It wasn't long until the ferry reached one of Ionia's ports. Y/N was waiting for the unloading process to start as he sat on his bike, adjusting his gloves before looking to the case that rested just behind him. "Our first stop should be Rei's" The boy said, mapping out the plan in his head, which the rider can overview. "Grab everything we need from him, asses the situation of the current system, and pluck every root out accordingly"
"More of a simplified version, but clear all the same" The rider said, though it was clear his head was elsewhere. he then asked his host for a favor. "When it comes time to confront Belial...I want to deal with him personally" There was loads of venom within those last words.
The boy knew these two shared a history with one another, and a pretty bad one at that. "I can agree to that" The boy agreed to those terms before everyone began unloading off the ferry. He drove along with traffic till everything broke off, leaving him isolated on the highway. his destination being one of the neighboring towns away from the city.
Y/N took the time to look at the scenery as he drove down the road. Beautiful, lush trees of all kinds littered the sides of the road, he even spotted a few cherry blossom's on his way. He had to stop by in another nearby town to fill up on gas. Stopping into a gas station, he got off his bike, popping the gas tank open before putting the nozzle in, letting it do its thing.
"Excuse me, young man?" The boy turned to whoever was calling to him. it was an old man, well into his seventies. His hair was slicked back as he wore a pair of golden trimmed sunglasses. The old man was decked out in a pristine white suit. It was was barely noticeable, but there was a bit of scarring around his left eye. "Could you help us by chance?"
The old man gestured towards his vehicle, a 1980's Ford MK3 Escort, which was surprisingly in good condition from a glance. The hood was open as the old mans wife filled up the gas tank. The boy followed the old man as he took a look at the engine. "This shouldn't take long to fix. Do you have any tools?"
"I keep them in the trunk" The boy nods as he went around back, opening the trunk as he grabbed the tool box. The old couple watching the boy work on their engine. He was to focused on what he was doing, failing to realize that the rider was looking at the old man with a familiar, yet uncertain gaze. Something about the old man just felt familiar to the rider.
While the rider was still in his sort of trance like state, Y/N was finished with the repairs as he went to turn the engine on. Turning the key, the engine fired on as it hummed nicely. "Alright, that should keep it running for a good while" The dusted his hands off as the old man walked up to him. "How far do you both plan on going?"
"Oh, we are heading to the mainland. We wanted to see the sights for some time now" The man explain as he went to close the hood of the car, carrying the tool box to the trunk. "Never had a chance till recently. What about you sonny?"
The boy took a moment to answer, looking to the road as he watched a few other cars pass by. "Home... I needed to take care of a few things but, never got the chance to do so. No better time than now, I guess" He looked to the old man, giving a soft smile.
The old man smiled back, walking over to the boy as he pats his shoulder. "I'm sure your family would be proud of you for doing so now than never" The boy thought about those words. He hoped they were proud of him despite what he had to do.
The old couple began to take off now that their car was running again, leaving the boy to go back to his bike to pay for the gas. However, before he could, the old man called out to him. "One more thing. Be sure you both look out for each other out there"
The boy gave nod as he finally paid for the gas, only for those words to settle in as he quickly looked to the fleeing car in shock. That old man knew, and probably knew more than he let on just from those words alone. "How did he?..."
"...We should get moving...We can worry about it later" While the rider wanted to pursue them, they had a mission to accomplish. The boy hopped onto his bike before he once again took off down the highway.
He pushed the thought of the old man aside for now, focusing back on the task at hand. After a few minutes, he spotted a road sign indicating how far some towns and cities were. the two he took note of was Ionian city, and Valoran city, both being relatively close together.
Seeing those two names brought his memory of home to him. The small home in the middle of the woods that he used to love. His thoughts were cut off when the bike itself took the lead, splitting off from the highway, much to Y/N's confusion. "What are you doing? This road leads to Valoran"
The bike only responded with a rev of its engine, stunning the boy as it kept its new destination in mind. A few miles down, and the bike pulled off into a trail road, stopping shortly after. The boy got off as it revved again, adjusting its position to face the forest.
Y/N knew exactly where he was being lead to, and decided to go along with it. The boy walked through the lush forest, taking in the familiar scenery and the wonderful scent he had missed. After a minute of walking, he looked down to see dead patches of grass. These patches formed a trail, one that resembled small foot prints.
He hesitated to follow them, but gave in as the trail lead him to a steep hill. Near its base, was a huge patch of burned grass and plants, spreading out like an explosion had occurred. They remember this spot all to well. "This is..."
"...Where we started" The rider finished his partners words. This was where it all started. Their first encounter with Varkus, their first transformation, and their vow to seek vengeance for the ones that fell to that demons hands.
The boy knew where to go from here, climbing up the hill as he walked deeper in the woods. he soon came up to a familiar clearing however, it wasn't like the rest of the area. All plant life was burned away, leaving a charred, dead landscape. At its center was charred home, still standing, but heavily damaged.
"...Home..." The boy had a saddened look in his eyes, as he looked upon the place he was raised in for most of his life. He slowly yet hesitantly walked to the home, walking inside to see whatever remained of the living space. The place was a wreck inside, much like it was outside.
He carefully maneuvered around, making his way to the center of the living room towards the broken table. His eyes catching the sight of a card on the ground. he was surprised to see it was still mostly intact. He leaned down to pick it up, the card back showing it to be Yu-Gi-Oh card.
Flipping the card over, the semi-discernable image of Elemental Hero Burstinatrix could be seen. He looked to the broken table as a memory played. A younger Y/N and his little sister playing a game of duel monsters. The little panda vastayan beating her older brother with the very same card he currently held.
He carefully placed the card into one of the inside pockets of his jacket, taking one last look around before he left the building. After taking a few steps away from the home, the boy doubled over in pain as he gripped his chest. "Y/N!" The rider shouted in worry at his partners sudden spike in pain. The boys groans and heavy breathing soon subsided as he sat their on his knees, catching his breath. "Everything ok?..."
The boy took a moment to respond, trying to wrap his head around the sudden searing pain he had experienced. "...Yeah, I'll be fine.." The rider wasn't really convinced, but chose not to press about it. The boy slowly stood up, finding his balance. "We should get going" The boy soon began to make his way back to his bike.
As the boy took the way he had came from, the rider took another look, more closer look into the occurrence that happened not to long ago. If the rider had his original body, his eyes would have widened in alarm. 'Its happening faster than anticipated... I may need to make that detour later'
It didn't take long before Y/N found his way back to his trusty bike, which hummed at him lowly. "I'm ok... Thank you for bringing us here bud" The boy says, patting his bike which responded with another hum. Getting on his trusty mechanical steed, he took off back onto the highway to his original destination.
The drive to Ionia city was quiet the rest of the way there. None of them said anything, only the sound of the wind and the rumbling of the bike. Although, the boy was now beginning to wonder about the riders past. we wasn't exactly told much over the past decade and a half they had been together.
For now, that could wait as he had past a welcome sign to the city not to long after. This side of the city was more of a business area. buildings ranging from big to small, with many alleyways in-between, busy streets filled with people going to and from work.
Y/N's destination was in one of these alleyways, as he quickly turned off from the road into one. Slowing his bikes speed before stopping, he looked to a set of metal doors which lead into a rather suspicious looking pawn shop. "Lets hope he's home"
The boy hopped off his bike, grabbing his case before covering it with a nearby tarp. He walked up to the doors to open them, only to find that they were locked. He thought about just melting the lock off, but he then quickly remembered another way in. He looked to his left, right at two trashcans.
He walked over to them, removing one of the lids to find a single trash bag inside of it. The reason he wasn't cringing at the smell, was because there wasn't one. The boy took the, rather light, trash bag out of the can, and spotted a key at the bottom, making him scoff with a smirk. "You always leave your spares in odd places"
Reaching down, he picked up the key before putting the bag back inside the trashcan. Walking over towards the door, he unlocked it using the key as he made his way inside, locking the door behind him. Taking a look around, it looked like your typical pawn shop, lots of trinkets and vintage items.
The boy walked over to the counter, which was a glass casing with various things inside of it. A cash register rested on top of it, and a little bell in the center. The boy pressed the bell, ringing out wit a little ding. The boy heard some shuffling coming from the back as he looked to the doorway that had lead to it.
"Sorry, but we are closed, I'm gonna have to ask you...to...leave.." The supposed owner had came from the back to tell the boy to leave, slowly stopping on his words as he got a good look at who was in his shop. He was a tall middle aged man with messy green hair and golden eyes. He wore a white button shirt with a blue blazer over top, paired with brown jeans. "Well I'll be..."
The two shared a smile as Y/N placed his case on the ground, the shop owner coming around as the two shared a long hug. "Good to see you kid! I barely recognize you now!" He said before they pulled away as he gripped the boys shoulders, looking him up and down in disbelief. "Your so big"
"Kinda what happens when you get older, Rei. It has been a good few years since I left" The two shared a quick laugh as Rei let go of the boys shoulders. "Figured you would have gone into R&D over at at least one the many laboratories in the city"
"Well you know what they say, family first, buisness second. Especially since my sis needs the tuition for collage over in Valoran" The boy simply rolled his eyes at his friend. Rei then gestured towards the case. "Speaking of buisness" He then gestured for him to follow into the back of the shop.
Y/N picked up the case as he followed him to the back. this room was more or less a makeshift home for Rei. Furniture, a fridge, table and chairs and a few posters strung up. However, that was not what they were worried about right now. Rei moved to wards the bathroom as he lifted up the floor board, revealing a ladder that lead downwards. "Lets talk buisness shall we?"
"After you" Y/N swung the case over his back as he and Rei climbed down the ladder into a pitch black room. The lights soon kicked on to reveal many fire arms lining the walls, cabinets which no doubt held many different kinds of bullets and casings.
The two walked over to a large table, in which Y/N placed the case on top of. Unlocking the case, he opened it up to reveal his two firearms that he brought along with him. A revolver, and an assault rifle, both of which were pretty high specked compared to the ones the boy previously used.
Rei got a good look at them, whistling out as he ran his hand against the rifle, smiling proudly. "They look exactly how they did the day I gave them to you" He said, reminiscing of the good times they had practicing with these weapons. Rei the looked to the boy, already having a guess to why he was here if he brought these two. "So. Who are you hunting this time? Is it Varkus?"
"No, Varkus hasn't been active for a while so I have some time. I'm hunting a bit of a...bigger target" The boy looked up to his friend, his eyes flashing a fiery orange for but a moment. "Luckily, he's the source of the problems in this very city"
Rei grew a grin as he pats him on the shoulder. If his friend is gonna go hunting, then he was gonna help however he could. "Lets get you both stocked up then. This is gonna be one hell of a hunt"
(And done! Wooo! That took a little longer than I had hoped, but hey, here we are. I do apologize for the long wait, summer heat's picking up and work has been tiring. The old think tank runs slower during this time of the year so updates will be a little slower. Anywho! With that being said, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, leave a vote, leave a comment, and I will see you all next chapter. Ciao!)