“Trick?” Ken looks at Sora, no longer focusing on Senzo’s corpse.

  “Yep.” Sora gives a gentle smile while he stares at the corpse. “When I was young, they reincarnated my dead friend and tried to lure me to follow him.” He sighs before continuing. “Honestly, if my dad weren’t the bastard he was, they would have kidnapped me.” Sora sits still for a moment before standing up. “What I’m trying to say is they like to bring dead bodies and use them as puppets. It usually works, and they join without question. But at the end of the day, was that really them?”

  Ken stares at Sora, surprised by his words and attempt at comforting. He may have the Apex of Strength figured out incorrectly.

  Sora taps him on the shoulder. “It seems your friends are ready. Are you going to stay here and wallow forever, or are you going to move forward?”

  Without another word, Sora walks to the group with their bags. Ken slowly stands up and looks at Senzo’s corpse one last time, “He won’t get away with this. I promise I will make sure he dies. And once that is done, The Maximus is next.” He rejoins the group.

  Once Ken rejoins the group, he continues, “Alright, now that everyone is here and has what they need. We will walk you to our temporary safe house.”

  “No car?” Ken asks as Stella passes him his bag.

  Sora chuckles, “Nope. Gearfried has the car, and I feel like walking. Come on.”

  Ken's group follows closely behind Sora, making sure not to fall too far behind. He walks between Stella and Bristol, and Melanie follows behind them beside Danzo. The twins walk ahead with Stella and Melanie’s luggage. As they make their way to the Cloudy River, Sora attracts the attention of the passing crowds, mainly due to his blood-soaked clothes.

  Melanie is shooting glances at Danzo, who is trying his best to focus. After a few moments of awkward silence, she finally speaks, “I haven't properly introduced myself. I am Melanie Folmer. It is nice to meet you.” She sticks out her hand to shake his.

  Ken hears Stella snicker at Melanie's introduction.

  Danzo shakes her hand and greets, “Nice to meet you. I'm Danzo Yamamoto.”

  Sora slows down slightly and walks beside Stella. Ken is unsure why he is walking in line with them. Sora said it helps to build character.

  Melanie clears her throat and speaks, “So, Danzo, I know this may be a little forward…”

  Stella chuckles under her breath and says, “No way she's shooting her shot already.” Bristol nudges her with his shoulder to be quiet.

  “Is there someone else in your life?” Melanie asks.

  Is this how dating goes? It's scary how fast it is. Ken peeks at Sora and notices his grin.

  “Someone in my life? I suppose I have my family and friends,” Danzo responds, his expression unchanged.

  “No, no, I meant like a girlfriend or something,” Melanie frantically clarifies.

  Ken looks back to see Danzo's reaction. He has an expression of disgust. Melanie looks shocked.

  Sora appears behind Danzo and slaps him on the back of his head, “Ow!” Danzo exclaims in pain, rubbing the spot where he was slapped.

  Sora gives a disappointed look and complains, “Honestly, what is with you and your mother's side?” He turns to Melanie, “Don't worry about my idiot son, it's nothing personal.”

  Melanie blinks before asking, “Do– Does that mean he's interested, then?”

  “Unfortunately, no,” Sora sighs, “They're really weird toward companionship.” Sora pushes Danzo's face away and whispers something inaudible to Melanie. She nods, and he gives a thumbs-up while winking. Danzo seems depressed all of a sudden.

  At the Cloudy River, after a long discussion and some apologies, Sora signs some papers at the reception and rejoins the group. “We are clear!” He announces.

  To reach their room, they also have to ride up the elevators. Only one is working. Danzo opts to take the stairs; Melanie volunteers to join him, much to his protests.

  Once they reach their floor, they wait for Danzo and Melanie to rejoin them. Sora sniffs himself and makes a disgusted face, saying, “I'm going on ahead. I need a shower…or a power wash.” He walks ahead to the hotel room. After a couple of minutes, Danzo rejoins them, but he seems more exhausted.

  “Where's dad?” He asks Maria.

  “He went ahead to take a shower,” she answers. Danzo tilts his head slightly in understanding before guiding them to their hotel room. The twins rush to the room with the bags. He hears a loud thud come from the room, and Vito shouts, “Come on, I am half your age and carrying this stuff, and I still beat you! How lame can you guys be?”

  Danzo walks ahead and enters the room; the rest of the group enters after him. Inside, he sees Imino’s surprised expression. Across her, Agami is staring with a pack of licorice in his hand. It seems everyone is caught off guard by the situation.

  Having settled in, the group splits up. Stella is helping Olya in the kitchen. She said something about her ‘vetting’ process. Ken can’t be bothered to understand what she means. Melanie continues to hover around Danzo; it seems he has become her number one priority. Exhausted, Bristol collapses onto the couch and falls asleep almost instantly. Sora and Imino talk outside while Gearfried rests in one of the rooms. Ken sits on the couch and notices the twins shuffle cards in front of him. He hates moments like this; he isn’t used to sitting idle. Being relaxed. The closest he has been to this has been with Senzo; he always knew how to get his mind off planning. Senzo has been the only person who forced him out of his comfort zone, got him to involuntarily relax.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “You’re so wound up,” Senzo’s voice echoes in his mind.

  “Well, yes. If I don’t, I won’t be useful, will I?” It would always be Ken’s usual response. Is this what life is supposed to be like?

  “You really need to chill out,” He would laugh.

  Chill out? It always feels like Ken has this invisible chain on him. It constantly tightens itself around his neck, often leaving him wondering when it will snap his neck. How could he relax with this hanging over him? I need to get rid of the one holding the leash. And for that, Baltro needs to be gone, and he will need to leave Phanasma to find the Maximus. Leave Phanasma?

  He thinks about what to do after Baltro is gone. The whole world will be open to him. Is it even allowed? Will the world end when he sets foot outside Phanasma? His entire life has been inside this city, and he never thought of what's outside. But if he wants to take down the Maximus, he will need to leave.

  His thoughts are interrupted as Agami suddenly jolts in surprise next to him. Ken notices the slightly nervous expression on his face. In an attempt to calm his fears, Ken says, “Don’t worry, I’m not dangerous.”

  Agami’s posture relaxes as he replies, “Gotcha.”

  Ken's focus returns to his thoughts, wondering about his departure from Phanasma. What will he need? His loose ends in the city. He will need to check all of Senzo’s dead drops before he leaves.

  “So…uhm, how are you?” Agami asks.

  Maybe there will be something to help him. He said he did some digging, right? Maybe Senzo recorded it somewhere?

  “Hello?” Agami says, trying to get Ken’s attention.

  Ken looks at Agami and responds, “Oh… are you asking me?”

  “Well, yeah,” Agami answers.

  “I’m…I’m alright.” He answers, still trying to figure out why Agami wants to speak to him.

  “That’s good to know.” Agami’s eyes look around the room before he continues, “You’re no longer working with Senzo and Byron?”

  Ken thinks about Senzo and Byron for a couple of seconds. He didn’t want to think about Senzo, nor did he know what had happened to Byron. Wishing to avoid opening wounds, he answers. “You could say that, yes.”

  “Did you have a falling out?”

  “No, no. There were just some… complications,” Ken sighs.

  Agami lies back on the couch and says, “Sorry to hear that.”

  Sorry?

  “You’re sorry? Why?” Ken can only ask.

  “Well, from how you said it, you sound disappointed.”

  It isn’t ideal, but over the past day or two, he only understood how much he relied on Senzo. “You aren’t wrong,” Ken sighs. He wants to move away from the topic: “By the way, those recorders, where are they?”

  “Recorders?” A confused expression appears on Agami’s face.

  “Yes, the ones you used in the Ascenders meeting last night. Do you have them?”

  “Oh– those,” he says, “Olya took them to Gearfried.”

  “Noted. Thanks,” Ken replies. He plans to get them tomorrow, right now, his mind isn’t in the right state to listen to them.

  The two sit quietly before Agami asks, “So– how did you do that arm and eye thing last time?”

  “Arm and eye thing?” Ken repeats, thinking for a moment. Remembering the interrogation. “Oh, right – The interrogation three days ago. I am not sure. All I know is, when I say the words, the stakes are taken.”

  Agami gives a confused look and asks, “Stakes?”

  Ken pauses, thinking about how to explain his ability as he himself is still learning about it. “To put it simply, I can make bets using things other than money. For example, that night you were interrogating me, I bet my arms and eyes that I could convince you just by telling the truth - hence, my arms and eyes were taken.”

  “That’s pretty…cool…I guess?” Agami says with a dissatisfied expression.

  “Is there something wrong with what I said?”

  “Well, it just got me thinking– can you make any bet and stake?”

  Ken touches his chin, “Not really. The bet and wager need to be related. Plus, I can’t use money until I clear my debt.”

  “Oh, cool. Is there anything else you can’t bet?” Agami asks.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, from how it sounds. You can bet body parts and money. Those two things are really different if you think about it. One thing that isn't attached to you and one other that is.”

  He remembers trying to wager money during the blackjack game when the voice first announced itself. Each time, it cited his debt to the Maximus as the reason– without that debt, money would have been a valid stake. Since then, he has never bothered to use his money.

  That is true. How could I miss that?

  “Interesting. I haven’t thought about the limits,” Ken replies in intrigue.

  “Then another thing,” Agami continues, “What's the purpose of it?”

  “Purpose?”

  “Yeah, purpose.” Agami shows his right arm. It is covered in a tough-looking black armour. Looking at the hand, it has sharp claws and a large orb in the center of the back of the palm. “The armament uses Soul Power to give me cool abilities.”

  “Soul Power?” Ken repeats with a confused expression.

  “It’s a long story, but it's so I can fight and… absorb Benefactors?” Agami pauses as he looks around for Tenmei – earlier, Tenmei flew off to give him privacy in the shower. Agami hasn’t seen him since. “Well, to absorb for now. So mine is to vanquish them – wait, vanquish, that's the word!” Agami smiles as he remembers the term Tenmei used.

  So it is true, he managed to defeat Phenton. This is how they're going to defeat Baltro as well?

  “So that’s what you used… You really did take him out,” Ken says in surprise.

  Agami scratches the back of his head and says, “Well, it was actually Tenmei that did all of that.”

  “Tenmei?”

  “It’s the soul of my grandfather. He passed his power down to us to take down the benefactors. You can’t see him without an armament, but he is usually floating around.”

  “I see,” Ken replies.

  His ability is directly tied to fighting the benefactors. No wonder Sora is confident in taking him down. Agami’s question rings in his mind again. I can bet anything to help me, but why do I have it? What can it do? Was it from my father? Did the experiments push me to it?

  “What is its purpose?” Ken asks aloud.