[Los Angeles]
Somewhere in the sewers of Los Angeles, a man was sitting amidst the filth while breathing hard.
His hair was in disarray, his trench coat was dirtied by a mixture of filth and blood and his gaze was empty.
Sometimes, the man would groan in pain. During those moments, his blood would pulsate and shine through his skin, giving an eerie mixte of red and white light.
The right arm of the man looked like an abomination. The same went for his entire right side. Covered in wiggling and decaying flesh, giving a nauseous and putrid odor.
The odor of a rotting body.
*Huff* *Huff* *Huff*
The man was dying. He knew this more than anything else.
'Not yet. Just a little more.'
His trembling left hand fumbled in his pocket until he found what he was searching. A capsule and a syringe.
He planted the syringe in his deformed arm without hesitation and watched a the red liquid was injected until the last drop.
"Hah…"
Invonlatiruly, the man release a moan of relief as he felt his hazy mind clear up. The deformed hand wiggled grotesquely before finally going back to nearly normal.
He swayed as he stood up with great effort. He had one last syringe. He hesitated a little. The pain was simply too much. He wished he could use the last one now and put an end to that pain.
But in the end, all of this would be temporary.
He brought his hand to the bronze locket around his neck. In the past, it had been of silver but he had to give up on it.
"Soon. Just a little more. Please give me your strength."
He closed his eyes. Thinking of a past that would never come back.
Tears streamed from his face as his determination was rekindled all anew.
In the end, did not use it. He remembered once again why he was fighting. Why he had accepted this suicide mission and why he did not fear his approaching end.
'The result of the experiment will be compromised if I am not at my peak.'
Soon, he would fight. This would be the last fight but as long as he could give his all, the main team would be able to have accurate results. This would mean that fewer people would end up like him. He needed to use that syringe at the most appropriate moment rather than just selfishly calm his pain
'For humanity.'
For the betterment of humanity, sacrifice was necessary, and if his death could help
lower this number then it was all the more worth it.
He began to walk, his feet stepping in the filthy water but he did not care. He was only focused on his goal.
For humanity and for them.
He would not hesitate to fall into hell if necessary.
This was the road he had chosen all those years ago after he was made to realize his own powerlessness and lost everything.
—--
[Los Angeles; Little Tokyo.]
Driving in the car with Viktor sitting in the passenger seat, Adam verified the GPS localization on the monitor of the car before slowly stopping.
Like Chinatown or Korea Town, Little Tokyo was a district of Los Angeles predominated by a population of Asian descent. Also known as Little Tokyo Historic District, it was an ethnically Japanese American district in downtown Los Angeles and the heart of the largest Japanese-American population in North America.
It was also the Territory of one of Adam's acquaintances. Someone he was not truly at ease with and generally tried to avoid.
'Well, not like the chance of us meeting are high.'
At its peak, Little Tokyo had approximately 30,000 Japanese Americans living in the area. Furthermore, it was a district that was visited by many lovers of Japanese culture. Thanks to that, the traffic was extremely high.
The goal for this outing was the Weller Court shopping mall. This was the dream place for all Otaku so he wasn't surprised that Sae wanted to meet in this place.
"How are you feeling?"
Viktor looked all around and shrugged, "Nothing particular. Just a little too many people walking around. Weird to see."
Even as he said this and tried to appear nonchalant, Adam could see the light of excitement in the eyes of the large young man.
"You know we are here to have fun, right? So relax. None of my friends will judge you."
There was nothing wrong with being excited and looking around when you visited a new place. Anyone who thought the opposite and mocked the one who was genuinely having fun was just a bitter person who needed to feel important by demeaning other people.
Viktor relaxed a little and sighed, "Thanks."
He gave a graceful smile at Adam. He wasn't a complete country bumpkin. But it was true that going from his relatively small village to a super huge city made him feel sensitive.
It didn't help that the fake mask was itching and fraying his nerve.
"If you don't feel too well, we can go back you know? I was a little insensitive. The flight must have been tiring."
Even though they were hunters they should still feel tired. The flight from Sweden to America was nearly 10 hours long.
Viktor did not even have the time to sleep a little before being dragged by him.
'I am pretty inattentive today.'
Adam scolded himself. First with the Map and now this. He hoped that this wouldn't happen again.
"Don't worry. I am used to working on metals for more than 24 hours without any pause. Compared to that, this is nothing and honestly, I am pretty excited."
Adam patted Viktor's shoulder once they reached a good parking emplacement.
"Let's go. Be ready to be exhausted though. We are about to meet a true imp."
"My my, even though I am so graciously giving my time to you."
Adam grinned as he turned around. This time he had not been caught off guard as he had felt her presence and spoke intentionally.
"I guess I should call you a charming spirit rather than an imp?"
"Well, this would be much better."
Sae laughed as she hugged him before giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"I hope you are ready to see how this charming spirit will have fun."
The mischievous smile on her face gave many innuendoes in her sentence.
Adam knew this was going to be a memorable day.
(AN: Sae here to enliven the situation. Let's see their antics.)
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