As Archer's black leather gloves gripped onto the handles of the bike he headed to the nearest reporting of one of these monstrous beetles. He still lacked the proper equipment he would have liked, still bogged down in paperwork apparently. Hence why he was equipped with a cheap hoodie, a motorcycle helmet, and a leather jacket made for seduction.
At least I can kill these things with my bare hands. Archer thought. These monsters were similar to those from the dungeons. Archer assumed that they were taken from dungeons and experimented on, made stronger than they usually would be.
Though not insanely strong, he assumed a B-rank student could take one on, who knows how many an actual adult could handle? Which made him wonder if they were purposefully made to lack too much power as their purpose was in the end simply to be a distraction.
Archer checked his phone again and studied the reports. It seemed that the distraction was indeed working, no heroes were near enough to help yet and it seemed that no one was focusing on where Amadeus was now heading. But Archer had a feeling that he would be returning to his base of operations.
Deal with this next one and then head back over there. Archer decided as he heard the crawling and screeching noises of the monster he was approaching. Realizing that it was on the other side of the building he quickly turned a sharp right and raced off to the other side of the building.
Not a moment too soon either, as the monster had just spotted its victim through a building window and had begun to break in. Quickly driving by with one outstretched hand, grabbed the tibia of the beetle and dragged the monster away from the window and hurled it back onto the streets.
As it lay sprawled on its back kicking its legs in the air Archer drove toward it. Upon driving next to it, he grabbed the creature by the head and increased his speed on the bike. Grinding the beetle across the pavement as he drove around in doughnuts he could hear and feel the shell of the insect breaking beneath his grip.
After the tenth spin, he stopped the bike and looked at his hand that once gripped the monster now held a tennis ball-sized gemstone. Looking at the remnants of the beetle he saw the corpse slowly dissolving and leaving behind only a few shell pieces and a chipped-off horn. The actual loot of the creature.
Archer pondered for a moment, clearly both creatures were dungeon monsters that had been experimented on. But what he was more curious about was how they were hidden in the first place. They were too big to be hidden normally, he thought back to how they looked.
Perhaps the fleshy-like parts were there because of it. If they were anything like real beetles, then they would start off as larvae, which would have far smaller eggs that would be easy to hide. Larva also tended to have a meatiness that regular insects lacked.
The theory that they were eggs that rapidly grew into beetles made some sense. Archer decided to pursue that subject matter later. He turned back towards the building where the beetle was attacking. The resident of the home poked his head out hesitantly now that the noise had subsided.
He then looked at Archer in the motorcycle helmet with caution. Archer tilted his head towards him before lightly tossing the gemstone at him. Blinking in surprise the man found that he now had a valuable magic gemstone in front of him.
"Th-thank you." He called out as Archer drove off on the bike.
Archer now turned the bike towards the direction of the townhouses, as he drove he wondered if he would be able to cut off Amadeus in time. After a number of minutes he closed in on where he thought Amadeus's base was before he heard more clattering of insect legs.
Bounding across the corner was another beetle, underneath the helmet Archer gave a small grin as he wondered how he would tackle this one. Over the summer he had found his strength increasing and aside from that poacher, he hadn't had much field experience lately. Tonight was perfect to let loose a little and have fun.
Archer then had to slow down his bike as someone else tackled the beetle first. Archer recognized him, Jarold Walker, the S-rank from the school that tried to nab Esme the other night.
Archer watched as Jarold swung his longsword sideways and lopped off the front two legs of the beetle. As the creature toppled forward, now lacking its front support, Jarold followed up with a forward thrust that pierced through the head. Jarold kept his sword embedded as he watched the body vanish and drop its loot.
"Same as the other two." Jarold said aloud before he turned back towards Archer, sword pointed towards him, "Halt."
Archer slowed the bike to a small trot as he crept towards Jarold. Jarold then took an aggravated step forward, "I said stop moving." Jarold ordered in a lower tone.
Archer parked the bike and slowly got off it. I guess I have to get past him. Archer thought as he began to saunter towards Jarold. S-rank huh? He thought.
"Do you have a death wish or are you just stupid?" Jarold sneered as he saw that the stranger in front of him began to beckon for Jarold to come forward, "Stupid it is." Jarold said as he was more than happy to oblige this stranger.
As they neared each other each one taking stock of their opponent, they both sensed the presence of someone else. The two looked up towards the rooftops and saw another leaping across the rooftops. Amadeus.
Archer internally thought to himself. Just when it was getting good. Archer quickly backed up and remounted the bike and drove right past Jarold, eyes never taken off Amadeus. Jarold let Archer drive past as he himself sensed something wrong with Amadeus.
He had never met the man yet, but from the looks of it and the context of everything, he was willing to bet that this man was Amadeus. With one bound he landed atop the roof and began to chase after Amadeus.
With one Jarold Walker suddenly chasing after Amadeus, Amadeus was understandably shaken. Looking down at the road, he then saw a man driving a motorcycle following along with them. Damn it! Amadeus thought, he had been so preoccupied returning back to base that he failed to notice the two earlier.
Who were they? He had no idea. All he knew was that they were after him and probably worked with the police. If he had known or noticed them earlier he would have given them a wide berth and snuck past them. It's fine, he would reach his base quickly and escape there.
Glancing back he saw that Jarold was now actually gaining on him. Amadeus was now panicked, he wasn't going to be able to outrun him at this rate. Digging into his pocket he pulled out another contingency. A blue vial.
He stared at the vial and hesitated for a moment, he still hadn't completed the formula yet. But as Jarold got closer, he decided that he may as well risk it. Uncorking the vial he quickly chugged the contents down.
Jarold was confused as he nearly caught up to Amadeus who now had stopped and was keeled over. Jarold slowed his run to a walking pace as he approached the man.
"Are you dying on me?" He asked crossing his arms looking at the man curled into a ball. His expression changed when he saw a pair of wings sprout from the man's back and erupt through his clothes.
Amadeus immediately screamed out in pain as he flapped his wings twice before soaring up into the sky and hurtling away from Jarold.
"Shit!" Jarold cursed as he began to run after him again.
Amadeus laughed as he expanded the distance between the two and headed towards his base. By the time Jarold caught up Amadeus would have grabbed all his research and escaped into hiding. There was no stopping him now.
As he landed before the townhouses, he had a massive grin plastered on his face. However, before he could take a step forward he heard the roar of a motorbike. Whipping his head around Amadeus saw the man on the motorbike turning the corner and moving directly towards him.
But before Archer could make the distance, he heard more clattering behind him. Taking an annoyed sigh he looked back and saw another large beetle bearing down on him. Fed up Archer hit the brake on the bike and as it slid to a stop, the beetle struck its horn down upon him.
With one smooth motion Archer kicked the bike up and used it to block the blow, causing the back wheel to snap off as he did so. Archer then proceeded to smash the remnants of the bike upon the beetle until both it and the bike became a crumpled version of themselves.
Archer took a quick look at the remains of his bike still in his hands and tossed it to the ground as he turned back towards where Amadeus was and found him missing. Archer calmly walked his way over to where Amadeus once stood and then looked down directly at the grate he had seen earlier. Without a second thought he lifted up the grate and jumped in.
Amadeus hurriedly grabbed everything he could and stuffed it into a duffel bag. Hard drives, notes, and packages of hard-to-get ingredients. Anything that he needed he stuffed into the bag. Still there was so much more he needed to grab, but no time. They were so well hidden that nobody should find them. He took a moment to wince in pain as his wings throbbed. He really should have finished that formula first.
Amadeus then had to turn around as he heard the hatch to his base slam open. When he turned around he almost wished he hadn't, the man in the motorcycle helmet poked his head out and stared down Amadeus.
Instinctively Amadeus threw himself away from the man, his back slamming into the wall, "Stay back!" He shouted as the man calmly crawled out of the hatch and began to close in on him.
"Fine! You made me do this!" He shouted as he slammed a hand down onto his laptop, which began to glow bright red. Then his computer glowed a similar colour.
Archer had to now take pause as he stared at the electronic devices that were now not only glowing red but also sounded like an alarm. Having a bad feeling about what those were indicating that a bomb was about to detonate.
"I rigged this entire thing to explode! It's filled with Koal energy cells! Enough firepower to blow up this entire street!" Amadeus shouted as he smashed through the wall behind him. This destruction had now completely awakened Amadeus' unwitting neighbours, who understandably screamed as this winged man smashed through their homes.
Thankfully he ignored the scared and bewildered inhabitants and flew out into the starry night sky, clutching a bag to his chest as he flew. Archer as much as he wished he could go after Amadeus, was busy gathering all the Kaol-charged items.
Koal charged? Seriously talk about overkill for a power source. Archer thought as he piled everything on top of one another. Though no doubt it was meant to act as a self-destruct option. Madman. Archer considered as he looked up to see the neighbours looking confused and pointing at him.
Grabbing all the explosives into a bundle, he jumped out of the building and onto the road where Jarold finally caught up. Archer took another glance over to Amadeus who flew to the nearest sewer grate and began to lift it up.
"Where is he- wait. Is that a bomb?" Jarold said trying to analyze the situation.
Without another word, Archer gave one last look at the bombs. No time to diffuse so I need to make sure to mitigate the damage. He thought as he chucked the bombs as hard as he could into the air. Just as they reached their apex the electronics exploded.
A massive ball of fire lit up the neighbourhood sky followed by a thunderous roar that shook the ground itself. The windows on houses rattled from the blowback of the explosion. Jarold couldn't believe his eyes, that would have destroyed this entire neighborhood. Who knows how many people would have been vaporized in that blast? He also knew who exactly was responsible for the attempt.
"You." Jarold said in a dangerous tone towards Amadeus who began to slide down the grate, "Get back here!" He roared as he blew past Archer and towards the sewer grate that Amadeus had now fully disappeared into.
Tearing the cover off the ground, Jarold leapt into sewer. Landing on the walkway, he recoiled immediately after being hit by the pungent smell.
"Urgh." He groaned as his eyes watered, looking around the place was too dark for him to see properly and he could only hear a few scampering footsteps. After staying down there for around a minute, he realized it would be hopeless for him to blindly search around for Amadeus.
"Damn." Jarold cursed as he pulled himself out of the sewer tunnels and back to the surface. Taking a deep breath of fresh air he looked around before he saw something in the distance.
It was the flying form of Amadeus who had emerged from another sewer grate further down the street. Jarold swore out loud as he watched him escape, he was so close. Angry, he now turned around to find the guy with the motorcycle helmet only to find him missing.
"Jarold!" A voice, Mercy's, called out to him. Turning around he saw her run up to him as she stashed her katana away. Lothar Pontus walked after her in a far more casual manner.
"What?" Jarold asked still annoyed at letting Amadeus get away.
"What were you doing? You didn't respond to any messages. What was that explosion?"
"I found Amadeus." Jarold said as he pointed towards where he last saw him, He got away. Amadeus had now completely disappeared during this short period of time, "He got away."
"You should have told us, he wouldn't have escaped if we were here. You need to communicate." Lothar pointed out.
"I didn't have time okay?" Jarold snapped, "Where is that other guy?"
"Other guy?" Mercy asked.
"He's in a red motorcycle helmet with cat ears." Jarold said looking around.
"Cat ears?" Mercy said slowly looking at Jarold curiously.
Thankfully Jarold didn't need to explain further as all her questions were answered as a loud crash was heard. All three then quickly found the source of the noise as the garage door of a home away from the townhouses was blown apart. From it emerged a man in a red cat-eared motorcycle helmet and a very short leather jacket and hoodie, roaring out while riding a Haley-Donathon Street Kaiser through the night.
"Huh. Cat ears." Mercy uttered out as she took in the strange sight. A moment later it was followed by another one as an older man in his fifties seemed to run out screaming obscenities at the retreating biker.
"Maybe we should check him out." Mercy advised as Jarold immediately began making his way over to the man.
"Hold on, we still don't know what's happening. Maybe you should report what happened first." Lothar said.
"I'll do it later." Jarold snapped back causing Lothar to quiet down and give an unimpressed shrug as he and Mercy followed him.
***
As Amadeus flew away from the student and the biker and managed to put enough distance between them, he dropped back down onto the ground gasping for air. Flying took more strength than he realized, still he was away now.
Though Amadeus doubted that continuing this journey by air would do him much good, it was dark out, and he was approaching the heart of the city. He would need to take the less conspicuous route.
Amadeus scrutinized another sewer grate and clenched his teeth. He knew where he would need to travel, he had a map of the sewer system, and it would be the safest option. Still it was the sewers.
Damn those fools. He thought. Once he got out of this city he would have his revenge. He swore it on his name that he would return here and make everyone regret his actions.
***
09/09/3122 YDB – September 10th, 3122
As Archer was sure that he was sure that he was out of sight of anyone he parked the bike that he stole to one side and sat still for a moment. Well Archer, you let him get away. He thought as he tapped the side of his helmet that he had also stolen. Who knew he could fly? I should have.
Archer lowered his head and let it lightly hit against the handlebar a few times as he cursed at his own ineptitude. After a moment of feeling sorry for himself, he then started up the bike again and drove back.
When he neared his apartment he found a place to hide the bike, jacket, and helmet before making the rest of the way on foot. As he entered his apartment he left a quick message to Phil reporting the events and promised to expound later as he crashed onto his bed and let sleep take him.
The next morning as he made his way towards the school he was intercepted by Luna Foy, who looked at him beaming. Archer smiled and spoke to her when she got close, "We agreed that we'll not talk in person too much."
"I never agreed to that." Luna argued.
"Fair enough." Archer said nodding, "Still don't approve of this."
"But don't you want to know about Esme?"
Archer took a quick glance around, "Maybe don't mention it in public. Also, I could always ask via text."
"Isn't it better to be told in person?"
"Not really no. Faster with a text." Archer said with a shrug.
"But don't you want to know right now?"
Archer paused as he looked at her, "Yes." He reluctantly admitted.
"She's fine, the plasma has been helping her, but she might be out in a couple days." Luna said with a bright smile.
"That's fine, won't take that long." Archer said with a shrug as he paused and thought for a second, "You live in a Trinity Academy-owned building right?"
"Uh, yeah." Luna said nodding her head.
"There are no school-funded houses on this street, did you take a detour for this?"
"Oh, uh. It's not because-" She began before she was cut off.
"Are you trying to avoid them?" Archer asked looking deep into her eyes.
"Uh." Luna said as she wavered for a moment, "Yes."
"How bad is it?"
"Oh they're just bothering me a bit at school." Luna said noticing his concern, "They aren't being creepy. Just a bit annoying."
"Right." Archer said with an unsatisfied grunt before deciding to change subjects, "Well when it comes to Amadeus, he failed to kill anyone last night and him prowling around probably meant he was trying to find food. The police were on high alert that night. So he's going to be hungry today."
"Will that make him more dangerous?"
"Dangerous and stupid. He won't attack during the day, can't risk getting spotted. Though near sundown he'll likely be running around despite the increased patrol tonight."
"Where would he be?"
"He had to run from the heart of the city so likely closer to the edge of it, somewhere quiet. I'll just get some people to help out."
"Who? I thought you were alone."
"I didn't say they would be aware that they would be helping me." Archer said smiling before looking ahead of them, "Okay you go and head into the school now, I'll go in a few minutes."
"We really can't go through the doors together?" Luna asked looking upset.
"Sorry." Archer apologized.
"Fine, but I expect you to update all of us when something happens." She demanded.
"Deal." Archer said which satisfied Luna enough to move on ahead of him. As Archer waited he thought about how best to get Jarold Walker in on this.