Akari lights his blunt and breathes in and out slowly. Smoke fills the air as he looks down into the sewer….making an unsettling face.
“Akari,” a voice calls out to him.
Mikasa comes down the street.
“Hey,” he replied.
“Good morning, crew,”
Lacey walks up to them.
“What are we doing today?”
Lacey looks around for Ocho. Mikasa checks her phone.
“Well, Ocho said that we’re training today… for…” Mikasa scrolls through the message thread.
“Combat?”
She scratches her head.
A taxi door sms!
Tatsuya stands outside, across the street from the building.
“MY FRIEND, YOU OWE ME 19 DOLLAR!” the driver shouts to Tatsuya, who is already walking away.
“I DIDN’T GET PAID YET! I GOT YOU NEXT TIME!” Tatsuya yells back.
“THIS SECOND TIME! THIS SECOND TIME!” the driver shouts angrily.
“I promise you! I’m gonna pay you back!” Tatsuya crosses the street.
“THIS SECOND TIME WON’T BE THIRD TIME! I PROMISE YOU!”
The man drives off.
Tatsuya walks over and meets up with the group.
“Hello Tatsuya, how are you doing?” Lacey asks with a smile.
“Ughh…” Tatsuya growls.
“Thanks for waiting, everyone,” Ocho opens the doors to the building.
“Come, let’s get started.”
Ocho walks to one of the rooms and the group follows him inside. Shelves line the walls, filled with tools. More equipment hangs from racks and hooks.
“Choose your equipment wisely,” Ocho points..
The group begins looking around.
Mikasa touches a strange spray bottle. Lacey examines a yellow suit with a gas mask beside it. Akari leans against the wall.
“Are we going to war?”
Tatsuya asked, confused by what he’s seeing. He picks up a crowbar..
“In a way… yes,” Lacey suddenly appears behind him.
“You never know what to expect in the field.” Lacey makes a serious face and starts walking like a solider.
Tatsuya puts his left hand, on his forehead.
“Yes, Tatsuya-kun, you really don’t,” Ocho cheerfully skips around the room. He grabs a box and rummages through some equipment.
“Mikasa,” Ocho calls.
He pulls something out of a box.
“I think you should use this.”
Mikasa walks over and looks at it.
“A… pencil?” she looks at the ordinary object.
“It doesn’t look like much, but… I think it’s going to come in handy for you.”
Ocho nods.
“What is even going on here…”
Tatsuya mutters, looking puzzled.
Something rings in the distance.
RING. RING. RING.
A ptop begins going off.
“Moshi moshi?” Ocho answers the call from his computer.
“Okay… alright…”
He pauses.
“Okay, okay. I’ll be there.”
He closes the ptop.
“You guys—change of pns.”
Ocho grabs a small satchel from inside a closet door.
The group looks at him.
“Something very urgent has come up. I’ll be back soon.”
“Oh… okay,” Lacey waves him off
“In the meantime…” Ocho raises a finger. “I know something you guys could do.”
Lacey, Tatsuya, Mikasa, and Akari sit at a table.
An old television pys a bck-and-white instructional video.
“Do you want to be a good exterminator? Well, I’ll tell you how to become one!” the man on the TV announces.
“First, you must listen to what your instructor says at all times. Make sure you have your equipment to spray, sanitize, and inspect what type of pests you’re dealing with…”
The video continues.
Tatsuya rests his head on the table. Akari closes his eyes. Lacey watches attentively, his eyes glistening.
“Hey guys, why don’t we go get some food?”
Mikasa rises up.
Tatsuya lifts his head. Akari opens his eyes.
“But what about the video?”
Lacey looks with concern.
“It’s just one of those basic automated videos,” Mikasa grabs her purse.
“Im sure Ocho wouldn’t mind.”
She walks towards the door.
Tatsuya stands up and follows behind her. Akari and Lacey still sit but look over at her.
“Come on. There’s a MKDS across the street.”
She waves the boys over
Akari rubs his finger on the side of his face, staring at Mikasa. She stares back at him.
Akari gets up to leave.
Lacey looks at the tv and then at the group leaving.
“Awww man”
He gets up and exits with them.
They walk into the Mkds fast-food restaurant and stand in line.
Tatsuya digs his hands through his jean pockets.
They’re empty…
“Don’t worry,”
Mikasa puts her arm on his shoulder
. “Food’s on me.”
The group finally reaches the register.
“Hello. What would you guys like?” the cashier asked.
Tatsuya steps forward.
“Can I get… uhh…”
He scans the menu.
“I’ll get a double cheeseburger, rge fries, medium barbecue nuggets, three cookies…”
Mikasa looks astonished.
“Large Sprite. Two apple pies.”
Lacey steps forward next.
“I’ll get chili fries, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, a chicken sandwich—hold the mayo—”
Mikasa drops her head.
“Okay, all together that’ll be 62.59,” the cashier announced
Mikasa’s hands shake, as she looks at her credit card.
Suddenly, Akari gently blocks her hand.
“I got it.”
He taps his card on the Banana Pay screen and pays for the meal.
The group sits in a booth.
Lacey and Akari sit by the window.
Across from them, Tatsuya and Mikasa.
Fries and burgers cover the table.
Tatsuya loudly smacks his lips while eating his cheeseburger.
Lacey slurps his straw loudly, drinking a rge Hi-C.
“Thanks for paying for the food,”
Mikasa bows her head slightly to Akari.
Akari simply stares out the window.
Mikasa looks up at him.
“So…”
Her eyes dart around awkwardly.
“What do you do at home, Akari?”
Akari turns toward her.
“Regur at home things….” he replies bnkly.
“Right…” Mikasa nods.
She looks up at the ceiling.
Lacey and Tatsuya continue scarfing down their food.
Lacey double dips his nuggets in barbecue sauce.
“Are you from Yorknew?” Mikasa asked
“No,” Akari replies.
“I’ve just been traveling around.”
“Oh. Have you been having fun?”
She smiled slightly
“No.”
Akari looks down at the table.
“Why not?”
“It’s not that type of thing.”
Akari looks at her intensely.
“I’m looking for someone.”
Akari looks towards the window
“Oh….”
Mikasa stares into space then back at Akari
“Who?”
Concern grows on Mikasa’s face.
Akari looks down at the table. Staying silent.
Mikasa taps her fingers on her knees. Choosing her next words.
“I’ve been in Yorknew my whole life,” she says softly.
“I’ve had a lot of great memories here.”
She pauses.
“Some not so great.”
………………
“Honestly… I feel like the city has gotten crazier. I don’t know. Something in the air.”
Akari remains silent.
Mikasa stares into space.
“I think..I want to go somewhere else. Somewhere far… far away. Somewhere new.”
She says.
Akari looks up.
“Where?”
Mikasa raises her eyebrows.
“Where would you want to go?”
Akari leans forward slightly, seeming more interested now.
“If I could go somewhere… I think I’d go to Florida.”
She smiled,
EMERGENCY. EMERGENCY. EMERGENCY.
The TV inside the restaurant suddenly turns red.
The channel switches.
“We come to you live with this emergency broadcast,” a reporter announces.
Police and bck SUVs surround a hotel behind her.
“Right now we are outside the Hilton Hotel, where residents have reportedly been attacked by rats.”
“Yes, the hotel has been infested with these rodents, and witnesses cim the rats are unusually rge… and also unnatural looking.”
The group looks up at the television.
Tatsuya takes another massive bite of his burger.
“It’s him… it must be!” Akari whispers, his voice trembling.
“What?” Mikasa looked at him
“Police and special agents have called in top exterminators, to handle this situation,” the reporter continues nervously.
Suddenly
CRASH.
Akari smashes the restaurant window and jumps outside.
“AKARI?!” Mikasa shouts.
“We have to go after him,”
Lacey shouts
“Right,”
Mikasa stares outside
They both look at Tatsuya.
He’s still eating.
“What?”
Tatsuya bites more into his burger
Meanwhile, inside the Hilton Hotel…
Rats swarm through the hallways as residents flee.
“MY BAG! MY BAG! I FORGOT IT! We have to go back!” a woman cries while clutching her pearls.
“We can’t, Fufi! Those rats are ferocious! If we stop now—”
A rat leaps onto the man’s arm and bites into his shoulder.
More rats follow.
Five of them tackle the couple.
People scream as the hotel fills with rats.
“We could turn this pce into a hideout for the group.”
A giant humanoid squirrel appears, carrying a sword on his back. He wears a red cloak decorated with stars.
Beside him stands a huge brown rat wearing the same cloak.
“Maybe…” the rat chuckles.
“Boss, what will you have me do?” another mouse approaches the two.
“Scan the perimeter,”
The rge rat grinned.
The mouse scurries away.
Two police officers rush down the hallway.
They freeze when they see the creatures.
“WHAT THE HELL?”
“What… what are those…..THINGS?”
The squirrel begins walking toward them.
“FREEZE!”
Both officers pull out their guns.
The squirrel gnces at the rat, then back at the police.
He takes another step.
BANG.
A bullet strikes the squirrel
He looks down at the bullet that hit his body, but it has no effect on him.
The squirrel continues to walk.
“I… I said fr—”
“I know, I know,” the squirrel smiles.
Raising his arms.
“Freeze.”
The officers suddenly stop in pce
“I can’t… move… my face,”
The officer muttered.
The other officer thinks. “My hands…?”
“My body!” the officer panic internally.
They are completely frozen.
The squirrel grins.
He slowly draws the sword from his back and creeps toward them.
“Next stop: 125th st Roosevelt Isnd,” the conductor announced.
Akari stands inside the train with the others.
“Akari, where are we going?” Mikasa face flustered.
“To the hotel?” Tatsuya adds.
“He’s there,”
Akaris eyes fill with rage.
“Who?” Mikasa asked again
The train stops.
The doors opened
Akari runs out.
The others chase after him.
They reach the Hilton Hotel.
Akari storms to the front desk.
“Where are the rats?” he demands.
“They’re… they’re everywhere,” the clerk stammered
Akari grabs the man by the colr.
“What floor?!”
“Akari…” Mikasa nervous by his demeanor
“The abnormal ones, where are they..,”
Akaris look intensified
“I-I think… the 14th floor,”
The man shivered
Akari releases him and runs to the elevator.
The others follow.
Tatsuya drags his feet.
The elevator doors open.
An eerie silence fills the air.
Akari steps out first, scanning both directions.
“It’s quiet,” Mikasa looked around
“Too quiet,” Tatsuya whispered.
Akari walks down the hallway.
Then—
Squeaking.
Scratching.
Rats suddenly rush toward them.
“Oh hell no!” Tatsuya shouts.
Akari stands perfectly still.
“Akari…” Mikasa is shaken
Akari breathes in slowly.
Then exhales.
The rats get close.
Akari reaches his hand out. A razor like object appears
He grasps it and sms the razor into the ground.
White electricity erupts from the bde and spreads across the floor.
Lightning bolts explode around the rats.
They squeal in agony, as they get electrocuted.
Akari’s aura pulsates violently. Felt around the room.
The rats colpse.
“Aww, the little rodents,”
Lacey picks one up.
Mikasa exhales in relief.
More squeaking echoes from around the corner.
Another wave of rats appear.
But this time they stop.
Waiting.
Smoke begins to fill the hallway.
Two massive shadows appear above the rats.
When the smoke clears—
The gigantic brown rat and giant squirrel stands before them.
“Yoooo…” Tatsuya grabs his head
. “This is too much. I can’t.”
He runs back to the elevator.
Pressing the buttons hard.
Akari grits his teeth.
His expression twists with rage.
“Shizuko Misura…”
Akari lock eyes with the giant rat.
“Misura?” Mikasa was puzzled
“Shizuko, how does this kid know your name?” the squirrel asked
The rat lowers his gaze.
“He’s my…younger brother.”
Chapter 2 end
