His father, Lucas, was injured. Blood ran down his forehead.
He was wearing a gas mask and held two long swords.
They had flowers and petals carved in gold on their silver blades and their pommels were golden too.
"Kaito? I finally found you," he breathed a sigh of relief.
Scientists and lab workers redirected their weapons to him.
"You won't win. And this time, Hex won't come to help you," he continued dropping a sleep grenade on the ground.
Within 10 seconds, all the people in the lab were knocked out, including Kaito.
The only two people who remained conscious, were Lucas and Ricky.
Lucas walked over to his son, and put him over his shoulder.
"Hey," said Ricky firmly putting his hand on Lucas's shoulder. "Who the hell do you think you are? You think you can take my friend away?".
"I'm his father," replied Lucas, patting Ricky on the back. "You're a specimen too, right? Follow me."
Ricky followed him towards the center of the laboratory, where lied a big metal trapdoor.
He climbed down the ladder that was placed under it.
It was dark, but he used a flashlight to look around.
They were in the power station.
"Hey you... What's your name? And why didn't you get knocked out?" Lucas asked Ricky.
"My name's Ricky! And I didn't pass out cause I'm strong and radioactive!" laughed Ricky.
"Well then Ricky, I'm gonna need your help. I need you to use your radiation to bust this entire power station. Can you do that?" Lucas continued.
"Sure thing man," said Ricky blasting radiation everywhere except at Lucas.
"Good. Let's go now. The exit's at the rooftop," suggested Lucas, climbing back up to the lab.
When they went up, the entire building was shrouded in darkness.
They started climbing back up the stairs to get to the rooftop but on the way, Lucas grabbed an unconscious scientist with him and asked Ricky to carry him.
They reached the top, dropping a sleep grenade at each floor, one by one.
Kaito had now woken up.
"Seems like I was gone for quite a while. What's going on Dad? How are you even here?" he asked.
"We're escaping, that's what," said his Dad, opening the door to the rooftop.
What! We're in the middle of the ocean? I don't see any land around us at all. We're surrounded by water on all sides, Kaito thought worriedly.
"Well that was a surprise, right Kaito? This entire facility was made by repurposing an old, abandoned oil rig. So go figure," said his father.
Ricky dropped the scientist on the rooftop, as he was also gaining his consciousness back.
Lucas held the scientist by the collar and asked him, "Answer truthfully. What did you all do with my research?"
"I-I swear I don't know anything! Please leave me alone-" said the scientist but Lucas punched him with a strong right hook to his face.
"I can do this all day," said Lucas.
Since when is Dad this cruel? He taught me to be kind. I expected him to be the same, thought Kaito.
"L-Listen, all I know i-is that they used your research and their own data to find the location of s-somewhere and sent a bunch of high ranking agents there," replied the scientist pointing at a distant ship in the ocean. "That's the ship they're on. J-Just please don't hurt me!" he pleaded.
"Damn it. They found the location of the Realm Gate," grunted Lucas. "Ricky, can you take us there?" he asked.
"I was already at low power before you showed up, then I used some more of my power to bust the power station. But now that I'm in the Sun, I'm fully recharged! So yeah man, I'll take you dudes there," laughed Ricky as he held both Kaito and Lucas by their collars, and flew towards the ship.
How is he carrying me hundreds of feet above the ground seamlessly, thought Kaito.
"How can you fly?" he asked.
"Radiation is weightless, baby!" Ricky replied.
After a while, when they reached the huge ship, Ricky lowered himself to drop the other two on the back of the ship.
"Where are you gonna go now Ricky?" asked Lucas.
"Man let me tell you something. Ever since I was a kid, I've always wanted to be someone people would listen to. So my plan is that I'm gonna fly up into the Sun and suck up that solar radiation for a few years. Then when I come back, I'm gonna force the world to submit to me!" Ricky laughed maniacally as he flew off into the sky.
"See you in a few years Kaido!" shouted Ricky from high up into the sky.
Can he really do that? Thought Kaito .
"Dad before we reach to our destination, I want you to tell me the truth, and be honest about everything," he said to his father.
"Fine," replied Lucas. "You better sit down for this."
Kaito sat down not knowing what to expect.
"Your mother wasn't a human, Kaito," said Lucas in a flat tone. "She was half demon. Demons are real you know."
"I-I don't know what to say. You can't be serious right? Right Dad?" asked Kaito as his eyes widened.
"I'm serious Kaito. It was because of her that I started researching on demons. Apparently the Earth is hollow between the mantle and the outer core. There's a whole other world that flourishes down there. It's known as the Under-Earth. That's also where demons come from." replied Lucas.
"If that's true, then why don't people know about it!?" said Kaito in disbelief.
"In ancient times, people used to know the Earth and Under-Earth as Realms. They had built portals known as Realm Gates that were used to move through these different realms. They built them using some kind of ancient technology.
After a while, all the demons and many other creatures were banished to the Under-Earth and the Realm Gates were closed and destroyed due to some dispute. It was then lost to time. And even now we don't possess the technology to dig deep enough to reach the Under-Earth." continued Lucas.
"I don't look like a demon. Does that mean I'm a human?" questioned Kaito with hope in his eyes.
"According to what your mother told me, very few demons still remained in our Realm and continued on with their lives in secret. The only reason you and your mother look human was because of your headband. A demon's strength is proportional to its horn size. The bigger the horns, the stronger the demon. And because you've had a headband on you for your entire life, your horns never grew out of your forehead. If they did, then your skin color and many other attributes would change, and you would look more like a demon," answered Lucas.
"So I'm not a human? I'm not normal like the others?" asked Kaito as slight tears came to his eyes.
"You're human enough for me," said his father as he gently hugged him.
The ship was now getting ready to dock.
"All men listen up! We've reached the island. Gather your weapons as the ship docks. When we reach the Realm Gate, you will have to contain someone strong. Containing him would be even harder than it was containing the Crackle Project! And remember, do not touch the sword at all cost!" announced the captain of the ship as it docked.
The soldiers equipped their weapons and prepared themselves.
They showed bravery, but were nervous deep down.
They had now reached the island, that once held the Realm Gate.