean a couple months? We left about a day or two ago."
"Remember when I said that we would be gone for an extended time? Well, the plane we took basically flew us to a rainforest outside of normal time. The fluctuation of time varies, due to the magic of the crystals in the canyon."
"Simply put," Raia said, "Time flows differently depending on the plane. The crystals keep us all outside the flow of time, meaning we exist in a void right now. Each of us come from a different point in time."
"For example, Garuga was born ages ago, to the point we can call him Grandpa. When he came to the Bunker, he was placed outside of that normal time flow. Depending on which plane he takes, because each plane was made with a crystal with a power source that is linked to various different time periods, he can arrive back in the time period he came from, or any of our times."
Shink laughed a little when he watched Takabi's confused gaze. "It's difficult to follow at first, but you'll learn about it in the coming days. All you need to know is that you can be here with us for ages, but still return to the year you left home about a month later. It's not recommended though. We can exist outside of time with the Bunker, but it still flows through us. We all are still capable of aging."
"I get it," Takabi muttered, "The Plane brings people from all over if they have access to it. From one time to another. The Planes are time machines and the Bunker is a meeting point." Nodding to himself, he crossed his arms and asked, "So we're going back to WaterSlum and looking for my sister there then? Got it." He stood from his seat, a look of determination settling on his face. "When do we go, Nana?"
"As soon as we're repacked. I know you haven't been here too long, but keep in mind how long it has been since anyone has seen us. You have to keep the mindset that you haven't seen anyone in months, even if it was only a couple of days for us."
Nodding, Takabi looked at Garuga for a split second before beginning to walk towards the door.
"Actually, Takabi, can you hang back a minute for me," Nana asked as everyone else filed out.
When they were gone, Nana quickly moved and closed the door, then the blinds to the room. She faced Takabi, pacing back and forth before saying, "You have to calm down."
"What do you mean? When I almost knocked Riki flat on his ass?"
"That, but that's not what I meant. I meant…." She took a deep breath, then said, "I'm not dumb. I know how you've been watching me."
His eyes widened like he was caught, and red tint quickly rushed over his face. "I… Have no clue what you're talking about," He muttered, avoiding eye contact. "I'm just.. I just have a lot on my mind is all."
"That so," Her tone turned to one of concern as she leaned against the table. "Wanna talk about it?"
"Normally. Right now, I think we should just get ready to go back home." When she shrugged it off and made for the door, Takabi stopped her with a question. "Garuga. Who, or what, is that guy?"
"Does he bother you," She asked, glancing at him over her shoulder. Takabi nodded and Nana laughed. "It's alright. Garuga may seem shady, but he's honestly one of the best Dragon Generals we have."
"Dragon?!"
"Yeah. There's three. The other two are away on personal business, but I think they'll like you. At least, Porrelth will. I can never exactly tell what Syrreth is thinking, but she might be alright." Nana touched her chin, but shook her head.
"Anyway, something I didn't mention, Garuga is going to continue watching over us when we get back. Raia and Shink will come down later to cover some of the search if we turn up empty."
"Yeah." He couldn't think of much else to say. He was sure he looked like a lost puppy when she left the room, but he decided to just push ahead.
She made it clear there were no romantic feelings on her end. Then again, her actions and words in serious moments completely contradict that idea. Why was Nana hiding herself so much from him? To spare him from heartbreak? Was she not ready for a relationship or was there something else?
"Why am I thinking about that now?" Takabi muttered to himself as he entered his room and looked at his suitcase. It was still packed, so he moved towards the bed and sat down, pulling out his phone and was surprised to see the battery was still at 70%. He expected it to be dead by now. The second thing that shocked him was that he had service and internet connection.
Scrolling through his twitter, he plopped back on the bed and went over the same usual news. New bodies were discovered, more disfigured than the previous victims. Reports of an iceberg that sprouted out randomly on land, then melted in a couple minutes. Not much else was reported on the incident.
"The same stuff as usual, huh."
A text notification popped down from the top of the screen. It was Carlos. The message read: "Sorry, I've been ghosting you lately, man. I've just been going through some shit. When I came back to school, I heard you went on vacation. Tell me about it when you get back man, we need to hang out."
Takabi read over the message a couple times, then shut off his phone screen. He'll see him soon. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was different. He had no idea what, but there was a distance between the two of them now.
"Ready already," Nana asked, peeking into his room. Takabi looked at her, nodding and standing, grabbing his suitcase and walking out of his room, the door shutting tightly behind him and locking in place. "Let's hurry back. I have a bad feeling all of a sudden."