Chapter 1, Indebted

"How many times does this need to happen? How many times will you fail?" A muscular man that was clothed in a way that made any attempts at identifying him useless. He wore hood that left only his mouth visible and amy skin on any other part of his body was fully covered. He wore all black and perfectly blended in with the darkness of the corner he was standing in.

He was in a candle-lit room with two other men that closely resembled him. Both in their build and the way they dressed.

"You keep pissing off the big boss!" One of the men stated as they kicked a older man that was clearly down for the count beneath them.

"I-i just need a little more time." The man pleaded as blood poured from his nose. "The suit is almost done."

"No more excuses!" The guy who kicked him stated as he repeated his violent actions.

"This is your last warning." The big boss declared. "Show your worth as a designer and engineer, or I'll have to have my two loyalists, Raiya and Seiji, pay a little visit to that dump you call a home. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." The old man stated as he struggled to pick himself up. "I'm going to make that suit I promised. Just watch. You'll be so astounded you'll forget how much time I needed to finish it."

"I better." Big Boss stated. "Otherwise, you'll be very sorry. Now, excuse yourself."

"Beat it, you old fuck!" Raiya stated as he shoved the old man in the direction of the exit.

As he exited, he thought of what he would do once he got home.

"My Utility Suit is almost done. I just need some more time. They'll see. They'll see my creative genius!" The old man stated as he made his way home.

The old man stayed in a place called "Orange Peak Village". It was where most low class civilians stayed nowadays. He lived there with his niece and nephew, Austin and Alice. They were five years apart, Austin being seventeen and Alice being twelve. Once he got home, he invited them to watch him work on his utility suit. Alice denied to continue her studies as usual. But, Austin was delighted to join his uncle. Outside of their house was a decent sized shed that the old man used for his work. Once inside, Austin showed his curiosity with the questions he asked his uncle.

"Uncle Preston, what did you add to it this time?" Austin asked.

"Look at this." Preston replied as he pulled a black rope with grey stripes out of his pocket.

"What's that for?" Austin questioned.

"Think about all of the ways you could use this battle rope, huh?" Preston stated with a smile. "You could use it to escape certain situations or subdue your opponent. If I attached a metal claw to the end, it could act as a grappling hook to assist your movements. Isn't it great?"

"Oh yeah, I see." Austin replied. "Very versatile."

"So, are you ready to see it?" Preston excitedly said as he went to a specific corner of the room.

"Yeah!" Austin replied as he was influenced by his uncle's energy.

Preston uncovered the suit by ripping the cloth that was covering it.

"Here it is!" Preston stated. "If you learn to use this correctly, it will be our ticket out of Orange Peak."

The utility suit was but a iron exoskeleton with a few metal plates here and there to act as protection from outside attacks. There was two metal plates to protect the shoulders, one big metal plate onto cover the upper chest, and two lower plates to protect the thighs and knees.

"I know it's far from finished, but we have plenty of time to get it where it needs to be!" Preston stated.

"Do we have plenty of time?" Austin asked as his expression changed.

"Of course....what do you mean?" Preston replied.

"Don't think that i haven't noticed those scars." Austin commented. "Those guys that you work for like to treat you a little rough, huh?"

"You don't need to worry about that." Preston replied. "That'll soon be over."

"I don't know why you won't let me and Alice help. We can handle them." Austin stated.

"Stop." Preston stated. "Neither of you will be involved with this. I owe them the money they loaned me to produce the suit, so the best thing you can do to help is showing them its worth. I want you to learn to use this suit and then go showcase all that it can do to them. Once I prove the worth of my suit, I can make more, pay them off, and move us out of this damned village. Okay?"

"Has it ever occurred to you that they may be after more than just the money?" Austin stated. "Because Alice was showing me something that could prove th-"

"Stop it." Preston interrupted. "If you two try to get involved and you'll end up doing way more bad then good. We're going to get out of this situation clean and easy. Just have hope, and believe in the passion."

"Okay, unc." Austin replied. "I'll believe."

"Good. Now come and try and put the suit on. I believe i got all the measurements right." Preston concluded.

*MEANWHILE, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN*

"Damn it!" A man stated as he slammed his hand onto the table he was sitting in front of. "We have nothing!"

"Cool it, Michael." A much smaller man that was standing next to him said.

"All we have is Preston Richards, some lowlife designer that the Big Boss hired to make a suit prototype." A women sitting on the opposite side of the table stated. "All we can do is bring him in and see what he knows."

"Preston Richards?" Another women stated as she walked up to the three that were sitting at the table. "Older brother of Jonathan Richards? The leader of the Black Dogs?"

"How pleasant." Another man stated as he walked up to the group as well. "This makes going after him so much more worth it. Simone, I'll leave this to you. Retrieve him without making a mess, and bring him in."

"Got it." Simone stated as she got up from her seat and hurried to the nearest exit. "I'll do it without my sky walking suit."

"Take a weapon or two, just in case." Michael advised.

"Fine." Simone replied as she grabbed a handgun that was in a gun case filled with multiple others just like it.

"Not using the sky walking suit is pretty lame. But, it shouldn't be that difficult." Simone thought. "They're just some normies, anyway."