It'd be a heartwarming reunion after a while. Even bringing a friend along.
Too bad this was in the middle of an apocalypse. A funeral just happened.
Lex knew what he'd be getting himself into while leading Ryan to his home.
"…What the heck is that?" The time traveller wasn't sure what that was.
The dome-like bubble wasn't exactly hard to see, but Lex was acting normal.
Was this a modern thing? Having bubbles surround a house when things went bad?
Even the zombies were avoiding it now.
"What? Weren't there water barriers in ancient past?" Lex also found it weird.
Weird that an ancient human found a bubble barrier to be worth explaining.
It is what it is. What's there to see?
"Why would we need barriers? We control water itself." Ryan gave a demonstration.
He touched one of the seven katanas hovering behind Lex. A sky blue blade.
Then brought the power to his fingers.
With a simple blow, it was like he was making soap bubbles without soap.
Lex stopped what he was about to do and looked at the guy now the acting leader.
"Why won't you use Magic?"
The guy had Mana flowing through his body. He didn't need an external source.
"Betty said not to unless I'm in danger of dying." Ryan scratched his cheek.
"So she knew about your… You know." A pair of eyes glanced at the black glove.
"Yeah. I'm not sure why she didn't bring it up." The both of them felt a little doubt.
It was rare for them to agree so easily about things, but one thing was for sure.
Betty didn't be honest with the youth.
"That's fine. Just be sure to use your power when it's needed." There was no need for Lex to advise him further. It was up to the person if they'd listen properly.
Lex turned towards the bubble and spoke his thought: "Now the password was…?"
He started tapping on it.
"The bubble has a password?!"
"Everything does these days. You know why no one raids a police armoury? Every gun has like… three layers of password security." Lex made small talk.
"What about that gun?" Ryan pointed at the red Desert Eagle on Lex's waist.
"Illegal."
"Right…" There was no point putting a password lock on illegal side arms.
"You think she's actually an arms dealer or something?" Ryan knew his doubts.
"Not that. I'm more sure of her lying about being a simple mercenary from outside though." Lex shook his head. It was hard not to notice the discrepancies.
Since everyone worked in unity, there was little reason for a mercenary to exist.
"You think so too?" Ryan felt a kinship.
"Why are you hanging around if you doubt her so much?" Lex narrowed his eyes. A hole in the barrier opened for them to go in, but he didn't let this go.
Continuing to ask about it.
"She seems like a nice person at heart. I would be dead if she hadn't saved my life in the past. Plus, she had many chances to betray me." Ryan tried defending her.
"Maybe it was because of your 'traits'."
"She didn't even know I had miasma immunity at the time." He disagreed.
It was only after hearing this did Lex rethink his opinion of the strange girl.
Truthfully, she didn't seem that bad to him too. Or was that his libido talking?
Betty was a pretty girl and all.
"And… here!" Lex tried opening the door without thinking, but found it was stuck.
"Er…" Ryan felt secondhand embarrassed.
"Why did he lock the door…? We have a barrier outside!" It was really annoying.
But what could he do?
"Your dad is inside?" Ryan raised a brow.
"Didn't I say we're borrowing my dad's car? Let's just hope he agrees with us."
"You're lucky your parents-"
"Because mom died just recently."
"Forget what I was about to say." The strong young man avoided his gaze.
Lex ignored him and opened the door to see what his father had been up to.
"Dad, I need to borrow the car for something-" The boy's words halted.
In the front room, his father was casually cleaning the Cursed Blade of the devil.
Only his father had that kind of balls.
"Oh, son… You're back with a friend? I always thought you were a loner." His father didn't have any mercy. Ripping down his self-esteem in a few words.
"I-I'm not a loner…!"
"Name three friends of yours."
"Umm… Excuse me. We're in a bit of a hurry to save a friend of ours." Ryan butted in at the perfect moment and showed closeness at a perfect timing.
Perfection was the only word for this.
He made it seem like they had been friends for a while. Not just a colleague.
Better than a simple acquaintance.
"Alright. I got the keys. Let's go save your friend." Lex's father jingled the keychain.
"Wait! Where are you going?!" Lex couldn't help making a loud statement.
He couldn't accept this.
"With you. Where else?" His good father tilted his head at such an obvious inquiry.
Where else would he go?
"Don't you have to say with mom?" Lex tried to make an excuse for him to stay.
"Your mom is fine now, and I am too. It's better to leave now than later." The man didn't even seem to have regrets. Acting like he was going to leave this for good.
"What about our family home? Don't we need someone to watch over it?" Lex was trying to grasp at straws. Unable to find any way of persuading his father to stay.
Ryan decided to keep his nose out of it.
"Lex…" The boy's father turned and held his shoulder, saying: "…I am going with."
"But you're completely powerless…"
"We're both the same."
"We're not. I learned how to use my Gift better. Look." Lex showed his Red Wind.
The miasmic red fog from his hands started to rise. Showing he had his powers and unlocked his Limiter. There wasn't much of a reaction from his dad.
"And?"
"Well…"
"I'm still going with you." Lex's father wouldn't care even if his son grew wings.
They already lived in a crazy magical world. What was the difference anyway?
"You don't have to go. I'll drive."
"You'll drive?" The father agressively sized up his son. Looking down on him.
The young man felt pressured…
"You don't have a licence."
"YOU DON'T HAVE A LICENSE?!" Ryan suddenly got involved in the issue.
"I do. Just look." Lex took out a valid card from his wallet. It looked very clean.
This made Ryan turn to the man.
"That's a driving license for a grounded car. Not a flying car." Lex's father crossed his arms and looked stubborn. His son was just about to throw his own wallet.
"WHO CAN EVEN GET A 'FLYING CAR' LICENSE, HUH?!" He started to roar.
Getting emotionally worked up.
But stopped when his father raised his arm. Looking like he'd spank ths kid.
"Who are you to talk to your dad like that? Did you learn to be rude at school too? Where are your manners, huh?" It was the crude 'I am your dad' argument.
Simple, but still a classic.
"Dad, we will be fine."
"Like hell you will. You both are gonna turn out like those Darry Dotter kids."
"Doesn't he mean Harry Potter?" Ryan whispered to Lex from the side.
"What's a 'Harry Potter'?" Seeing the visible confusion on Lex, he stopped.
After all, Ryan couldn't explain it yet.
The father was still arguing with his son about whether he'd go with them or not.
"Those kids had survived. Didn't you watch the movie?" Lex pointed a finger.
"After crashing the darn thing! Are you also going to bash it up?" The man hissed back in extreme fury. There was no way he'd let them trash his car in a joyride.
"We won't…" Lex avoided his dad's gaze.
"Sure. I'm real sure you won't. Happy? I'll continue praising you later." He snapped.
"Alright, fine… Leave me alone. You can come with us, but at least stay safe in the car." Lex could only give in. It wasn't like they had the time to argue for too long.
"Now that's the spirit! You, what's your name now?" His father asked 'the friend'.
"Ryan."
"Right. Ryan, you get front seat. My son can sit in the back." Lex's father seemed benign and warm to the young man. Even feeling like he was talking to his own dad.
The man lead Ryan to a green vehicle that seemed like it was a futuristic car.
There wasn't any wings on the thing.
So how did it fly?
"Let me introduce you to the 'Soaring Messenger'. It has a particular Jinn known as a Qutrub possessing it." The father introduced the schematics of it.
Lifting the lid to show it was being powered by a Wind Mana generator.
The technology a mix between Coloured Steel and something from DUST Industry.
A company ran by the Frost Family.
The important part was that they didn't need to supply this Mystic Tool with life.
Unlike Lex's 'Nightmare Ink'.
It was while they were talking about the mission did Ryan reveal some data.
Enough to make the man narrow his eyes.
"This is the culprit that destroyed the city I knew, isn't it?" Unlike his capable son, it didn't seem like Lex's father was angry about it. His emotions stayed dormant.
Really hard to read…
"How do figure that?" Ryan said nothing about the connection between the two.
"You really are kids… Telling me there's some enemy in the midst of this disaster and has nothing to do with the disaster itself. That right?" Lex's father shook his head. Putting two and two together.
"Get in." The father slapped the car's passenger seat door and guided Ryan in.
They both sat at the frontal seats.
With Lex having to hold on at the centre of the back seat to keep his vision clear.
The engine then started.
It was the regular ignition sound of a regular car. He didn't drive too fast.
"Lex, open the barrier again." The father spoke, and the son sighed indignantly.
Quickly getting out to open the barrier.
When the car was all the way through, it parked long enough for Lex to get in.
Ryan started pointing out the general direction of where the mansion was.
"Alright. Then let's go there." Lex's father kept the car grounded to save on fuel.
The power generator wasn't limitless.
Ryan had to say that the transition between wanting a car and getting a new team member was seamless. He didn't expect Lex's father would be their getaway driver. Quite a unexpected act.
His pal Lex was sulking at the back after being told off, but that was hard love.
He knew the father was just worried.
Not wanting them to get into danger.
Just when he thought that, there was a hurdle that came in front of their path.
"Zombies." Ryan told the driver.
Lex's father didn't panic. Nodding his head and saying something calmly:
"Yeah, don't worry. I can see them fine."
…..
….
…
..
.
Over on a far away rooftop, Betty Black had set up a sniper rifle of Dark Affinity.
It was because Dark Bullets were the hardest to track. Light left a trail behind.
There was one thing they were right about when they were discussing her.
She wasn't really that 'normal'.
Betty held her walkie-talkie.
Despite it being usually a one-sided communication tool, Betty had altered it a little so that she could spy on the duo who left. Overhearing their talk about her.
Thanks to having a tracker placed on the device, she also found them easily.
"They brought a car?" She'd expected it to have wings or something like that.
But there was nothing of that nature.
It looked like a normal cheap car.
'Are they planning to drive all the way there?' Betty thought there was distance.
Should she give them cover?
It was great her cover wasn't blown, but there was something about the driver.
Why was he so calm?
'Wait, what is he doing?' She saw him calmly drive towards a horde of zombies.
Their bodies turning into a wall that could stop any small-sized vehicle in its tracks.
"You better hold on." She heard over the speaker on her spy gadget walkie-talkie.
Betty watched through the scope as Lex's father suddenly shifted to the sixth gear.
Green nitro flames boomed out of the exhausts. A sound of engines whining.
She couldn't see it.
A horde of zombies flew into the air after having been ran over by the 'Messenger'.
Leaving a dirt cloud and trail behind.