Sora sat at the dinner table playing a game on her laptop while GM watched the sports channel on the TV. He’d just got done yelling at a player for missing a catch as if they could hear him when Sora’s computer beeped as a notification came up on the screen. It was an alert from one of The Organizatoin’s security cameras. “Uh oh,” she said. “Hey, GM there’s some suspicious people lurking around storage warehouse number seven.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, surprised by her statement.
“It looks like they could be trying to break into the building. Four hooded people just pulled up outside the warehouse in a big box truck.” She turned her screen for GM to show the live video feed.
“Shit, this hasn't happened in a while,” he said. GM ran over to MC’s room and knocked loudly on the door. “MC, we need to go. Urgent mission.” He knocked again.
MC came right out. “What’s going on?” he asked, in a slight panic.
“They’re breaking in,” said Sora as she watched the live feed of a person jamming a lock open with a thick metal crowbar.
“I’ll explain on the way. Let's go!” said GM.
On the way there, GM explained to MC that there were people breaking into a warehouse that was filled with supplies that The Organization had stocked up on. He wasn't sure what exactly was inside this warehouse but they usually held weapons, valuable electronics, piles of cash, and more. There were warehouses scattered around the city and it was fairly rare to see one being broken into. Most people knew not to mess with The Organization’s goods.
GM pulled up and parked the car at the warehouse. It was a fairly large building at the end of a gravel road. The only other buildings around were old and dilapidated with small grass fields in between. They were just outside the main part of the city where the skyscrapers served as a tall background.
Pulling up on a gravel road didn't allow for any kind of stealth. The intruders were going to know they’d arrived. “Hop out MC we are going to go straight in and see what’s in store for us.”
“Right,” he said with little apprehension. After the last time they faced enemies behind the restaurant he’d been weaker and they were still able to drive them off. Now he felt much stronger and confident. He almost felt a bit of excitement to test out his newly acquired skills. “Shouldn't we call for backup or something though?” MC said to GM.
“Normally, I would call and wait for another team to show up and help, but this is urgent. If we let these guys get away, they’re likely to steal thousands or maybe even millions of dollars of inventory. We can't afford to wait for another team to show up. Besides, Sora already altered the nearby teams and they were unable to make it due to their own missions. A team from farther out will be coming, but it’s going to be a while.
“Do you think we could try and talk things out with the intruders?”
“Not likely, but I’m going to give it a shot before we engage in a fight.”
GM walked toward the warehouse. Its long metal frame was dark against the night sky. There were two garage doors and one of them was open with the box truck sitting in front of it ready to be packed with their stolen goods. The quiet sounds of people shuffling around came from just inside. GM walked up to the open doorway with MC right behind him and announced himself. “Hey folks, what’s the meaning of.”
“Shut up and get on the ground!” yelled one of the masked intruders with a thick metal pipe resting over his shoulder. He was wearing a black ski mask. The others froze around him, each holding a box of supplies in their arms.
MC took a few steps back in shock. He took in the scene all at once. Hundreds of wooden crates and cardboard boxes were stacked around the warehouse almost creating a maze of ailes that opened up into a rectangular shape around the garage door entrance. It didn't seem to be a particularly large warehouse, but it was tall enough to stack boxes twice his height and spanned about half the length of a soccer field. The air was heavy with the smell of lumber, mildew, and something else he couldn’t quite identify. He looked at the box truck that was parked closely to the door opening. It was a little less than halfway filled with crates and boxes already.
“Well, aren't we a little rowdy tonight?” said GM “Are you sure you want to do this the hard way?”
“Get on the ground, this is your last warning,” said the intruder. He sounded young. Probably about MC’s age.
“So what are you guys, Black Diamond or what?” asked GM.
“Yeah, we’re from The Black Diamond. What’s it to you?”
“That’s surprising. Did anyone tell you who you were stealing from?”
The masked man hesitated. “That part’s not important. All this stuff is ours and if you wanna keep your life you better stop chit chatting and start praying.”
“You see, these things here belong to The Organization. No good to be stealing from one of the largest crime organizations in the city.”
The young Black Diamond thief seemed surprised. “You’re lying.”
“Nope! My associate and I were the closest team to the warehouse and so we came down here to see what was going on. We don't want to make things messy, but we can't have you guys running off with our company’s goods.”
The masked man’s eyes widened behind small circular holes. “We gotta get this stuff and bring it back or we’re gonna be in trouble.”
“That’s none of my concern. You should have asked who you’d be stealing from before the higher ups sent you on a suicide mission. I don’t know who you pissed off, but they must have sent you here knowing you’d be confronted.” GM stood tall and widened his foot stance taking on a stern face. “Now that you know that, I’m gonna give you all ten seconds to start unloading everything you packed into that truck.”
The thief wavered for a moment, but came back with full fury. “You’re not going to tell us what to do. Besides, it's us four against you two. Come on boys, let's teach these Organization losers a lesson.”
GM turned to MC, “At least I tried,” he said with a shrug.
MC gulped and nodded. Am I going to be able to take on these intruders? He stepped closer to GM and prepared for a fight. He felt scared. He’d been in a real fight once, but this was different. They had weapons. It wouldn’t be just a beating. He could die if he made a wrong move.
The three other Black Diamond thieves gathered around as well. Each one had a weapon in hand. Two had baseball bats, one had a knife, and the last one who had done all the talking, took the metal pipe off of his shoulders and prepared a fighting stance.
“This is going to be too tough for you tonight, kid,” GM said to MC. They’ve all got weapons and you’re unarmed. I’ll handle this.”
“But you’re unarmed too.”
“That’s what you think.” GM opened his overcoat and revealed a katana at his waist. He grabbed the handle and unsheathed the shining blade, taking on a sudden serious expression. MC took a couple steps back out of the garage opening to give him some space. “So, which one of you is first?”
The one with the metal pipe ran in. In a flash, GM swung his sword, slicing the metal pipe in half and putting a deep cut into the enemy’s arm in the process. The metal clanked to the floor and he screamed out and grabbed his arm in pain. Blood spewed onto the ground. GM moved on to the next picking up his speed. He quickly closed the gap between his target and dodged a strike of the knife before delivering a powerful hit to his stomach with the handle of the katana. The knife wielding enemy collapsed, gasping for air.
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MC felt a sense of frustration building up inside. He came along on the mission, but wasn't able to do anything. Without a weapon of his own he was bound to be useless in this kind of fight. He couldn't help but think that he needed to take part and pull his own weight. He watched as GM blocked an attack from an aluminum baseball bat with the sword and parried with a punch to the enemy’s face. Three down and one to go. GM looked over his shoulder towards the last opponent and saw something unexpected: a red dot gleaming from across the room like a laser pointer. The red dot came from a pistol that was positioned directly in the center of MC’s chest. GM thought quickly and knew that he needed to get between the gun and MC.
The enemy looked scared. Like he’d never killed anyone before. GM moved with speed at which MC had never seen before. He stepped in front of the gun’s line of sight blocking MC’s body and charged at the shaking opponent. A single slice of GM’s blade cut through the gun and a few fingertips in the process. The enemy had hesitated too long and GM’s quick speed triumphed. The weapon split in half clanking to the floor and rendering it useless. “Put your hands up,” he calmly said to the Black Diamond member. Slowly, two shaking palms, minus two fingertips and a bleeding palm rose into the air.
Even though his team had won the fight, MC felt defeated. I didn't manage to do anything besides almost get myself killed. GM did everything. I was completely useless. The fact that he came so close to death ate at his stomach. He couldn’t stop thinking about how GM stepped in front of the gun that was aimed at him. It was the most daring thing he’d ever seen anyone do.
MC and GM tied up the Black Diamond members with some duct tape and waited for backup to arrive. He wasn't sure what was going to happen to the thieves after that, but he didn't particularly care either. Once the backup arrived, their job was over.
GM noticed MC was particularly quiet in the car on the way home. “So, you see how serious this gig can be?” said GM. “I’m not going to lecture you like a child, but I want you to know that this can be life or death. In our training and daily life I mess around a lot and do stupid shit, but out here against the Black Diamond, one slip up could mean death and there’s no coming back from that. You’ve got a lot of life ahead of you. I’d hate to see it thrown away.”
MC remained quiet under the hum of the car ride. He looked out the window at the passing streetlights and ruminated on his lack of ability.
The next morning MC and GM went to the training grounds like usual.
“So did you get much sleep? You seemed pretty down last night.” said GM.
MC allowed his thoughts to burst out of him. “I wasn't able to do anything! What would happen if I went up against Jin and wasn't able to do anything? I don't want to face it, but I’m still far from ready to fight a serious opponent. You have weapons and skills from years of practice and I only have the basic skills I've learned recently. I need to take it up a notch. I need a weapon of my own. My very own specialty.”
“I figured you’d say something along those lines. I think it’s time to show you a part of the training grounds that you haven't seen yet.”
“You mean there’s more to this place than dirt and piles of junk?”
“Just follow me and you’ll see.” GM led MC to a familiar place. It was a house near the center of the junkyard. More of a shack than a house these days. He’d run laps around it hundreds of times while being chased by dogs. The overhang of the front porch was held up by two scrawny beams and the entire of the house was leaning to the side. Every glass window was busted out and the floors inside were filthy and coated with dust.
“What are we doing in here? This place is disgusting,” said MC.
“I told you, you’ll see.” GM bent over and felt around for a moment and then grabbed a tiny metal handle on the floor and pulled up a hatch. “We’re heading down here.”
MC was amazed that there was a secret hatch. It was like something from a movie. “Be careful, it’s pretty dark down here.” He followed GM down a flight of stairs and then another. They must have been almost fifty feet underground. Just when it was getting almost impossible to see, GM flipped on a light switch. Thick gray cement walls and a thick floor to match spanned out in front of him. The ceiling was lit by hundreds of square tiles. It was like an underground concrete football field. Other than a computer with a deck and chair and a refrigerator, there didn't seem to be much of anything else in the large empty room.
“This whole place was here under us the whole time?” asked MC.
“Yep! It doesn't get used very often, but I figured it was time to finally show you. Just wait until you see what’s next.” GM walked over to the wall next to the stairs to a computer. He turned it on and then entered a password. Immediately after, a compartment next to the computer emitted a mechanical hum and a space in the wall slowly slid open. The space was filled with all sorts of supplies and weapons. There were at least twenty different guns, explosives of all shapes and sizes, knives, swords, axes, and even some high-tech looking electronics MC didn't recognize. “This is where you can try out different weapons. I’d like to spend today figuring out what best suits you.”
MC was in awe of what he was seeing. There were more weapons than he’d seen in his life in that compartment.
“Let’s start with the handheld old fashioned stuff shall we?” said GM, grabbing a heavy medieval sword off the wall and handing it to MC. “I find cold steel to be fitting, but I’m a rarity in that way.”
MC held it up and marveled at its silver beauty. He took a few steps back and started swinging it around. Slowly at first and then faster. He spun around and jumped in the air. “Hey this isn't bad,” he said. Almost immediately after finishing that sentence he lost grip of the sword and flung it onto the floor with a loud clang that echoed around the room. “Well… it was almost perfect,” he shrugged.
GM sighed as MC returned the sword to its resting place in the cabinet. They experimented with a variety of different weapons and eventually moved on to modern guns. GM set up a target along the far end of the wall for MC to practice shooting at. For only having a BB gun as a kid, he was a pretty decent shot.
Next, they started experimenting with the explosives. GM got out a thick piece of bulletproof glass and set it up so they could stand behind it and be safe from the explosions. First was the fragmentation grenade. GM demonstrated first. He pulled the pin out and chucked it as far as he could then, stood behind the glass. After a few seconds a loud explosion shook the ground and shrapnel bounced around the room.
MC was stunned. “That was amazing. That was probably my favorite so far.”
“It might be fun every once in a while, but it’s hard to picture something like that being a weapon of choice. Am I right?”
“You’re probably right, but it was one of the most extraordinary things I’ve ever seen.”
“Then you’re gonna love what’s next. The Flash Bang!” GM grabbed a flash bang grenade out of a foam holder inside a metal case. This thing is gonna be loud so cover your ears. They’ve got a pretty short fuse too. And whatever you do, don't stare directly at it.” He pulled the pin and threw it across the room then stuck his fingers in his ears. MC did the same. The flash bang erupted with a bright light and a bang sound at the same time. It was even louder than the explosion before.
“MC had a sudden flashback of the night his father died. He remembered the brightness of the flames and the cracking of the wooden beams. He felt adrenaline shoot through his body and his heart started pumping as fast as it could. He lost touch with reality. All he could see was white and flames. He screamed as if he were going to die and then felt a gentle touch on his shoulders. He returned to reality, his vision still bright and blurry, but he could just barely make out GM’s figure.
MC wiped his eyes in an attempt to get his vision to return to normal.
“You ok, kid?”
MC composed himself a little, still breathing heavily. “I think that explosion just triggered a powerful memory. I was totally immersed. I remembered the night my father died. It was almost like I was right back there again. On top of that, it feels like I just looked at the sun for a minute straight.”
“Yeah, it has that effect. Even worse when you’re close up. Your vision should return to normal in a few minutes. It doesn’t take long for your eyes to adjust back to regular light. Might be best to stay away from this one. Don’t want you having flashbacks or something like that every time you use it.”
“Actually, I think this might be the one for me. Those memories are my power. They’re what help to remind me why I’m living and why I’m doing what I’m doing.”
“Whatever floats your goat,” said GM. It’s practical, that's for sure, although it is a nonlethal explosive.”
They went on to test a variety of different weapons for the day and eventually went through the entire arsenal.
“Just let me know what you liked best and we can get more. I want to make sure you have a weapon for our next mission. Things are heating up lately and I don't want to see you get killed by some Black Diamond punk.”
“Right. Things are serious now. This is where my training comes into use. I want to use the flash bang grenades.”
”Are you sure? If you get in a pinch and need to take someone out, they’re only going to stall them.”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“I guess we can get more of those in then. You really want to use those though?”
“Yes, I’m sure of it.”
“Alright, at least take this too,” said GM as he handed a pistol to MC. “You never know when you might need it.”
“If you say so,” said MC.