Chapter 149 - Meet-up: Into The Swamps arc (4)

In the silent evening of the day, there was no one on the rooftop of one of the oldest and most glorious buildings in California, apart from an old security guard who appeared to be smoking while reading a newspaper.

All of his youth had been wasted away either by doing odd jobs or chasing after women. Although he had been successful in doing the latter, he couldn't maintain a relationship with any of his escapades and in his old age, he had no one who could take care of him, no children, no wife, no family... but still he was happy with who he was. However, there was something he wanted more than anything else... a last adventure before he retired, tomorrow. Nothing has him the thrill like chasing after a thief or protecting someone's life.

"*sigh*, What am I even thinking about? Nothing exciting has happened here in almost half a decade, and I'm wishing to get some action a few hours before my retirement?" The watchman mumbled to himself, still hoping to get a last dose of excitement before his retirement.

Ever since America got divided into East America and West America, the crime rate of West America had declined sharply. Crimes like theft, mugging, s.e.x.u.a.l assaults etc became kind of nonexistent.

This decline too was a product of the partition and happened due to the following reasons, one, only respectable and honoured people were allowed to live in West America and hence there weren't many people left to commit crimes in the first place.

And two, there was a single punishment for anyone who dared to commit a crime and that was banishment. Many considered it to be a harsh punishment, but it was necessary, and it was given regardless of how big or small the crime was. Most of the people living there had to work hard to get where they were right now and hence didn't wanted to do something that would get them thrown out of the safety of the western region, not even by mistake. This law was also implemented because The Syndicate already had their hands filled with dealing monsters, they simply didn't have the time to handle petty criminals as well. So this 'banishment' rule was set up after debating for some time.

Sadly even with the strict laws, no one could stop the few from trying and these people ended up getting 'banished' now and then.

"Just let me witness something exciting for the last time-" The watchman sighed heavily.

Just then the air in front of his eyes started warping in weird shapes and soon a weird human-sized, crimson-coloured circle appeared out of nowhere.

Thinking that it might be a monster attack, the watchman quickly reached for his trusted sword, only to realise he had left it downstairs. He wanted to warn the others but the portal in front of him for bigger and bigger... something was about to come out of that thing and he couldn't risk the lives of the others.

The old man cursed himself, and slammed the terrace door shut, while he grabbed his torch in his hands like a baton, ready to charge at whatever or whoever came out of that thing, it wasn't clear but the guard was willing to bet it was a monster, after all, what else could come out of a portal?

Something finally appeared out of the portal, and the old man fearlessly charged at the creature, wildly swinging his 12 inches long flashlight at his unknown target.

'Finally! One last adventure!'

The rooftop was dark, and not only the old man missed the only change to knock out his enemy, but he also couldn't even control his momentum and went racing towards the railing of the roof. He was about to knock himself off the roof, to his certain death, when suddenly someone grabbed the collar of his uniform and pulled him back, saving his life.

The watchman fell on the ground with a thud, his flashlight rolled off his hands and lit up. He hesitantly turned around, hoping to see a horrifying monster but instead, he saw the face of a man who was standing behind him, as the crimson portal slowly disappearing behind him.

The man had walked out of the portal, wearing a black, neatly pressed, three-piece suit, the kind you only see on high priced lawyers or The people who worked for the Syndicate. The man pulled the watchman back onto the terrace with a single sweep, his eyes settling on nothing. He just kept looking around his surroundings. The watchman was about to ask him who he was but the stranger was quicker than him.

"Would you be kind enough to tell me which city are we in right now?" Arnold smiled as he helped the watchman back to his feet.

"L-Los Angeles!" The guard blurted out after some effort.

***

'Looks like I've arrived in the right place,' Arnold thought as he gazed over the City of Angels, from up there, Arnold felt like he was looking down at the world.

He could see everything, from the trees and the flowers to the sea and the many busy people going on about the night. He could even see the famous Griffith observatory in the distance, as well as the world-famous Hollywood sign. The city was the polar opposite of what he had seen in the wastelands... it was like nothing had happened there at all!

Nighttime is when the city reveals its essence, it was something Arnold had always believed in. But there was an edge to the nights here also, a weird loneliness — or perhaps it was more accurate to call it a dispersion, a quality of letting go. He wasn't talking about the nightlife, but rather about the life of the night. A weird sense of fulfilment filled Arnold's body... until he looked at the watchman and the police officers who were talking about him.

'Looks like I startled a poor old man. He nearly died because of me although it was him who charged at me, and I only did what anyone would've done to dodge someone's attack.' Arnold sighed heavily, 'I didn't think I'd find someone as soon as I got here. Well, it's good that he called an officer here, it saved me a lot of trouble.'

Once the watchman regained his demeanour, he immediately called the police emergency helpline and reported everything to them, it seemed to Arnold that the watchman was a man of character as he didn't hide anything from them and informed the police about how Arnold saved his life as well.

Arnold could have just disappeared from there and the watchman couldn't have done anything but he wanted all of this to be processed legally so that he could be on his way in no time, thus once the police arrived, he immediately showed them the letter Nathan and sent him and right now they were in the middle of verifying it while Arnold gazed around the lively city.

"Looks like its all good here. But next time try to use a verified means of transport." The officer handed Arnold's communicator watch back to him, "A car is waiting for you downstairs that would drive you to the HQ of The Guardian syndicate."

"Sure officer. Sorry for the trouble." Arnold shook their hands and together took the lift with them.

***

Arnold walked out of the lobby of the building along with the officers and the old watchman, and just like the officers had informed him, a car was waiting for him outside the building. But it wasn't just any car, it was a black 2021 Dodge Challenger. Its gates were flung open as Arnold took a step towards it, and out of it came, Nina.

"I'll take over from here officers." She said.

"As your wish ma'am!" The officers saluted her and immediately went away, once they were earshot, Nina spoke once again.

"Nice suit. It's good to see you in decent clothes and not your cosplay stuff, for once." She sniggered and got inside the car.

"Well, it was the only suit other I could wear other than this one was a hazmat suit so yeah, no more cosplaying. Although it's quite disappointing that you're not wearing your yoga pants anymore." Arnold joked and made himself comfortable on the passenger seat, "Nice ride by the way."

"You're really infatuated by my yoga pants aren't you?" Nina smiled and revved up the engine a bit, "And yes, she's a nice ride. Sadly she ain't mine."

"Then whose- wait let me guess, Johnny?"

"Ding Ding Ding. You're right and you've won nothing." Nina smiled as the car drove off.

"So he's here as well?"

"Nah, he had to go away on a mission along with Kolt and a few others, so I'm taking care of his car for a while. But enough chit chat about the car," Nina said, "mind telling me, how the hell did you end up on the rooftop of that building? Nathan told us you won't be arriving until the day after tomorrow, and the next thing I know, I'm told to pick you up from a random building?"

"Well, let's just say I got an ability to travel around faster." He slyly smiled, because he knew what Nina was about to say.

"Damn! Another ability? Are you kidding me? How many abilities do you have now?"

"I don't know... maybe a dozen or maybe more?"

"You, brother and sister duo just never cease to amaze me. On average, a human only has about 6-7 abilities but both of you are on a different scale. Even Johnny doesn't have more than 12 abilities, I think. But Nicole has more than abilities than him so-"

"Woah Nicole has more abilities than Johnny?"

"Yeah, or that's what I assume because the stronger you are, the more abilities you have right? And she's stronger than him"

"If that would've been true, then I'll be the king of the world..." Arnold mumbled.

"Did you say something?"

"No, I just wondering how did Nicole get so strong in so little time..." Arnold replied and got lost in his thoughts.

"I don't have any idea, but the doctors said she already had some powers but they were in a dormant state and awoke due to a trigger or something..."

'I do have an idea how she got so strong in so little time... she might have a system too, that could solve the mystery behind her having so many abilities and her sudden power-up. But nah, she wouldn't have one, it's not possible, right? Yes, it's quite absurd to think that, but then Jake had one as well. But if she had a system, my system would've informed me if there was another paladin around me when she visited me at the alpha base,' Arnold's mind was racing faster than a horse, 'damn I forgot my system is offline and is only using the basic functions. Damn it! Does it mean in future the system will force me to fight her as well...'

Arnold was silent for the rest of their way.