Chapter 179 - Those Seeking Justice

'My desire... I want to live up to the name my mother gave me... I want to fulfill my promise. I want to be a Hero!'

***

Age 1981 (Third Generation)

Dandelion City...

Loud sirens wailed throughout the city as screams rang out.

In the distance, a loud boom could be heard as one of the many skyscr.a.p.ers collapsed breaking in two. Cracks began to cover the ground as a wave of frost could be seen getting bigger and bigger as it began to bloat in a snowy cloud of ice.

A loud roaring could be heard as a blizzard began to slowly cover the city in ice.

'Warning!' A loud speaker buzzed out in a robotic voice. 'A Threat Level of at least Earl, has been spotted inside the city. Please head to the evacuation zone immediately. This is not a drill. Warning a large horde of Viscount level threats is quickly approaching. Please evacuate immediately.'

"How did a Bestia Macht get in here!" Someone screamed.

"Where the hell are the Enforcers!"

"If that thing actually got in here then they're probably dead by now! Screw this! We need to head to the evacuation zone!"

"I heard Squad Seven is on their way-"

In the crowd of people that were running away a young six-year-old boy could be seen. They moved forward towards the destruction slowly as their body shook. The child had messy black hair, and bright forest green eyes. Their hands shook as they raised them up. The child clenched their fist and gulped.

"I... I can help..." The child said slowly as they gulped a second time. " I have... I have power... I'm a hero."

As the child walked, he thought back to what his Grandfather had said... He had warned him of this exact situation.

'Boy... If you walk out that door and leave now, you will die. There's only one thing you can do-'

'Boom!'

The child was blown back, by a tremendous force snapping him out of his concentration.

A dark shadow loomed out as several more buildings began to break apart. The blizzard got worse, and worse, and more snow and ice coated the surrounding land.

The child looked up with wide eyes as he finally saw it.

The thing that was making the blizzard...

The thing that was destroying the city....

...Bestia Macht...

The thing was large standing at nearly twenty feet tall. It was bulky and stood on all fours. It had a pitch white skin and glowing red eyes. Its head was faced down towards the ground and a pair of large horns were poking out of it.

Ice rolled off of the creature in waves. With every step it took, the ground below it became frozen. All around the beast the frozen corpses of several unfortunate victims, who got to close, could be seen. The beast let out a loud roar shattering the frozen statues as it charged towards the downed boy.

'There's only one thing you can do... Run Hero... Run if you really want to live. That's all you can do. You are no hero.'

The beast roared loudly as it jumped.

Only to be instantly slammed to the ground from above, as a pillar of flames smashed into the beast slamming it down.

The flame pillar stabbed into the beasts head severing it in a single blow as the creature hit the ground dead, shocking the young boy.

"Are you alright?" A kind voice asked.

The child slowly looked up seeing a young sixteen-year-old boy in front of him. The boy had messy brown hair and bright orange eyes. A pair of flaming cat ears, and a flaming cat tail poked out of his head, and rear. Fire coated his arms making it look like he was wearing orange gauntlets. His outfit was torn and he was badly bleeding.

But what really caught the boy's attention was the silver badge on the boy's chest. It had the words 'Enforcer' carved on it, as well as a number seven.

"My names Koneko, but I go by Jin..." The teen said with a kind smile as he c.o.c.ked his head to the side. "Let's get you back home to your parent's little guy."

***

Age 1991 (Third Generation) Present Day...

Dandelion City...

Snow fell hitting the path slowly as a man walked down the road. He hummed a simple tune as he marched forward confidently. A cane twirled in his hand as he strolled towards his destination

"What a beautiful night it is." The man hummed.

He looked up to the black and grey smog cloud they called a sky. Ice drifted down slowly.

Behind the man, several other men followed all of them wearing very large coats that covered their bodies from head to toe. They all seemed to be wearing masks as well as hats, and gloves. This caused their bodies to be completely unseen but made them stand out instantly. A mere glance was all that was required to simply tell that these guys were up to no good...

The man who seemed to be leading the group stopped as he slid a hand back through his pocket. "So..." The man said as he came to a stop in front of a simple antique store. "Who thinks they actually have what we're looking for?" He questioned his group as he turned to look at his followers.

The covered-up men simply stared at their boss. None of them moved or said a word at all. They simply stared at their boss as they tilted their heads to the side.

"Right... Forgot I didn't give you the ability to talk..." The man simply shrugged as his smile grew wider. "Oh well... More for me then. ~la da de, la da di~" The man sang out as he twirled his cane. His hand reached out for the doorknob as he prepared to enter. "~Well. Let's get this over with~"

"Hey?" A loud and concerned voice called out as the man reached for the door handle.

He stopped as he slowly turned around. "~Yes?"

"Are you guys bad guys?" Standing on the side of the street was a young sixteen-year-old boy. He had messy black hair and forest green eyes. He wore a pair of black pants, and a white buttoned up shirt.

"Bad guys? Of course not. We merely... Wish to purify the world." The man tried to explain.

"...That sounds like evil talk to me..." The teen said flatly. "I think I'm gonna beat you up now-"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" The man held up his hand as he gave a sly smirk. "Come on now. No need to resort to violence. Here." He tossed something over to the boy.

The young teen looked down at it seeing that it was a small candy bar. "Are you seriously trying to bribe me with candy?"

"Is it working?"

"...N... No... Not at all..."

"Listen brat." The man gave a smirk as he waved his cane. "I don't want any trouble. I also don't want to hurt anyone today. I'm just here to pick up some jewelry and these guys are my bodyguards. Why don't you run home to your parents and we can avoid any trouble." The man turned before he even got an answer as he opened the door.

"But I like trouble..." The teen managed to get out, before the door was slammed shut.

Inside the store clerk looked up from what he was doing when the door opened. He began to say his usual speech when he finally noticed the large crowd of people who now stood in his shop. "Umm... Good evening sir... What can- What can I help you with..." The man behind the desk gulped slightly as he stepped back. He eyed up all the people who stood in his store in a slightly worried manner. This was clearly a robbery... All thirteen of the people stared at him as the leader walked up twirling a fancy cane.

"Ahh hello, my good store clerk!" The man said as he twirled his cane... "The names Ben Eleazar..." The man said holding his hand out. He grabbed the other man's hand shaking it viciously nearly pulling the store owner's arm out of his socket. "My..." He glanced over to his followers as he tried to figure out what he should call them. "Associates? Friends? Minions? My minions and I are looking for a piece of jewelry. We heard you came across?" He said in an innocent manner that sent a chill down the store owner's spine.

"W-What kind..." The store owner questioned attempting to stay calm in this tense situation. "I-If you don't mind me asking? After all we have a lot of stuff here..." The store clerk peaked past the groups as he stared out the front window for a second. A small panicked look seemed to fill his eyes.

"I'm looking for a certain... Ring?" The man said in a questioning tone.

"Y-You'll need to be a little bit more specific sir." The store owner said. "I have a lot of rings..."

"Right. It's a little ruby ring made from actual solid rubies. It should be extremely warm. Like it should be burning you but somehow isn't. Oh. And it also should have the phrase 'The Second Key' written on it? Is this ringing any bells for you? Or do I need to be even more specific?" Ben questioned as he leaned over the counter for a second his eyes shining as he peered over at the man.

"No... No... I know the ring you're talking about... But the thing is sir... It's already been ordered..."

"Yeah this is a robbery... I really don't care who ordered the ring." Ben said humming slightly.

"Well... The man who ordered it was Okane... Okane Genkin. As in a Noble... As in... The Noble who owns this city... As in one of the Twenty Sacred Branches, a title said to be passed down by God himself..."

"Ahh..." Ben nodded as a smirk crossed onto his face. "~Mr. Green's in trouble~" He sang out. "Oh also-" He snapped his fingers as his friends seemed to spring to life. They marched forward as they began to smash at the counter breaking the metal counter easily. "I suggest giving me the ring..." He said calmly. One of the men bent down grabbing the counter and ripping it out of the ground as they turned throwing it out the window. The window exploded in a shower of glass.

"Okay! Fine! You can deal with the pissed off Noble then..." The store clerk yelled out as he brought his arms up in a panic. "Just tell your guys to stop... Its gonna cost a hell of a lot of Bells to fix all of this damage..." Ben snapped his finger once more which caused the men to stop. The store clerk walked towards the back where a metallic shelf stood. Pulling out a key he unlocked it and began to rummage through it. "Here!" The clerk announced as he pulled a red ring out of the cabinet. 

"Was that so hard?" Ben asked as a smirk crossed onto his face. He began to reach for the box. "Thanks for the ring-"

A massive trash can flew through the window exploding it into a pile of glass as a body crashed through.

The teen from before rolled into the building as he grabbed the ring and suddenly jumped up onto the counter. "Your candy bar sucked!" He yelled out now holding the ring.

"What the hell!" Ben yelled.

"Hero!" The store clerk yelled out in a panicked voice. "Quickly! Run!"

"Nope." The boy who was apparently named Hero jumped down as a large smirk crossed onto his face. "It's time to play hero!"