Chapter 3: Journey to Find Energy Shard Users

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A couple months later, everything had returned back to normal. Or at least, that's what Ace and Spark thought. Their fight had been forgotten. Others had come to take its place. But the friendship remained, as it always did. Bumps on the road were expected between men who were as close as brothers.

"Hey," Master Zo called over his shoulder, as Ace and Spark made up heaping plates of random snacks. "I want you guys to be careful. There are some weird things happening in the world right now. Don't want you two getting caught up in it."

"What do you mean Master?" Ace asked.

The two joined him in front of the tv, as Master Zo sat watching the news. It was a UGN government broadcast.

The broadcast was discussing the new "monsters" in society. These monsters were born out of the meteor catastrophe, and they were going to destroy the human race. Since the monsters could camouflage themselves to look like humans, the only way to tell them apart was by a particular shard on their body. The shards came in different shapes and colors, but each one reflected light like a diamond would.

The broadcast continued with a video clip that showed a vehicle getting pulled over. After the vehicle came to a complete stop, the officer got out of the vehicle and went to speak with the driver.

"Do you know how fast you were going," the officer asked.

"No sir. I'm sorry, a coffee spilled in the backseat and it distracted me."

The officer glanced in the back where two friends huddled together, coffee dripping on the seat neither was sitting on.

"It's law now that I have to inspect everyone I pull over," the officer said. "So, I'm gonna have to ask you to step outside the car so we can talk.

The driver slowly got out of the vehicle. He looked young, couldn't be older than sixteen. Face pale, eyes wide. The officer noticed a light glow from his ankles.

"Don't you move!" The officer said, as he pulled out his gun and aimed it at the kid. "I got you now." He tossed a glance at the two women in the backseat. "Don't you traitors dare move either. I'm going to have to take all you monsters down to the station for some heavy questioning."

The women froze, both looked stunned. Terrified. It was horrible to watch. ​

"Leave!" The driver yelled. "He wants me, not you."

The officer fumbled his gun, clearly not used to such confrontations. The driver used the moment of confusion to shove the officer to the ground, giving the girl in the back-seat time to jump up front.

She drives off as fast as possible.

The driver looks at the officer. "You almost got me," he laughed.

His laughter is cut short as a tranquilizing shot hits him right in the chest and he falls to the ground.

Two pictures of the supposed accomplices take his place on the screen. The message, "If found, Contact Emergency Services Immediately" flashed below the pictures. The last known location was mentioned before Ace turned the TV off.

"Does this make us monsters too?" Ace asked, fury hardening his words. Spark shook his head in disbelief.

"We have to help the two women that escaped," Spark said.

"That's extremely dangerous," Master Zo warned. "You could get caught by the UGN and who knows what they'd do to you."

"I don't care," Spark said, as he stood and looked at Ace. This was the first time that they'd heard of other energy shard users, and he needed to know more about them. He already felt a bond to these strangers, and he knew Ace was the only one who'd really understand.

          

"I am going to find those two women in the broadcast, and I am going to find out more about what happened to us that night. Are you coming with me Ace?"

"You already know I'm not letting you go alone," Ace said, an adventurous smile on his face. "I'm definitely going with you."

At first, Master Zo insisted that they did not go. But he had always been an empathetic man, and after the boys explained how much this meant to him, he relented. They weren't children anymore after all.

He even agreed to lend the boys a helping hand. Master Zo reached out to some friends and arranged for Ace and Spark to fly to the city closest to the last shard sighting. Ace and Spark quickly got ready and left for the small airport nearby.

After the plane landed at its destination, one of Master Zo's friends arrived to pick them up. Garrett looked to be about middle age, with a bit of grey scattered over his brown hair, but a friendly smile that was ageless. He was rather muscular, but not in an intimidating way. More like the kind of guy who left the country for the city, but had never quite completed the transition. He helped load the boys' things into his suv and took off to the city.

"Zo told me about your trip," he said, as the boys drank in the sights. A far cry the wilderness they'd grown up in. They were both grown men, but they felt like children here. Thankful to have someone to help along the way. "It's a pretty intense mission you have on your shoulders."

"Yeah," Spark said. "We're one of those "monsters" too, so we have to help them."

Ace wanted to punch Spark, but Garrett didn't seem surprised. Of course, Master Zo probably told him all about it. He wouldn't send them with someone he didn't trust. But Ace had always been a bit more reserved than Spark was.

"You're gonna wanna be careful," Garrett warned. "Don't go talking about your mission to just anyone. That kind of thing can get you killed."

Ace gave a satisfied smirk at Spark's confusion.

"How will we find them, then?" Spark asked.

"I'd start with Kevin, a local bounty hunter. He hangs out a bar called The Hunter's Den. Keeps tabs on everything in this city."

Garrett filled the two in on the essential things they'd need to know when exploring the city for the first time, and gave them his number in case they needed help. Then, he dropped them off close to The Hunter's Den and wished them well.

"This is incredible," Spark said, as he hoisted his backpack on his shoulders.

"Yeah," Ace replied, with less enthusiasm. "I've never seen anything like this before."

Spark took the lead as Ace grappled with a situation that was beyond anything he'd ever had to deal with before. The crowds of people started to overwhelm and he bumped into a few people on accident, while his eyes shifted, trying to take in everything.

Spark grabbed Ace right before he almost walked in front of a moving car.

"Careful, Ace," he warned. "Stay close. We're almost there."

Moments later, Ace and Spark walked down a flight of stairs into an underground, dark bar. Wood furnishings and a red and brown interior made it look like something they'd find back home, rather than in this big city. Muscular men dressed in dark clothing sat around their beers.

"It looks like a lot of them are bounty hunters as well," Ace whispered. "How are we going to find Kevin?"

"We'll just ask someone," Spark said.

"We can't just..."

Before Ace could voice his full protest, Spark was talking to the bartender.

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