Chapter 3 – Zenan
“Yo!”
Clay became startled after hearing a loud sound, he came to a full stop.
He was right in front of the cheap apartment where he lived.
“Jack……”
Clay softly cried out.
“Is something wrong? You look frustrated.”
Kane came to find him that night, naturally this was the start of his problems.
“Yeah, maybe a little…”
Clay revealed a cowardly smile.
He remembered how he let Zenan take Millie away.
Although he saw the entire thing, there was nothing he could do.
This weighed on his mind heavily, he knew that it wouldn’t have ended well for her.
“You seem like you have something on your mind?”
Jack watched Clay closely.
“……It’s nothing, I’m fine.”
Clay made a forced smile.
“Clay, are you free right now?”
“I guess so……”
He nodded without thinking.
“——Okay, so what’s up?””
Jack told Clay that he needed help cleaning his fridge of beer.
“……And that’s what happened.”
Clay lifelessly replied as he sat down on a mouldy couch.
Jack was sitting on the couch opposite of him.
“……Do you remember this sofa?”
Jack patted his couch and pointed at Clay.
“It was back in my early days on Mars, a couple of my buddies went to steal some
stuff at a local store……”
“Of course I remember, it was when Bobby and a guy were getting chased by a dog”
“And both of them got their a.s.s bit.”
Both of them laughed.
“……Those were happy times.”
After listening to the words of Jack, Clay began to smile, but he still couldn’t hide the
sadness.
Just over two months ago, Bobby was caught by the police for selling marijuana for
an organization.
“Although in the beginning things looked promising, now I regret introducing
everyone to the organization……”
Jack took another sip of beer.
“……I never expected things ever get like this.”
“I know.”
“You should have just stayed home.”
Jack suddenly whispered something.
“……What?”
Clay immediately said.
“——I didn’t want to say this. But recently there’s been a guy pestering you——his
names Kane, right? There are rumours going around that he is with nightmare, you
know a.s.sociating with those people is taboo.”
“……”
Clay went silent for a moment.
“Yeah, I know the guy. He just wanted to take me back home, though I will admit
trouble seems to follow him.”
“But……”
Knock, knock.
A knocking sound came from the door.
“Seriously, who’s knocking at this time of the night?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get it.”
Clay said as he made his way towards the door, he opened it.
He stood there for a moment.
“Why are you so surprised to see me?”
Zenan said in a calm voice.
“Mr Zenan.”
Subconsciously he stepped backwards.
Zenan took this opportunity and entered the room.
“Mr Zenan!”
Zenan ignored Jack and looked directly at Clay.
“Kill Kane Blueriver.”
He unilaterally declared.
“This requires your a.s.sistance.”
“My a.s.sistance?”
“You do realize that you and that guy are both suspected of being spies for
nightmare, this is an excellent opportunity to set the record straight.”
“I……”
An unbearable wave of pressure came upon Clay
“What, were you going to say something?”
“Mr Zenan!”
Jack suddenly interrupted them.
This was the first time Zenan had met him.
“……Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Please, just let him go.”
Zenan watched in silence.
“……That guy Kane isn’t from nightmare and neither is Clay, leave him out of this.”
“——Enough, shut up!”
Zenan coldly said to Jack, he then turned his attention back to Clay.
“I have no time to waste with you!”
“However, Mr Zenan!”
But Jack still went on.
“The real reason that guy Kane came……”
“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?”
Zenan said without turning around to face him.
“……Was to just bring clay back home!”
Zenan silently waved his arm.
Whoosh.
A light sabre waved through the air.
The sound of something heavy hit the ground.
“——Ahhhhhh!”
Clay started screaming.
Jacks decapitated body hit the ground.
“Don’t make me repeat myself.”
Zenan stared coldly at Clay.
“I’ll ask again. Will you lend your a.s.sistance?”
Zenan said as he waved his light sabre through the air.
Clay took a deep breath, with his trembling voice he gave a resolute answer.
“I won’t!”
“……Strange……”
The next night.
Millie and Kane had been searching different nightclubs trying to find Clay, they had
searched five but with no luck.
“He’s not here, certainly he should be in one of these bars……”
She said to herself as she turned a page in her notebook.
“Is sharing intelligence a problem?”
Kane casually asked.
“No, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Do you think he’s at home?”
“Probably not, I rung his apartment several times and got no answer.”
“Hmm……”
Kane mused to himself.
“Where can are investigation go from here? We’ve only got his phone number.”
“I’ve still got my business secrets.”
“Obviously you’ve been fired, right?”
“……Argh……”
“Then we’ve got to move faster with our investigation.”
Kane muttered to himself.
“Why?”
Millie asked in a casual tone.
“Because we are being watched. Behind you.”
“……Huh?”
“He’s in the corner.”
“Right.”
After whispering to each other, both of them headed for the exit.
A moment later, something touched Kane’s back.
“Ahhhhh!”
Kane panicked as a man grabbed him by the collar.
“——Oh, it’s you.”
Kane said with a smirk on his face.
It was an informant that Kane knew.
“Is he an acquaintance of yours?”
“Yeah, I met him a few days ago.”
Kane answered Millie’s question.
“About your prior statement, you know you can buy intelligence.”
“Is this alright?”
“I guess so, as long as we don’t regret it in the future……”
Kane then gave the informant a punch in the gut.
“W-Why?”
The informant groaned.
“Because I know you weren’t following us for no reason, some fat a.s.s much have put
you up to it……”
“Listen man, you know I can’t say anything.”
Kane punched the man in the face.
“I’m running out of patience.”
Kane was about to punch him again when
“Zenan! It was Zenan! He wanted me to deliver a message to you. Clay called me
and wanted you to meet him at this address.”
Kane pulled a note with the address from the man’s hands, then both him and Millie
slowly left the bar.
He knew where the place was, it was only two blocks away.
Even though he knew it was most likely a trap, he had to defeat Zenan and rescue
Clay somehow.
(If only I could get a plan of the building……)
Of course Kane could get Ca.n.a.l on the Sword Breaker to get the plans, but that
would take hours, they just didn’t have that kind of time.
“——Hey, you wait in the car.”
Kane couldn’t remember how many times he’s said this.
“No, I’m coming too!”
Millie shook her head.
Kane sighed.
(……Man, what a drag.)
This disturbed Kane.
He knew that Millie wouldn’t be able to handle herself if a firefight ensued.
“……It seems to be an abandoned building.”
Millie whispered as she looked around the place.
It was an old office building leftover from the Great Depression on Mars, it was
obviously not being maintained anymore. The only light was that from the stars
above, the streetlights near the building weren’t operational.
Both of them decided to go around and enter from the back of the building.
At the end of the rear alley they found an iron gate.
It had lost a lot of its original paint, there was considerable rust on it.
They glanced around again and saw no sign of the enemy.
“——It’s locked.”
Kane said, he was fiddling with the doork.n.o.b.
“That’s for sure, it’s an abandoned building after all……”
“I guess I’ll just have to cut open the door.”
“Stop!”
Millie panicked and stopped Kane from pulling out his light sabre.
“……Why did you stop me?”
“Don’t you realize that people could notice us? Didn’t you even stop to think of the
consequences?”
“Well……”
“Exactly, now leave it to a professional.”
Millie took a hairpin from her head, and fitted it into the keyhole.
“A hairpin?”
“Yeah, I think common sense is more convenient in this situation……”
Click, a moment later Millie pressed the door handle and it opened.
“We’re in.”
Both of them entered the building, they saw a faint light emanating from down the
hallway.
“……It’s a hall.”
Millie whispered to Kane.
They could see a faint figure in the hall.
“…This is bad, we can’t just foolishly enter the hall.”
Kane was right, for there’s nowhere to hide in a hall, and if Zenan’s men were hiding
in the corners of the hall they would descend upon them like locusts.
“……Listen, Millie. I’ll go in first, if it’s safe I’ll give you the signal to enter.”
“Come on, you can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Millie revealed an angry expression.
“Fine, but remember my financial situation is relying on this job.”
Kane nodded to Millie, then he entered the room with his light sabre at the ready.
He took a few steps forward, then——
He stopped moving, the room went dead quiet.
Millie could clearly see Kane standing in the hall.
“What’s wrong?”
Millie couldn’t help but break the silence, she opened the door.
“——Don’t come in.”
Kane calmly said.
“…...What happened? Is it the enemy?”
“——It’s not the enemy.”
“So, what is it then?”
“Just shut up, don’t come over here!”
“Up yours!”
Then, Millie rushed over to Kane.
“Millie!”
Ignoring Kane, she went to see what Kane was looking at.
“5F.”
This text was in front of them.
It was spray painted in white and red,
“……Ah!”
There was something below the writing.
It took Millie a while to realize what it was, it wasn’t a mannequin——it was a real
person.
“It’s Clay……”
Kane mumbled.
There wasn’t even a scar on his face, his head was cut off from the rest of his body,
it was lying not far away from his head.
His face had the expression of terror and despair.
There wasn’t even any blood, the light sabre made sure of that, it was so unreal.
“——This is——”
An intense wave of nausea came upon them.
Millie then spoke in a weak voice.
“……They want us to go to the fifth floor, that’s where the final battle will be fought.”
“Probably.”
Kane then left the room and silently walked up to the second floor, Millie followed
behind him.
On the second floor they found an elevator, the power was still working.
Kane pressed the elevator b.u.t.ton.
After the doors opened, he pressed the b.u.t.ton for the fifth floor.
Both of them then went towards the emergency stairs and climbed to the fifth floor,
Millie struggled to keep up.
After a while, they reached the fifth floor.
It was a s.p.a.cious room, most of the curtains were closed and there was only one
working light in the room.
“——Took you long enough.”
Zenan was waiting for Kane.
“——You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
Kane shouted.
Millie immediately pulled out her gun.
“What are you thinking?”
Zenan sneered.
“At this point I don’t care if you are with nightmare or not, I just want to kill you.”
“I’m not with nightmare!”
“…Maybe…but I don’t care.”
“You monster, you killed Clay!”
Millie shouted.
“And?”
Millie raised her tranquilizer gun, she was dead set on shooting him.
Kane stopped her.
“Why?”
Zenan laughed.
“Come on, let’s fight.”
“How do I know that all the guys you have back there will not interfere?”
“Don’t worry, this fight will be a one on one.”
Kane looked back at Millie.
“Millie, you wait outside.”
“Not going to happen, she stays here. We need a witness.”
Zenan calmly raised his right hand.
“Enough talk!”
Whoosh!
Zenan’s light sabre lit up the room.
Kane powered up his light sabre too, he slowly walked towards Zenan.
Zenan made the first move.
Both of their sabre’s clashed, a crackling sound could be heard around the room.
Meanwhile, Zenan kicked Kane’s right leg.
“Ahh!”
Kane jumped backwards and regained his footing.
Zenan instantly came after him.
Kane dodged his attack and struck back, but Zenan’s defence was too strong.
Zenan was even stronger than Kane expected.
However, Kane had speed and technique on his side, though he knew that wouldn’t
win the battle alone.
Kane and Zenan continued to clash sabres.
This time Zenan used his elbow to hit Kane in the face, naturally Kane regained his
balance fairly quickly.
Zenan dashed towards him again.
After several repeated attempts, anxiety was starting to show on his face.
“Well, Kane! I didn’t expect much of a fight from you!”
Kane smiled back at him.
“——Looks like you can’t handle me, you ready to die yet?”
“Shut your mouth!”
Zenan roared.
Kane saw Zenan trying to rush him again.
“Are you ready to die?!”
Zenan shouted, that was followed by the room going dark.
“What?!”
Kane had struck the only working light in the room.
“No!”
“Ah!”
Screams sounded out across the room.
After Kane had turned off the lights he had killed the guys hiding behind the curtain.
“Ah! Turn on the lights!”
Zenan screamed.
“Kane!”
Millie said, just as someone pushed by her.
“He’s making a break for it!”
“Come on, let’s go after him!”
Kane shouted, making his way to the exit.
“I can’t see him.”
Millie looked down the staircase, there wasn’t a trace of Zenan.
“Then he’s gone up! Come on!”
“No, he definitely went downstairs.”
Millie said as she shook her head.
“The b.a.s.t.a.r.d couldn’t win so he ran, figures.”
Click, click.
They heard a sound transmission.
Millie was startled.
“Don’t worry, it’s mine.”
Kane pulled out his communicator.
“——Kane, I……”
It was Ca.n.a.l from the Sword Breaker.
“What’s up? I’m kind of busy here!”
“I was eavesdropping in the Martian communication system, apparently the Dugole
Connection is marshalling their fleet.”
“I don’t think that’s something we should be concerned about!”
Kane unhappily replied back.
“I haven’t got the time to worry about that, right now we’ve got to go after Zenan!”
“Zenan?”
Ca.n.a.l said.
“That’s the a.s.sa.s.sin you mentioned before, right? Someone from his organization
called him just as he left the building.”
“What was it about?”
“He was told to immediately go to the s.p.a.ceport, he also received some other
information……”
“s.p.a.ceport?”
He repeated her like a parrot.
“What else did they tell him?”
Ca.n.a.l replied in a low voice.
“Nightmare has declared war on the Dugole Connection.”