"Before we go on any longer, there's a question I want to ask you." Jay announced. Sitting across from Boss at an old wooden table, he found slight annoyance in how Boss rested his legs on the table. "What...was my father like?"
"A far better leader than you." Boss answered almost instantly. "Although, I'll attribute that to the fact that your father was forced into a war where even the slightest sign of weakness would get you killed. One of the reasons he assigned Arazia over there as his personal bodyguard. Like how you have Zaraph."
"He quickly adopted the ideal of, the ends justify the means. Without them, I doubt he'd have made it far. His Infinium was...eccentric, far less organized, like a pack of stray dogs." Bos raised his katana and let it rest on his shoulder as he reminisced. "They were the only group that had ever made me fear for my life."
"And that's mostly because the exosuit users of the past were far stronger than those of today. Exosuit users your father was able to effectively lead throughout most of World War Three. But as all things do, it came to an end. Here's the part of your father's story that Hellman or Arazia probably never told you."
"By the time World War Three had started, your father was already twenty-seven, which was around one-hundred and fifty years ago. As you know, there are drugs and experimental procedures to extend one's life and slow the rate at which they age."
"Wait, wait wait. What the hell are you going on about?" Jay interrupted. "My father only died around twenty years ago." The gears on Jay's head began to turn as he went over all this new information. "Are you telling me he was one hundred and fifty when he died."
"For as brilliant and fearless your father was, there was only one thing that he ever feared. Death." Moving his feet off the table, Boss sat properly at his seat now. "His fear of death led him to subjecting his body to experiment after experiment in hopes of finding the secrets to immortality."
"It was all because of that stupid little shit!" Arazia added angrily. "Did nothing but feed him lies and manipulate him."
"Someone manipulated my father?" Jay asked confused. "Who"
"Cane, the one who orchestrated the war between Infinium and Mariquel. As you know, the beginning of World War Thee marks the start of the age of exosuit users. The first half of World War Three mostly consisted of the world major powers fighting with each other and exosuit users forming their own groups together."
"It was during that time when I first created Apocalyptic Returning, your father created Infinium and Sternum created Mariquel. Then after fifty years passed, came the second part of World War Three when Cane began to manipulate both organizations into fighting each other. That is when World War Three truly began."
"The war between Infinium and Mariquel would have happened eventually even without Cane's interference." Arazia informed. "Sternum is the textbook definition of a narcissist. He believes the world was created for him to conquer and so he created Mariquel to do so. But your father didn't like that."
"Your father had his moment of cruelty, but in the same intensity he feared death, he believed in freedom. Which is what Cane used to incite him into a war with Sternum."
"I don't understand, I've searched through Infinium's archives of World War Three for years." Jay said with a bit of excitement in his voice. "And I've never come across information even mentioning some of the things you're talking about."
"It's a past we all would be better off with if left forgotten." Boss declared.
"Okay" Jay accepted. "But there's one thing I don't understand." He said, causing Boss to look up from the table at him. "How was Cane able to do everything you said. There's no way one person has the ability of doing everything you said he did."
"But he did." Boss said. "All because of what the abilities his exosuit granted him."
"What were those?" Jay asked.
"In simple terms, he could shapeshift into whoever he wanted. He could also use his energy to manipulate someone's brain." Arazia explained. "This would allow him to alter memories, influence thoughts, instigate one's emotions and commit other violations on the unconscious mind."
"The way he was able to do this to your father was because he somehow able to kill and replace Commander Deathswitch. He used that position to spread lie after lie to your father and used his abilities to make him believe them." As Arazia spoke, his tone got more and more frustrated. "Right under my fucking nose!"
Taking a deep breath, Arazia calmed himself down. "If it wasn't for Boss here, none of us would have ever known the wiser."
What Arazia said caused Jay to look from him to Boss with a surprised expression growing on his face. "Just, what does he mean by that?" Jay asked slowly.
"It was during the time me and your father were having a meeting, like the one we are having now. It was to discuss our final assault of Mariquel HQ." Boss explained. "Now, I had fought Deathswitch multiple times before during the first part of World War Three. Even conversed with him a couple times."
"Thats how, the moment I looked into his eyes, I knew it wasn't him. So, I tried to kill him right then and there. But at the time Commander Hellman and the other Commanders interfered, only letting me take an arm of hisinstead of his head. And in all the chaos and explaining, he managed to escape."
"Unluckily for him, your father wasn't just going to let him get away unpunished. He sent some of his Commanders after him and after a long fight they cornered him. Where he once again escaped...directly into the hands of Malachi and Scout. After all he had already endured, he was no match for the two and died thousands of feet below ground."
"That was the end of Cane, then shortly after Sternum was eliminated by Generation Zero and World War Three was over." Boss raised his sword in a reverse grip and stabbed the tip of the blade into the ground. "Your father is the reason the world isn't under Sternum's authoritarian rule."
Standing up from his seat, Boss ripped his katana out of the floor. "But here we are again. The resurgence of Mariquel sending shockwaves throughout the world once again." Lowering his head, memories began to flash through his mind. "Bring me the one that killed Deadeye, and I will help you."
"That is the condition for my assistance in your war." Boss said as he turned and walked past Arazia to the front door of the cabin. After opening the door, he walked out to where Scout, Wolf and Zaraph stood. In the distance, an exosuit user with a silver exosuit and green energy walked through the trees to reach them.
"Let's go." Boss ordered Scout. Following his orders, Scout placed a hand on Wolfs shoulder, then Boss's. Letting out a deep breath, Scout teleported the three away.
"Fuck were they doing here?" The exosuit user called out.
Turning his head, Zaraph shouted into the cabin. "Krejit's here."
"I thought I told Hellman to let you get some rest." Jay said while walking out the cabin's front door.
"Don't need it." Krejit answered. "And he also told me that we were going to war soon with Mariquel, that true?"
"Unfortunately" Jay sighed. "It's why I ordered you back here instead of letting you finish your assignment in the facility."
"Then you must have a mission for me?" Krejit speculated.
"We'll get to that later." Jay began walking down the stone pathway that led from the forest to the cabin. "Right now, I just need a minute, then we can go over everything I have planned." Stopping at the tree line, he took a deep breath of the fresh air.
"Can't tell you how much I've missed this." Barrio let out as she admired the view of the sun from where she stood, waist deep in ocean water. Taking a couple more steps, she reached the black sand beach where Rampage and Jack already stood. "Being down there for so long, fucks with your perception of reality a bit."
"Take a second, enjoy the scenery, cause after this point we have work to do." Jack informed. "Still need to pick up two more of our idiots out of retirement, then we gotta-"
"Why?" Rampage asked simply.
Slightly annoyed by Rampage's interruption, Jack simply turned and looked at him for a moment. "Second coming of Mariquel's on the horizon. They've got new faces, new technology and a major grudge against all those that opposed them during World War Three. Putting us right smack on top of their shitlist."
"And that's a problem how?" Rampage questioned. "Most of their big hitters are either dead or locked up."
"Thats where you'd be wrong." Jack said smugly. "From what I've been able to gather, their General Crow is back with a new posse of idiots by his side. New faces and old. It also seems he was able to recruit Rez along with the head of a certain Cartel."
"Atroz Muerte." Barrio whispered, a slight smirk forming across her face. "That might end up being a good thing for us. Still haven't paid him back for what he did to Karma."
"So, when do we start?" Rampage asked.
On the verge of answering th qustion in a way that would confuse Rampage, Jack stopped himself. All Jack could do for a moment was stand there and contemplate how to break the news to them. "I didn't know how to let the two of you know but, Deadeye was killed last week."
"What?" Barrio let out in disbelief as Rampage stood silently. "Deadeye's...dead."
"An agent of Infinium got the better of him in a fight and killed him while his exosuit was off." Jack informed. "Boss doesn't want any of us to interfere until Infinium brings him the one that killed him."
"You're telling me that him of all people, is expecting us just to sit back after one of our own is killed." Rampage voiced calmly.
"Oh no...no, no, no." Jack laughed. "He's expecting us to not interfere in the war between Infinium and Mariquel. He never said anything about finding the one who killed Deadeye." After taking a deep breath to calm down his excitement, he turned to face the ocean. "After I get Ace and Four, I'm going to find out who killed Deadeye."
"So, go." Jack watched as a wave swept over his foot and receded back into the ocean. "Go back home and bide time, I'm sure everyone would appreciate seeing you two again. I'll catch up."
Sitting on a stool in the middle of the coffee shop, Crow stared down at his coffee that had a heart in the middle of it. Surrounding him sat dozens of people, all of which were far too scared to stand from their seats and run. Lifting his mask ever so slightly, he raised the coffee and took a sip from it.
Enjoying the sweet flavor from the multiple sugar packets he added to the coffee, Crow took another sip. Amid his last sip of his coffee, the glass front door to the shop shattered inward, sending glass flying everywhere. Then, a moment later, multiple swords made of yellow energy pierced through the windows.
Each one of the energy swords pierced into the body of one of the coffee shops patrons, leaving Crow sitting alone. Placing his coffee back down onto the table, he turned his head to see Rez standing in the doorway. Not needing to see her face, Crow could tell that there was a smirk on her face.
"The General of Mariquel himself enjoying coffee in the middle of nowhere Mexico." Rez joked in a sarcastic tone. "What has the world come too!"
"You talk as if I'm above doing such things." Crow said as an exosuit user walked out from the back of the coffee shop to the cash register.
"One of your lackey's?" Rez questioned.
"A fellow member of Mariquel, as you now are." Crow reminded Rez in an annoyed tone as the exosuit user placed another two coffee cups on his table. "Her names Magna, she used to be a Level twelve in Exocore, as you once were."
Magna sported a white exosuit with light blue energy running through it. Sitting down on the seat across from Crow, she slid one of the coffee cups to him. "Here's some sugar." She said while handing Crow a couple of sugar packets.
"Thanks" Crow thanked as he began opening the packets and pouring their contents into his coffee. "You wanna sit down and have some, he's gonna be another couple minutes."
"And who would that be?" Grabbing a stool, Rez kicked a body out of the way and placed it at Crow's table.
"Do you remember the last time a member of Apocalyptic Returning died?" Crow stirred his coffee with a spoon.
"Thats what is about huh." Rez sighed. "I think it was around eighty-nine years ago wasn't it, when Muerte killed Karma."
"That would be correct." Crow confirmed. "A short seven-minute battle resulting in the death of Apocalyptic Returning member Karma causing the subsequent retirement of Mitch. Another result of this event would be a battle known as The Two-Hour Massacre, where half of Apocalyptic Returning rampaged through Mexico, destroying most of the nation's major cities and virtually annihilating Muerte's Cartel."
"Every exosuit user under his command was executed except two. All the power Muerte had been building up over the course of World War Three came crashing down in a Two-Hour period." Stopping for a long moment, Crow took a sip of his coffee before continuing. "Turns out that like us, Atroz hasn't just been hiding all these years as was speculated."
"And let me guess." Rez interrupted. "He's not happy about what they did to him."
"Lucky us." Crow set his Coffee down onto the table but upon noticing something behind Rez, he picked it back up. "Speaking of the devil." He whispered, causing Rez to turn her head.
Standing in the doorway of the coffee shop was Atroz Muerte. His exosuit was black with red energy running through it. Over his exosuit, he wore tattered black robes. Under his hood he wore a human skull like a mask. In the dark eye sockets floated multiple dots of red energy that acted like his eyes, allowing him to perceive multiple viewpoints of information at once.
"Even though it was an Infinium agent that killed Deadeye, I still believe there is a high probability they join forces in order to fight against us. That would be a worst-case scenario for us." Crow explained. "It's inevitable at this point that they will interfere in our war. Meaning the best-case scenario for us would be a free for all between the three groups."
"And our best chances of coming out victorious in each of those scenarios is recruiting those that aren't on good terms with either of our opponents."
Atroz took a couple steps forward until he was looking over Rez from behind. "I'll deal with Boss and those bastards he calls family." He declared in his distorted voice.
"Pffft" Rez could not help but laugh at what she considered so ridiculous. "Look, I don't mean to shit on this little parade you got going on. But how do you plan on pulling that off. Karma was on the weaker side of Apocalyptic Returning members in terms of raw power. She pales in comparison to monsters like Rampage, Boss, Azrael or Monroe."
"It's simple." Atroz leaned down to meet Rez face to face. "Never fight more than one of them at a time. They are far stronger together than would be expected."
"Okay" Rez said nervously as she turned away from Atroz. "Then, what now."
After finishing his coffee, Crow placed the cup back onto the table and stood up from his seat. "Now, we prepare for war!"
"Who are you and what the hell do you want?" Nero sat perched on the rubble of a destroyed building. Behind him, standing on a higher piece of rubble was Malachi. Surrounding Nero was multiple rifles of energy that all aimed at Malachi.
"My Name is Malachi." Malachi stated as he stepped forward with his hands behind his back, unfazed by Nero's display of power. "I'm the head of a small group called Renegade that provides aid to those in need and fights for peace. As for what I want? I simply want to help you achieve what you desire."
"Help you achieve what you desire?" Nero repeated as he turned his head to get a look at Malachi. Before Malachi could get another step in, Nero raised his arm and pointed his shotgun directly into Malachi's face. "In return for what?"
Placing his finger on the barrel of the shotgun, Malachi slowly moved it out of his face. "All you must do is join my group, allow me to train you in the art of energy manipulation. I can tell you are quite new at this after all. How long have you had you had your exosuit."
"Hmmmm." Nero thought for a moment. "Couple days probably."
"A couple days." Malachi thought as he examined the rifles in the air surrounding Nero. "This level of manipulation and he has only had his exosuit for a couple days."
"Well then, what do you say?" Malachi outstretched his hand towards Nero for a handshake. "What is it you desire."
"There's two exosuit users I want you to kill." Nero explained. "I'll join your little congregation if you help me become strong enough to kill those two."
"Ah...that is, certainly something within my capabilities." Malachi hesitated. "Who might these exosuit users be?"
"Don't know their names. Can tell you what kind of abilities they had though." Nero answered.
"Go on." Malachi urged.
"The first one had a black exosuit with red energy, that seemed to be able to move through shadows." Nero stood up from where he was perched.
"That would be Reaper." Malachi informed. "He's the top agent of an organization called Infinium. His abilities involve darkness manipulation and energy manipulation. Training you to his level is certainly possible, but a battle against a veteran like him may be extremely difficult."
"Don't care how difficult it may be." Nero turned around and walked right up to Malachi. "The other had a silver exosuit with black energy. I don't know for sure, but I think I saw chains coming out of their wrist."
"Ah, and that would be Gravedigger." Malachi forcibly said calmly as he was in reality, quite panicked. "Sorry but...that is not someone I can help you against."
"Why?" Nero questioned simply.
"Gravedigger is, the one that currently stands at the top of the food chain. He swears his allegiance to no group nor faction." Malachi explained. "To sum him up, he is a god walking among mortals. It would be impossible for-"
"I didn't ask for his fucking biography." Nero took a step forward after his comment that he let out in an annoyed tone. "All I ask is that you make me strong enough to defeat those two. Or is that not something within your capabilities?"
Nero's backhanded remark got a chuckle out of Malachi as he backed away from Nero. "I look forward to working with you Nero."