Chapter 86: Ch125. Back home...
It was night, and there was no movement in the streets, but he knew it was his home world-line.
"What the hell...?"
"Mark my words, virus... You might be able to get out of it alive, but the world won’t be the one you know anymore. And everyone will stand against you..."
Rhegal’s words echoed through Kurt’s mind like they had been said minutes ago.
Kurt still remembered them.
But to see that they were made good, it was something that he wasn’t expecting.
He looked at the gift he received from K before he had gone back.
Kurt wasn’t intending on using the mask, so he thought of just leaving it in his room or anything like that.
"I don’t know why, but I think you might need it."
Kurt chuckled and smirked.
"You bastard..."
And he wore it.
K had thought of everything, it fit Kurt’s face perfectly, as if it were meant to be used, rather than just stay inside a room, collecting dust.
"GET HIM!" Kurt heard a voice shouting somewhere nearby.
"HE’S GOING TO THE MAIN SQUARE!" Another voice shouted.
"YOU WON’T ESCAPE THIS TIME, IRREGULAR FILTH!" A third voice echoed.
Kurt didn’t think twice after hearing the voices, he put the mask and hid in the shadows of an alley nearby.
There was a group coming out of a street near him, chasing a boy wearing the uniform of the Boston Academy.
But the uniform was ragged, like it had been used for longer than it was needed, and for other purposes than attending to the academy.
Not to mention that it looked slightly larger than the person wearing it.
And an Irregular’s one at that.
He had shaggy, sandy brown hair, and Kurt could swear that, if he ate well enough, he could become a fighter at some point, because he had a thin, but muscular build, even though he was very malnourished.
The group chasing him consisted in five individuals whom Kurt never saw before in his life.
But their uniforms were something that Kurt was very familiar with.
Even if just from the experiences in the [MEMORY FRAGMENT].
’But how are the members of the Association wearing these uniforms here?’ Kurt asked himself, watching the whole scene unfold.
The agents of the Association kept running after the boy, as if they didn’t want to use their abilities.
But one of them looked like he couldn’t take it anymore.
He stopped, and raised his hand.
The agent began releasing some serious amount of blue energy from his hand, and it started taking the shape of a bow and arrow, which he fired towards the boy, releasing five shots, consecutively.
The irregular barely ran, looking like he was going to pass out at any moment.
Kurt let out a sigh, and the next moment, two blackish green circles flew at an incredible speed towards the arrows, shattering every single one of them, and leaving the shooter speechless.
"Wha-"
But before he could finish the question, a mantle of darkness appeared behind him, and a blade appeared from it, piercing the shooter’s chest.
The boy turned around after hearing the commotion, but when he saw the darkness and the first body dropping dead onto the asphalt, he lost the remaining strength he had, passing out on the cold concrete.
***
Kurt was sitting with his back turned to the boy when he woke up, but Kurt’s senses told him that, so he turned around and approached the boy, carrying a small back of groceries in one hand.
"Here, eat and drink. I stole it from the store on the other side of the street."
The boy was still a bit dizzy from everything that had happened, but he took the bag from Kurt’s hand, hesitantly, and began ravaging its contents.
After having eaten and drank enough, the boy looked at Kurt, and only then did he notice his surroundings.
They were on the top of the highest building downtown.
"Wha- How did we get here?" The boy stammered. "What happened to the agents?" He paused, looking at Kurt’s mask. "Who are you?"
Kurt got up and dusted his armor.
"I’m no one. Also, the... Agents won’t be a problem anymore. I dealt with them. As for how we got here, well... I’d rather not answer it for now, okay? Now, do you mind if I ask some questions?"
The boy looked at Kurt, full of suspicion, thought for a few seconds, and answered.
"If you try anything funny, I’ll fry your circuits in a bit. Okay?"
Kurt senses the nervousness in the boy, so he tried to hold a chuckle back, failing almost instantly.
"Deal. Can I ask what’s in my mind, then?"
"Well..." The boy hesitated for a moment. "You did save me from those agents, so I guess I owe you one... Shoot."
"Why are you wearing a BWA uniform? Are you an Irregular from the academy?"
The question took the boy by surprise.
He immediately looked down, wiping his eyes.
"Why are you crying, little man?"
"I’m not!" He glared at Kurt, clearly crying.
Only then Kurt kind of understood what was going on.
The boy was too young to enroll in the academy, he looked like he was no more than fourteen years old, with a shaggy sandy hair, freckles, and glasses.
The boy’s lips bobbed up and down as he fought the tears back.
And after a few moments, he finally managed to speak.
"My brother... He was an awakened, and he was just a few days in the academy when it happened. It was three years ago... Some student had a fight with the Headmaster and killed her. My brother was caught in the crossfire and... He died."
Kurt fell silent after the boy’s story, but broke the silence after a while.
"But... That doesn’t answer why you were chased by the... Agents."
"Well... After the incident, like... A few weeks later, the Ishir set up a reward for the guy I told you before, Kurt Blake, and everyone associated with him. And in the midst of all the ruckus that it raised, Octavius Blake, Kurt’s father, disappeared. One month later, regulars began to disappear all over the country, and..."
"And...?" Kurt didn’t want to listen to the rest of the story, because he already knew what was going to pop out the boy’s tongue.
"The New Dawn Guild took power, and now both regulars and irregulars are targets."
"What’s this New Dawn Guild?" Kurt asked, thinking fast.
Even though he already knew the answer.
As they talked, Kurt came to know the boy’s name.
It was Robby Delaware.
And Kurt had to play it as cool as possible so that he wouldn’t get caught in his pretending.
But it was a shock to know that the arrogant, yet cool guy from Combat class and the incident in the cafeteria had died.
Kurt knew that people died in the crossfire when wielders were fighting.
He had already heard about it several times when he was learning the history of the wielders from his father.
But he never thought he’d be the one to cause it to happen someday.
"So... You wear your brother’s uniform as a form of not forgetting him..." Kurt retorted, after Robby told a bit more about his brother. "But... Why is the uniform so ragged, if you don’t mind me asking...? And why are you so scrawny? You... Don’t have a home?"
Robby’s semblant became grave.
"Didn’t you hear a single thing I told you about New Dawn hunting us along with the regulars?" Robby muttered. "They basically put a target in each and every one of our homes, and they also put a price on our heads. So, every time an agent sees us, it’s just like that earlier..."
Kurt looked at the bottom of the building, to the street, where the bodies of the agents still remained, lifeless, when he had an idea.
"Do you have a hideout, then?"
