Awakening Chapter 6: "Hello, Embarrassment. My Old Friend "
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*After the devastating defeat of Mr F and his gang, police arrived and arrested all of them, and anti-power restraints were used to handcuff the behemoth woman, big Martha. She tried her best to break free from her cuffs, but to no avail the handcuffs are made of a special type of metal which had a unique property to negate and weaken B-humans.*
"Oi, ultra what are you doing?" Jackson inquired, his braids swinging as he tilted his head.
Ultra crouched beside big Martha's unconscious form and pulled out a tiny stamp. "Stamping the villain." She replied, stamping Martha's massive head and then Mr F's.
"Why...?" Jackson blinked. His curiosity and confusion increased with each passing second.
"For Ranking up, of course.",*ultra took a deep breath before she continued.*
All villains/criminals get scanned for stamps! Each stamp contains information about the hero who arrested or defeated them. This info will later on be submitted into the Heroes organization database under that Hero's file, and they'll slowly gain points to rank up!" She had a subtle smile on her face as she sighed. Don't you remember yesterday's H.O. class?..." ultra replied, gazing up at Jackson.
Tony, bandaged and leaning against a light pole, chimed in. "Yeah, don't you remember, Jackson?" His voice cracked slightly but quickly straightened, feigning confidence.
Jackson crossed his arms, clearly unconvinced. "I freaking know that! Just explain to me how the ranking system works!." Despite the sarcasm, Jackson was genuinely intrigued.
Ultra clapped her hands, thrilled
"There are 5 main ranks: Copper, silver, gold, diamond and sapphire. And to move up, we have to complete missions or defeat villains to gain points—like 100 points for Copper 3! There are, of course, other ways to gain points, but those were the most common ways."
"Wait, wait, wait," Jackson interrupted, holding up his hands. "You're telling me I have to take down ninety-nine more villains before I even sniff Copper 3? What am I, a video game character?"
"Sounds easy," Tony said, leaning against a lamppost, his confident facade cracking. "I mean, uh, who's counting anyway?" Ultra replied, her voice slightly timid. "It makes sense if you thought about it. We need to deserve our ranks."
"And what's our rank, exactly?" Tony asked, a hopeful look in his big eyes.
"We're 99 away from entering the system, and then we will be Copper 3...." ultra replied, her blue eyes avoiding the boy's gaze. "It's allowed to use a mix of many methods to gain points and rank up faster! Like 50 missions and 50 villains for Copper 3." Ultra's voice cracked before her hands covered her face in utter embarrassment.
As they left the scene, Jackson sighed. "Man, ninety-nine villains just to enter the system. I better start hitting the gym more or something."
"We'll need a miracle, not a gym", Tony muttered.
"Gosh! This sucks!" Tony said in unison alongside Ray as the scene switches to
Ray, Ruka, and Sami who just started their mission.
"Didn't Mrs Sarah mention that the site is close!." Ray sighed heavily; his shoulders dropped, his legs wobbly, and his expressions were everything but happy.
"Close as in in the range of our city, Ray.", *Ruka muttered, she stretched her arms and let out a soft yawn. The trio had been walking for 2 hours straight with no breaks, restrooms or anything of such leisure.*, "Besides, what happened during your previous mission?",*Ruka turned her head to face him. Her expressions remained aloof and nonchalant despite the concern in her voice.
*Ray shook his head; he straightened himself as well before answering her.*, "I don't want to talk about it right now.", *Ruka rolled her eyes at his dismissive answer; her concern faded and was replaced with a strong sense of annoyance.*"You better talk later, or I'm ruining your hair.*
*Ray's eyes widened at her threat before he aggressively nodded his head. Ruka wasn't the type of person to deliver false threats; if she said she'd do something, she would, but the opposite is true as well.*
"Enough of it! We're here!.", *Sammi interrupted, he stood before the construction site.*
*An ominous aura enveloped the area despite how normal it seemed. The area surrounding the construction site was covered with many warning signs, yellow tapes, and barbed wires. Most importantly, the gate was sealed, shut with strong chains and a big lock. *
*Ruka crossed her arms, she nodded and then looked in Ray's direction.*, "Alright, Do your thing, Ray.", *Ray narrowed his eyes at her, confusion obvious in his tone.*, "Do...what, exactly...?"
*she returned him the confusion as she stared at him for a solid minute.*, "I don't know...maybe cut the wires off with your laser-themed powers? Ever thought of that Ray?", *Ruka questioned him, she shook her head in disappointment at the sheer idiocy he had.*
*Ray's eyes widened; he was obviously nervous. Ray, fidgeted with his fingers before he answered her.*"Well...I'm kinda 'low' on 'juice' right now because I didn't have time to recharge it since my last mission....and I'm saving whatever's left for the reformer we're presumably gonna encounter... so." *Ray gave her a cutesy look; he hoped that this act would at least get on her good side and hopefully avoid her rage.*
*Ruka was ready to crash out on him when they suddenly heard the voice of metal breaking and then a loud thud on the ground.*
"Who needs stupid lasers when we got these big boys!", *Sami managed to break the locks; he flexed his muscles as Ruka gave him a thumbs up while Ray received a massive bump in the head instead.*
"Don't ever forget Recharging your juice, Ray!" *She scolded him.*, "Understood ma'am!", *Ray nodded, his eyes furring with determination!*
*The construction site was filled with debris, scattered tools cast away, and unfinished structures.
It was eerie, quiet and unsettling the site of a place that's supposed to be loud and full of people, yet somehow Ray found a weird sense of calmness in it.*
*as soon the trio entered the abandoned construction site, they were met with a horrible smell, almost resembling that of a decaying carcass.*
*Sami groaned in disgust; the horrible smell burned through his nose, and his eyes teared. As Sami fought for fresh air.*
"What the fuck is this smell!? Martin's room's smells better than this!", *Despite how much the smell disturbed him, Sami managed to get used to it in the end.*
*Ruka smirked Mischievously. Her voice is full of sass and pride.*
"Imagine not wearing a mask, right Ray?",*she elbowed the clueless Ray who immediately caught the situation.* "Right right, imagine!"
"Ahahaha!" *they laughed smugly in unison.*
(The masks Ruka and Ray wore are support tools which they specifically demanded. It did more than just look cool and conceal their identity. It had a feature of filtering bad smells, dirt, etc. from the air.)
*Sami giggled at their nature, rolling his eyes. As the trio started to search around the area, Sami muttered to himself.*, "I'm definitely getting one of those."
*A shadow peeked from behind a forklift. Its figure is barely visible in the dim light. It released a subtle growl, and it's red-eyes glew lightly.*
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End of chapter 6.