"So, I heard about yesterday's incident." Mr. Eun-ji begins, before following up with, "So your mother wanted me to explain each faction of the gang to you." He explains, the word mother rolls a bit easier off the tongue for him now.
"She did?" I question.
"I told her it was a bad idea and to think about how you are. She still told me to do it. Who am I to say no to her?" He says.
"How I am? What's that supposed to mean?" I scoff.
"Parker, the last time you got a hold of info about an 'enemy', you went after them without telling anyone and almost got yourself killed. Should I remind you of the docks incident?" He lightly scolds.
"The one where I ended up unconscious on your apartment doorstep?" I ask.
"What other one would I be talking about? There isn't another one… Is there?" He responds, a little uncertain about that last part.
"There isn't," I reply.
"Okay…" He says, letting out a relieved sigh, he pauses a bit before asking me: "Which faction do you wanna hear about first?"
"Spades, the ones who attacked the mall," I tell him.
"Those guys? Undoubtedly, the second weakest faction." He says.
"Well, you made comments about a power struggle between them when you first told me about them over a month ago. If they're weak, how does that work?" I ask.
"Well, firstly, I've heard whispers that the entire gang is under new management." He starts explaining.
Yeah. That'd be Mr. Perfect, according to that weirdo himself. Don't know if Mr. Eun-ji knows that yet, though. I still would rather keep that information to myself.
"And secondly, they're not weak. Just the second weakest of the bunch. Two of the factions are noticeably weaker than the other two. The leader of the spades is Manon. She owns a King of Spades mask to show that she's the leader of the spades, but she doesn't ever wear it." He says, finishing his explanation.
"And her power?" I ask.
Mr. Eun-ji grumbles at that; he looks super hesitant to tell me. He takes a long pause, mulling it over. I hear him mumble something like, "Claire will hurt me if I don't do a good enough job explaining."
He then takes a sharp inhalation before speaking, "She affects the brain. She can make you see stuff. Terrible things based on your own memories. She can affect her own brain, too. She can regenerate, something about forcing her brain to go on overdrive to have her… whatever heals the body heals one part of the body."
"That doesn't sound fun," I remark.
"Great observation, bud." He says, his voice having a sarcastic lilt to it.
"Tell me about the Clubs next," I demand.
"Weakest. The leader can make five clones of himself." He says, keeping his explanation more concise this time.
"His name?" I probe.
"Doesn't matter. Next." He says, motioning for me to ask which faction I want to hear about.
"Name first," I say, a bit more demanding.
"You don't need it." He says, looking away from me.
"Oh… Well, I guess I'll just have to tell my mo-" I start before he interrupts me with waving hands. "Fine! I don't remember his name! I always distinguished him by his… unique voice…" He says in a panic. So playing the "Tell Miss Claire" card works, huh?
"Okay. That's all you had to say." I tell him
"It's quite embarrassing as their ex-leader to not remember all of their names. Names are sacred, y'know." He remarks.
"Tell me about the Diamonds. They're the ones you and I fought when I made my first public appearance as your apprentice, right?" I ask.
"Yes, and they're the second strongest faction." Mr. Eun-ji confirms.
"Okay, tell me about their leader. The one who cut me open." I request.
"Yeah, as you probably figured out from that, he can create a blade on either arm from photon energy. His name is Louis." He explains.
"By process of elimination, you wanna hear about the Hearts?" He asks.
"Yup," I affirm.
"They're the strongest, and their leader… has no powers." He tells me.
"How?! That makes no sense! He knocked me out!" I exclaim, standing up. Only powered individuals can gain physical prowess beyond normal human limitations. That's what it takes to knock me out, even in the state I was in at the docks.
"He what?! You ran into him?!" Mr Eun-ji grabs my shoulders and shakes me.
"Uhm… he's the one who knocked me out at the docks and left me at your apartment doorstep…" I say sheepishly. Mr. Eun-ji's face turns ghostly white.
He started shaking me harder, "What else did he do? Did he say anything?!"
"Ow! You're hurting me!" I exclaim.
He stops shaking me at that, especially since everyone is now staring right at us. He still has his hands on my shoulders, though.
He grabs both of our plates and dumps out the remaining food. He puts the dishes on some shelf, thanks the staff, then grabs my hand and drags me into the elevator, hitting the button that says "70."
The elevator ride is long and silent. Mr. Eun-ji is slightly hyperventilating. He shoots repeated glances at me; it looks like his brain is running a mile a second.
The elevator stops, and he drags me into his office. It's a similar setup to Elementalist's. "Answer my question from earlier." He breathily demands.
"He approached me while I was weak from my fight at the docs. He took my mask off, identified me as Parker, made an educated guess that Parker wasn't my real identity either, and then said he was interested in me before slamming my face into the ground." I explain to him.
"F-Fuck…" He quietly exclaims.
"That guy is absolutely psycho. Arguably worse than Claire-" he starts before I interrupt, "Hey!"
He kneels to my level and shushes me. "Listen to me, Ray. This is not the time to interrupt me and defend your mentor. Listen!" He commands, eyes wide with fear as he starts to grip my shoulders. His using my real name for this sends a chill down my spine.
"He takes joy in picking people's brains. Testing their limits until they mentally snap. Him being 'interested' in you is terrifying." He explains.
"If he ever went near you again, I'd be so scared for you, Ray. I don't wanna lose you." He says, actively trying to steady himself.
"Cause Miss Claire would-" I start, before he interrupts, "This isn't about Claire! I just don't want you dead!" He says, shaking a little, he lets go of me and stands up.
"Stay away from the gang, no matter what faction. If they approach you, page me and run." He says.
"But Kara and I-" I don't get to finish that sentence before he shouts, "I'm serious, Ray! Don't pull your defiant, stubborn bullshit!"
I feel my lips tremble a bit as I only nod in response. I've never seen Mr. Eun-ji this shaken by anything before.
"You said you had plans, right?" He asks.
I check my phone. It says "2:05 PM". I nod at him, not verbally responding.
"Okay… you can go ahead and go… Stay safe, okay?" He says, standing up and letting go of me. He's the first to exit the room; he rushes out, while I pause and stand there for a bit.
I inhale deeply, steadying myself. I then exhale sharply and step out of the office. I read the nameplate on the door, which read: "Eun-ji Choi, WWSHA Security Overseer".
When I look toward the elevator, I see Mr. Eun-ji and next to him, Paragon. The elevator door shuts before I can catch what their conversation is about.
Before I can make my way over to wait for an elevator. I hear faint coughing from the office at the end of the hallway. My curiosity and slight concern take over, as it didn't sound quiet due to the distance; it sounded weak.
When I make my way over, I see the nameplate says: "Paragon, WWSHA Standing Chief". I hesitantly open the door, and I'm greeted with Elaine, keeled over, breath heaving, coughing up blood, and for some reason, not healing herself.
I run over. "Elaine?" I call out, moving to her side.
"Go away, Parker. This is none of your business." She snarls.
"Why aren't you healing?" I ask her.
"Are you just not listening to me? Go." She demands.
"Why aren't you healing?" I repeat, matching the intensity of her gaze.
"Paragon asked me not to. Now go away." She states to me.
"You shouldn't let him do that," I tell her.
"It's none of your business, Parker. 'Sides, my penguin went through a lot worse than this." She explains.
"Well, if you keep going the way you're going. You're gonna meet your 'penguin' in the afterlife." I tell her. I don't want her to get herself killed. If this is happening on the regular, which her treating it like it's normal implies, she will die.
Without warning, Elaine turns around and punches me straight in the nose. I cup my hands around my nose as I feel blood gush out of it. I open my mouth to speak, but Elaine walks right out.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a tissue box on Paragon's desk. I grab three tissues from the box. I use the first one to dab up the area around my nose and my hands. And I use the other two to plug my nose.
Was that the wrong thing to say?...
Seeing as I got punched, probably?
I slowly readjust myself, rolling my shoulders back, steadying my breath, and replanting my feet on the floor. I slowly step out of the office and head towards the elevator.
The moment I get to the elevator and am about to press the button to call it, the doors open, and I see Kara. "Hey, Parker! What's with the nose?" She greets, waving at me.
"Elaine punched me square in the nose," I tell her, pointing towards the tissues.
"Well, she did seem quite angry earlier. How'd you set her off?" She asks.
"She said something about her 'Penguin' having gone through things much worse than she is going through now. I told her that if she kept going the way she is, she's gonna meet her 'Penguin' in the afterlife." I explain, omitting the state that I saw her in. I'm sure Elaine doesn't want anyone to know.
"Parker!" She admonishes.
"What?" I respond, and I realize my tone has risen an octave, sounding rather defensive.
"You told Elaine that she's gonna meet her dead little brother in the afterlife if she keeps 'going the way she's going'. And you wonder why she hit you?!" She scolds.
"Okay, well, when you put it like that, it sounds bad!" I retort.
"In what context does it make you look good?!" She shouts back, pulling me into a headlock, lightly grinding her knuckles on my head.
"I dunno!" I shout back.
"Parker, you are terrible at dealing with people in grief! I mean, you had an argument with me about Ironhide when we first met, and I tried to hit you because you were being mouthy!" She scolds.
"Okay, well, I was trying to tell you to carry on his legacy to honor him! And I was trying to tell Elaine not to throw away her life!" I protest.
"Great message and all, but horrible phrasing." She says with a sigh, letting me go.
"So, we're going down to train?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Bayani is currently outside. He and Elizabeth are going somewhere." She explains.
"Really? After he and I made plans?" I sigh.
"Apparently, it was urgent. She needed him specifically. It happens sometimes, if Bayani and I's powers are useful for something, Elaine, Elizabeth, Paragon, or Elementalist, will drag us out and take us on some assignment. Ironhide used to do it too. He was originally planning to take us to the fight against Chameleon, but decided against it because it was 'too dangerous'." She explains.
"I see. Bayani was supposed to teach me some proper martial arts techniques since Elaine probably won't. Could you do it?" I ask.
"Nope. I suck at teaching. These things are just natural for me, I can't teach 'em." She says with a shrug.
"Of course you can't. Great." I say, looking down and sighing.
"Dude, cheer up! How about we watch the movie you bought yesterday?" She suggests.
"Sure. Let's do it." I say, heading to the elevator. And calling it, entering when the doors open.
"Good, I got a game console in my room, it can play DVDs, so we're set." She explains as she follows me inside the elevator
The ride feels long and silent, although it's short all things considered. The elevator arrives at floor sixty-eight, and we step out of the now-open doors. I go into my room and grab the movie. It's sitting on my nightstand. I pick it up and exit my room, and then I go to Kara's door and knock.
She's quick to open it, and she silently motions for me to come in. I sit down on the edge of her bed in front of her TV. I hand her the case, and she opens it and walks over to the entertainment center, holding up the TV. She then puts the movie in the slot of some weird device, which I assume is the "game console".
After that, she takes a seat next to me and starts the movie, as the opening plays, she breaks the silence, "Do you think if Bayani and I were there, Ironhide would've won and Chameleon would be here right now in rehabilitation, just like Ironhide wanted?"
I take some time to think. What if she and Bayani were there? Honestly. Yeah, they would've won. Ironhide didn't need them to win, but if they were there, Ironhide holding back wouldn't have mattered. But I think there's some irony that I did end up here anyway. Even if she doesn't know that.
I feel that similar swell in my chest, that pang, the one that makes my head spin and compels me to act.
"I… Don't think you could have changed anything… Wraith was there, right? The assumption most people are making is that she was there to keep it a one-on-one of Chameleon versus Ironhide." I say, not knowing if that's actually what people are saying, but it is the truth.
"Wraith just would've killed you and Bayani. I think Ironhide did a good job protecting you two by doing that." I tell her, trying to give her a reassuring smile.
She pauses, taking in a shaky breath before responding: "Yeah… I suppose." She smiles back at me.
"Even if you're not good with words sometimes. You're easy to talk to. I could never talk to people about this." She says.
"Why not Bayani?" I ask.
"He's grieving too. I don't need to burden him with this," she states.
"I see," I reply.
"Enough of that crap. Too much for one day. Let's just watch the movie!" She says, suddenly putting on a cheery facade.
I nod and turn my attention back to the screen.
Kara is grieving, clearly. And here I am, the cause of it all, comforting her like I'm some saint. I'm a murderer; I killed Ironhide. I took Kara and Bayani's mentor away. And now I'm pretending like I'm their friend? I have no right to be.
I really am garbage.