While they walked side by side, the white-haired Reaper of the duo fitted with sunglasses prohibiting his vision, Ace could feel his body starting to sober up. Thanks to this, his sense of reasoning returned, and with it, came the ability to talk.
So, while opening a piece of gum for his hand to throw into his mouth, the son asked the father, "How's reconstruction comin' along?"
"Y'know, I'm glad you asked that, I was craving a dramatic monologue," Sarcastically drawled the heterochromatic father.
Ace rolled his eyes at his parent's antics, searching through the packet for another stick of gum. If you'd ask him why he was doing this, he'd just shrug his shoulders and mumble. While he waited for more stale dialogue to fill his ears, the ginger would slip his arms behind his head, waking in tandem with his father beside.
"Truthfully, I'm proud. For the first time in my life, I'm prideful about something…" August started.
Ace stood silent, letting his eyes wander down, baselessly examining the lines embedded into the sidewalk's concrete. The light in his eyes had almost extinguished entirely—mimicking that look Katie donned so long ago on that Remnant World venture.
"To see children of my growth so naturally, being able to spend so much time with them—it makes me happy," he finished, smiling.
Suddenly, the light within Divergence appeared yet again. Ace, this time, was left with a conflicted expression. Like he was unable to process what'd just been said—was this reality or a fantastical dream where he wondered about infinite possibilities, unlimited desires.
"Hey," beckoned August, "you okay?"
"Y-yeah." Ace wiped his eyes' corners with his hoodie's sleeves, "Fine."
"Alright then, c'mon! Azazel and Jefferson's gonna yell at me and I can only irritate them for so long before I get hit," August called, waving his son over.
Ace needn't say anymore. That childish smile was enough to bring both father and son to an unspoken content. The ginger ran ahead, earning August's slithering arm around his child's nape. Ruffling his spiky hair with his knuckles, Wilder yelped, slipping out his dad's hold.
"Ayyy!" he yelled, "that's abusive! I'll call child's protective services on your white ass!"
"Oh please! You're whiter than me!" Dramatically said August, rolling his eyes, continuing to walk.
"Aren't you like... Puerto Rican and Brazilian, technically?" asked Ace.
"Right. But… I'm not really into talking about my race, everything about that sorta shit. I never really thought about myself as Hispanic. Maybe it was pure ignorance or simple stupidity, but I'd like to think I've changed since that childish blindness. Living life to the fullest with acknowledgment and pride of who you are--who you're meant to be, that's how everyone should live their lives, right?"
And as they neared the court, there was the remaining duo of men at the bleachers.
"Ey!" Jeff yelled to the guys.
As Ace raced off to meet the two, August smirked and finished his words with an absolute; sweetly slipping off his tongue, "No matter who you are."
Katie stumbled into the mall with stars in her eyes. June, indistinctively conversing with Kima, unconsciously turned her head, spotting that marveled expression. June stopped first, leaving Kim to follow, with Katie placed dead last.
"U-uh..." Kate rebalanced herself, standing tall, "Why'd ya stop?"
"I... I don't think I've asked you this, but have you ever been to a public place? Like actively ordered fast food or just checking out clothes you bought?" June asked, a curious expression painting her face.
"No, she just stays in the corner the whole time with Ace while I order the whole thing," Kim interjected, loudly slurping from a straw.
June and Katie both looked at her with the same expression. Instead of simply retracting the straw from between her lips, she decided to simply step back and head toward one of the plentiful storefronts. The cousins' eyes lingered on Kima's rear before June and Katie looked at one another again.
"Did you ever notice her-"
"Yes, I have. I'm praying for Ace, his legs must hurt when she bounces," commented Kate, scratching her chin.
"Yeah… kinda I wish I had that. Cuz, it's like all in my legs but nothing goes to my butt, y'know?" Added June.
"I mean… yeah, but like-" Katie and June started to follow the distant, walking Kima, "-why? Do you want a lover or something?"
"No, it'd just make me feel good to have a big butt and legs. Cuz one without the other is just pathetic, if that makes sense," June's words sent Katie to nod, "God, I gotta get back into lifting—squats, too."
Soon, the two of them would arrive at a specific store titled 'Forever 22.' It seemed Kima was already inside—it'd be easy to enter if their friend had already, that's what June assumed for her cousin's anxiety. However, turning her head, one foot already on the white tiles layered across the floor, the white-haired Wilder witnessed her shivering relative locked in place, producing endless sweat.
"What's wrong with you?" June sped-walked forward, "What, you can kill people but you can't get some clothes?"
"It's more complicated than that, okay?! Don't judge me!" Katie hid away in the corner, garnering passerby's puzzled stares.
"Katie, I'm not judging you." June laughed, "C'mon. Get up."
Katie obeyed but not without June's hand aiding in her ascension from the crouched stance.
"Stay beside me, it'll be fine," She assured, interlocking their arms together.
"I'm gonna cry…"
But as Katie continued to whine while being guided through the store, Kima and June picked out an array of clothing from multiple storefronts. They decided to try on the outfits, leaving the childish Katie outside to be seated on a bench. But just because she was unable to feel comfortable didn't mean her voice was lost. Periodically, Kim and June would pop out the dressing room's curtains, revealing their new outfits.
Kima revealed herself from out the curtain, hand against the entrance's frame, sticking out the leg so she could dramatically stick a pose. Her purple eyes shined, it was like her skin was glowing--as if this purple-colored dress accentuated her beauty tenfold. Her increased gorgeous features glimmered, like the unbeatable rays of the sun gracing her face. At that moment, Katie clapped, unaware of the blush painting her cheeks.
"Thank you, thank you! I was aware of the effect I had on men... but women, too, huh?" Kima smirked, quirking her eyebrow upright.
Just then, Kate's pupils shrunk, hand covering her mouth. Uncontrollably, she whispered, "Shut up..."
Some minutes pass after the blush, leaving Katie to only chew at the remnants of her fries, digging through the carton. To her surprise, a heel popped out from the curtain, but... somehow, she knew this wasn't Kima again. The leg connecting the foot embedded into the footwear was much smaller.
'Ooh, alright,' She shifted in her seat, 'let's see whatcha got, June!'
It was like a subconscious trigger--the instant she'd finished that thought, there she was. Dazzling in the soothing green in the suit, curved around her hips, tight around her bust, she mimicked Kim's dramatization. The white-haired girl earned a laugh from her dyed-hair friend. Nevertheless, June seemed deaf to Kim's teasing chuckling.
And needless to say, did she look stunning. Katie darted upward from her seat, clapping her hands like an audience's applauding. June laughed, then started to continuously bow.
"Thank you, thank you! You're an amazing audience!"
"Why don't you try somethin' on?" Kim asked, peeking from the blinds.
Suddenly, Katie realized her whereabouts once again, and fell to her bottom, crossing her arms. Like a turtle, she hid within the shell of her jacket's collar.
"No..." She murmured.
"C'mon! It'll only be us, don't worry 'bout it!" June grabbed at her cousin's arm, attempting to raise her, "Katieeeeeeee!"
Unfortunately, Katie was immovable. June could try as hard as she could to lift her black-haired relative, but the effort was useless. Kima, peeking from the curtains, retracted her head. Casually stripping then reorganizing clumps of clothing over her smooth fair skin, as she zipped up her checkered skirt, she heard an abnormal sound. Exiting the dressing room while pulling her shirt over her midriff, she turned toward the wide-open exit to the store.
"Do you two hear that?" Kima asked.
June and Katie, the former still struggling with her futile effort, both turned their heads toward the entrance. Curiously, they ran toward the exit. Ready to manifest her inherited Blackened Blade, Kate, behind Kim and June, witnessed it. Evolutionary officers, all stationed spherically, seemed to be guarding a specific area. Before she could unsheathe the katana, June's hand grabbed her own. Kate's mouth trembled. Unable to resist, she submitted, and her hand fell from her waist.
"Excuse us. We're direct contributors to the Reconstruction Committee formed by Augustus Rivera. Agent Myers," She flashed her identification, "What's going on here?"
"Oh, it's one of you guys. Ugh, and just when we thought we'd escaped hearing your incessant rambling. Insolent children," Impudently spat the Evolutionary officer.
"Oooh...! You're one of the Evolutionary volunteers who was imprisoned below Requiem Tower. How was that?" Katie interjected, pushing Kima aside.
"Shut up, childish whore."
"Aww, little chained piece of shit without his freedom got nothing to say, huh?" Katie snarkily replied with a sinister smirk.
"Why, you...!"
"Alright, calm down!"
Kima slammed her palms against their chests before they could bud heads any further. Katie was pulled away by June, leaving Kim to pick up the slack. Affixing her collar then clearing her throat, she turned around to the officer a second time.
"Alright, before I set Katie out on you, how about you tell us what happened here?"
"Tch. Just some thieving scum. Casual robbery, that's all," He reluctantly informed.
"Why does a simple robber garner this many officers in one location?" asked Kima.
"Well, normally, it wouldn't be like this. However, it's not a regular Evolutionary with powers laid dormant; unable to use an Artifact they found. It's a dragon-fused Hybrid. A+ range, 'round there."
"Alright, well, that must be tough. I assume y'all all have powers, then? If not, I can leave June here and she can help. She's pretty cooperative," She offered, showcasing her white-haired friend.
"No need to worry 'bout it; we got it under control."
Katie's eyebrow raised, June's head turned. From that, the duo of cousins began to retreat.
"Alright, I'll take your untrustworthy word for it, then. We'll be leaving, then."
Kima flipped off the officer and finally retreated. As she disappeared behind a circular column, the officer spun, walking toward the center of the officer sphere. Surrounding the charred Hybrid body were multiple Evolutionary officers.
"What're we gonna do 'bout this shit?" asked one officer.
"There's nothing much we CAN do. We did what we did--we should just try to keep this under wraps, wipe the camera footage," another suggested.
"How're we supposed to hide somethin' like this from the Reaper, of all people?"
"Dunno. But we have to try... and if we get found out, we can't just back down. If things continue, we will, too. Right?"
"Right." They all said in unison.
And there they were. Enforcers of the peace said to preserve order, accomplices in injustice. As the Judge wobbled through the infinite greenery in an attempt to break through the Capital's steel-hard walls, he carried the seeds of disaster on his shoulders. However, it seemed that, in this world, on this day, the disaster would arrive sooner than one might think.
To Be Continued.