"MY RESPONSIBILITY"
thinks Nex as he looks up at the starry sky—a beautiful sky full of stars.
Suddenly, he hears a small "ting" in his ear.
"Took you long enough, idiot. I've been waiting for centuries," he says in an exaggerated tone as he gets up and walks toward the edge of the building, staring down at the massive drop.
"No time for drama, it's your time to act," says Gen's voice through the communicator in Nex's ear.
"Ha! So you finally need me," says Nex, turning his back to the drop and falling backward, hands behind his head, enjoying the fall. His red hair begins fluttering along with his black clothes.
MEANWHILE, GEN
thinks someone while running through the halls of a building, clutching a briefcase.
"Floor 75, corridor 30," says a voice from the darkness, making the suited man freeze and look around frantically.
"WHERE ARE YOU?! I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU, IDIOT!" shouts the man, stepping back in circles.
Suddenly, he sees red eyes ahead in the darkness.
"AHH!" he screams, clinging to the briefcase, falling to the floor, and quickly pulling out a small knife, aiming it at the darkness—but there was nothing there.
"Here," says a voice as Gen appears suddenly, kicking the man square in the face. The man tries to recover and attacks with his right arm, but Gen dodges, grabs it, and causes him to drop the briefcase.
"You've got a high bounty, sir," says Gen, pulling out handcuffs and locking him to a metal bar, brushing his hands off.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" the man asks with a mysterious smile.
"Oh, right—the briefcase," says Gen, frowning slightly as he looks down at it, when suddenly he hears a click.
"Damn it," Gen mutters, leaping backward just as the briefcase explodes in a massive blast.
MEANWHILE, NEX
Nex keeps falling with a bored expression when suddenly he hears a "Boom" below him and sees a huge cloud of smoke.
"What dumb thing did you do now?" asks Nex, adjusting his posture in midair and sticking close to the building as he enters the smoke.
In the smoke, something begins to shine—a blue glow, increasing every second.
"Unbelievable, a Smurf," says Nex sarcastically as he dusts off his clothes and sees the dust clearing. In the distance, there's a figure in armor with glowing blue patterns and a blue laser blade.
"What are you talking about? That's clearly an evolved Power Ranger," says Gen, standing up from the rubble.
"What's next? You'll say I'm a Covenant from Halo?" says the armored figure seriously but sarcastically.
"He's got a sense of humor," says Nex, a bit surprised, eyeing him up and down with his black eyes.
Gen does the same, his red eyes wide in disbelief.
"Enough talk," says Nex, darting around, pulling out a knife and aiming it at the armored figure.
"So you're the active type," says the figure, pointing his laser blade at Nex.
"Painfully true," replies Nex, charging at him and leaping into an attack.
The figure blocks it and raises his head.
"Sorry to disappoint—I'm passive," he says, holding off Nex's attack and kicking him in the stomach, sending him flying and tumbling across the floor.
When Nex stands up, he sees Gen also pulling out his orange laser blade and attacking from the left.
The enemy quickly switches his blade to his left hand and blocks Gen's strike.
He pushes Gen back, lets go of his blade for a moment, and punches him in the stomach, sending him flying.
"Did you really think you could hunt me?" the enemy asks, turning—only to see Nex getting back up.
"We need that money. Our dream won't come true by magic," says Gen, getting up and leaning on some rubble.
Gen touches his forehead, sees blood, and smiles weakly.
"Are you a masochist?" the enemy asks, looking at Gen in slight disgust.
"If I were, I'd let you win," Gen replies, wiping his blood onto nearby debris as he walks forward.
"Don't take your eyes off me," says Nex, appearing behind the enemy, trying to land a hit. But the enemy dodges, grabs him by the shirt, and throws him upward through several ceilings.
"Wow, humanity surprises me," says the enemy, excited.
Gen lowers his fingers into a finger-gun shape, and the floating rubble shoots toward the enemy.
"Damn it, I'm still here!" shouts Nex, dropping from above and punching the enemy in the face.
The enemy raises his head, grabs Nex by the neck, and slams him to the floor, making him roll.
"Get away from him!" shouts Gen, grabbing a massive pillar with his blood and hurling it. The enemy fails to dodge and is launched through a window and sent flying.
"Such interesting kids. I'd love to see them again," says the enemy, crushing the pillar and landing in the nighttime streets—destroying the entire area.
Gen and Nex peer through a hole and see the devastation.
"No dinner tonight," says Nex, sighing.
"Exactly," says Gen, frustrated, walking away from the edge.
"What do you think that was?" asks Nex curiously, following him.
"Most likely a government experiment. That explains the strength... and the massive bounty," says Gen, heading down the stairs.
"True," Nex agrees, still following.
MEANWHILE, THE ARMORED FIGURE
"Ha! I can't believe it. I just want to kill and kill and kill. Those kids will have to wait—I just escaped my prison. Now that I'm free, I want to kill and kill," he says like a joke, walking out of an alley with a pile of bodies behind him.
"Please, sir, let me live a little longer. I helped you escape, Lixed," pleads the same man who fled with the briefcase.
"You only survived by pure luck, idiot," says Lixed, grabbing him by the neck and squeezing.
"Please no—I have a family," the man begs, but Lixed tightens his grip, and the man's head explodes.
"Humans are so weak," says Lixed, dropping the body, turning around, and continuing on his way.
THE NEXT DAY
The sun rises over the city. Nex rubs his eyes and stretches a little.
"WAKE UP!" Gen yells, dumping a whole bucket of ice water on Nex's face.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!" Nex yells, jumping up and pointing at Gen, irritated.
"We've got work to do, idiot," says Gen, arms crossed with a small sigh.
"Go work yourself. I've got no energy," says Nex, flopping back onto the bed.
"Not a chance. You're coming with me," says Gen, grabbing Nex by the shirt and dragging him across the floor.
"What are you doing? LET ME GO!" Nex shouts, trying to escape.
"Okay," Gen replies, dropping him on the stairs, causing Nex to tumble down.
He lands on the wooden floor with his butt facing the ceiling.
"Wow, little bro, you've got skills going downstairs," says Gen mockingly.
"How about you shut up?" Nex grumbles, getting up as Gen calmly walks down.
"Deal with it," says Gen, opening the door so sunlight hits Nex.
"What do you even want me to do?" asks Nex, standing up and brushing off his hair.
"Since we couldn't finish the job yesterday, we've got to go to school," says Gen with a small smile.
"You've gotta be kidding me," says Nex sarcastically, irritated.
"Do I look like I'm kidding? Now go get changed," Gen orders, pointing at him.
Nex sighs and walks back to his room to change.
MEANWHILE, IN THE CENTRAL OFFICES "THE GRAND DOME"
The lights are off. No one could see each other's faces. Only three people are in the dark room.
"Well, seems only three people answered my call," says a man's voice—he's at least over 50.
"We couldn't leave you alone in this, Mikael," says a soft yet wicked voice of a woman.
"It's true. Lately, strange things have been happening. Among them, a highly dangerous prototype escaped the labs—'high-level.' More than ten bounty hunters tried to stop it, only six survived," says Mikael. In the center of the round table, a circle emerges, and at its core, a three-pointed star.
"We swear our loyalty to the goddess Akapella," says the third person, placing a finger on one of the star's points. The woman and Mikael do the same.
"We must uphold this regime above all. We are family—descendants of the goddess Akapella. Our mission is to serve her and keep the wall and the sky intact," says Mikael, stepping out of the shadows, revealing the face of an old man with a beard, long white hair, and simple kingly attire.
To his left steps out a woman in a black dress, sky-blue eyes, long black hair, and a small mole on her left cheek.
To the right, a hooded figure. Nothing else could be said. All with their hands on the three-pointed star.