Disagreements

"Where am I?" Koji said looking around as he looked around to see everyone passed out inside of something. That's when Koji's vision was coming back more and more and so has his memory.

"Oh that's right, I got hit in the neck with a tranquilizer gun. Dammit! Why did I let that happen? Still, that doesn't answer the question of where I am." Koji looked around and saw the metal box he was in and the door with a split in the middle, although still closed. "Am in... a truck... I think." Koji thought to himself trying to stand up but slid right back down. "Too tired, way too tired" Koji then slid down and took a moment to assess his situation, he then started to hear something else, from someone else.

"Oooo." Koji heard in front of him as he looked down to see Kingsley's eyes flickering like a faulty light until his eyes opened for good. He got a look around him and almost started to scream, so Koji covered his mouth.

"Don't freak out, we're only being kidnapped. Well, I guess since Pete is an adult it would be kidnapping and adultnapping wouldn't it?" Koji said to Kingsley who looked at him, then tried to scream again.

CHAPTER 19: Disagreements

"Okay, that wasn't a good reason to not make you freak out, some would say that was horrible. How about this then, if they figure out we're up they might try to knock us out again then we can't figure out a plan of escape or something like that." Koji said making Kingsley calm down way more and Koji removed his hands from Kingsley's mouth.

"Alright, I see. Alright. Okay, we're only being brought to an unknown place that might lead us to either Alfred, impending doom, or both. Okay, I feel like I should freak out right now. Just a little."

"Well don't Kingsley, we don't have much of a choice with this tranquilizer shot. Which doesn't make sense normally this is super weak against me, but this time it's holding its ground against me. Which makes me wonder, how can they make it feel like millions of these we're stabbed into my body?"

"Well whatever it is I don't want to stick around and find out, do you have any means of escape?"

"I don't. I only have been awake for around 5 minutes longer than you, even though that is a stretch."

"So we're doomed?"

"Not necessarily, we just don't have a form of action as of now. On the Brightside none of us are dead, so I don't think they want to kill us. On the dark side, however, that might mean they have something far worse than death lined up for us then."

"No."

"No, what do you mean no?"

"No, I won't accept something worse than death, I would rather stop breathing."

"Wow, I mean I can't blame you though."

"Trust me, no one can."

"Well, Kingsley until something happens please don't go around killing yourself."

"Can't keep promises."

"Whatever you say. "

"Alright enough with this, how do we escape?"

"Well, I think the best thing is we don't escape at all."

"I'm sorry, you said you 're only conscious for about five more minutes than me."

"I was."

"Yeah see that's what not adding up, when did you lose your damn mind?

"I didn't lose my damn mind! In any event, they're most likely moving us straight where Alfred is."

"How do you know that, seriously, when did you gain this information?"

"I don't. However, what other option do we have?" If we try to escape we wouldn't know where to go. We don't even know if we're in Phronesis still, we could be in a whole different state for how much as we know! For now, letting them take us to wherever they want us to go and figuring out a plan from there is the smartest. That way we can have something full proof with everyone awake instead of just us carrying them trying to escape."

"You're right Koji. Sorry for not thinking about that."

"No problem didn't expect you to. You're more school smart and detective smart, more than me. I just have smarter street knowledge."

"Whatever you say, I'm just going to enjoy the car ride while we get one. We don't know the next time we'll get to rest until we retrieve Alfred so, best take the chance now. Speaking about the next time, are you concerned about Z and them? I mean they don't even know what happened to us?"

"Not even a single concern."

"Why's that?"

"Because I have faith in them, they know not to let us down."

"Koji, when did you become so reassuring?"

"I didn't you just stress too much"

"Maybe, still I hope they're alright!"

...

Ever since I went with Apollo and Dion they have been on each other's nerves. If there was a sentence to describe my emotions right now it would be Not Alright because I'm definitely tired physically and mentally however, we're finally back at the city of Venzard, the location of our headquarters that got destroyed. We still needed to get to the bank in time but running inside of a town with a large wooden box on Apollo's back doesn't look very good for people who don't want to be suspicious. Even though we still got a couple of looks, a lot of the people in the city didn't question anything, making it easy to get through without any problems.

"There it is, there's the bank," Dion said leaving an argument with Apollo.

"Yes!" I and Apollo said happily, we finally made it to the bank.

"Alright here me out, Apollo wait on the side of the bank with the box. It be dumb to walk in with a box that huge strapped to your back. It will only raise more questions." I suggested to Apollo who took a deep breath and went to the side of the bank without saying a word, his face a little annoyed.

"Hope that didn't piss him off," Dion said, starting to walk in.

"Why would that make him mad." I followed

"Even though it seems like Apollo is his usual self, bickering with me and whatnot and even cracking a small smile. Inside he is trying to keep it together, I can tell. I'm trying to distract him with our arguments but I can tell, they're slowly not working." Dion said we finally made it to the counter of the bank. The man had his back turned to us and seemed to be doing something else.

"Excuse me?" I said, trying to get his attention.

"Excuse me? Your damn right! What type of lowlife, no decency, horrid person walks into my shift when there is only one minute left! Are you doing this for a joke? A gag? Well, let me say you're not funny and people like you are why the world is in a horrible state right now! Here's an idea, get a job and contribute to the world instead of being a little brat!" The man at the counter said in a furious tone yelling at me with every other word having strain behind it, meaning this isn't the only time he yelled like this.

"I'm sorry, I- I didn't realize," I said, trying to appeal to his good side.

"I'm sorry, I- I didn't realize. See how stupid you sound." He said in a mocking tone which made me want to do something that would get me locked in jail. Good for me though Dion stepped in and took over while I turned my back.

"Sir, if you want to get off your shift fast then follow these steps and we'll leave and who knows maybe we'll leave a little something else," Dion said, whispering the bribery part at the end.

"What do I need to do?" The man behind the counter suddenly got calm and was ready to cooperate.

"Can you track down where this card's recent purchases have been? Then tell us where the purchases are on the map or wherever they are."

"I'm afraid I can't do that without verification of you being the holder of the card." I guess this is why Aza told us to bring the person with us.

"Z, stay here and I'll go get the man."

"Wait, Dion."

"Yes?"

"We can't just bring that man in here, isn't he all... well you know."

"Trust me." That's when Dion left then came back with the unconscious, beaten up man. However, this time their were sunglasses on his face.

"Here he is sir." Dion said trying to pull of a smile.

"You must really think I'm some sort of idiot! If you don't think I can tell that he's clearly unc-"

"I don't think you're the idiot, I think the cameras are. I can tell you're a man of reasoning so, what if I gave you this." He paused when Dion pulled out a $100 and flashed it secretly trying to avoid cameras.

"Right away sir! Just hand me the card and I should be done in five minutes." As we waited the five minutes I started to think about what Dion said about Apollo. What does he mean he isn't himself? Why am I not able to see it? That's when something dawned on me, I haven't seen Apollo do a little dance in a while, I haven't seen him want a steak or say he wants one in a while, he hasn't tried to make me his minion, I'm fact all of the things Apollo used to do even calling Kingsley Goldie he hasn't done. But those are just small things, how can that relate to a bigger picture?

"All done! The places where this card has been used the most is in the town of Avante. One is a restaurant called Rehto Edis Food and Games, in the middle of the street that's near Rehto Edis and Games two streets over a matter of fact. Then at a spa called "Susie Bubbles N' Relax." and a grocery store called "Skater Sister." but this grocery store is a little further away from anything. Then a little short distance from the restaurant, money has been spent at a club. That's all the recent locations that are either big companies or the most frequently visited. Now my snitch fee~." The man at the counter said in a cheeky voice, that's when Dion gave him the $20 and he grabbed it and looked at it in a trance, he didn't move from that point on.

"Alright, Z we know where to go now! It's kind of unfortunate we didn't get a ride with them since we had to go there regardless." Dion said, looking at me with visible excitement.

"I'm sorry, where is this location?" I asked since I stopped listening when he called me all those mean names.

"The restaurant. We're going to catch up to them at the restaurant." Dion said in a tone that lost all its excitement and made me feel stupid.

"Oh, right. My bad." I said scratching my neck in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it. However, you should be worried about your attire. Seriously, how are you still mediocre?" Dion said which caught me off guard.

"I- I don't know." Was all I could muster to the man who was always set to be a gentleman even if he was more laid back with his brother.

"Well, let's get a move on we got places to be!" Dion said, already walking outside the door. I replied with a nod and we left the bank. Once we got out of the bank the stars glistened at us, and the air hit our faces with a nice gentle breeze.

That is followed by the lights of the different buildings varying and size and width shining a lot brighter outside in the dark starry sky. For a moment I forgot about our mission, the last two months, everything, and just relished in the atmosphere that can only be created at night. It was peaceful, a nice moment in time that I like to cherish when I get the chance. That's when Dion accidentally hit my shoulder and sucked me right into reality again, making the world although still bright have that little bit of darkness.

Dion turned the corner with the man in hand and went to get Apollo, but when they came back Dion looked a little upset and Apollo looked a little upset as well. Without the man but, Dion had his sunglasses.

As we were walking to leave the city a sense I underestimated was my smell. The different aromas of the street vendors making food, the different colognes and perfumes from people trying to be fancier, and the outside smell of trees and the bushes. Those smells went further away the further away we went from the city yet one smell didn't go away, the smell of smoke.

"Let's take a different route, taking the same one is boring and I think this one is slower," Apollo said while we were barely on the outskirts of Venzard.

"Now that you mention it, the path we're going on sort of takes a turn then goes straight. Normally that wouldn't matter however, cutting out all the time for a turn even if it's just 15 minutes is huge." I said backing Apollo up on his claim.

"I don't care how we go, let's just get there!" Dion said, making Apollo walk ahead and us following him as we walked down a different path than the one we went on last time. Still, even with the shortcut, it felt like a century getting there.

"How much longer do we have to walk it seriously affecting my body," Apollo said out of the blue when most of the time everyone was quiet except for the occasional cough or sneeze from being outside and our allergies kicking in.

"The only thing affecting your body i-" Dion started but then stopped before taking a deep breath and starting again. "If anything we should be past the halfway point if that makes you happy, however, that means that long walk we just did we have to repeat one more time," Dion said more calmly.

"Are you upset with me?" Apollo asked Dion

"Are you sure you want to ask that question?" Dion said to Apollo who went to answer but ultimately stayed silent.

I didn't know what to say to any of this, what the heck happened? These two fight, but it was always a more brotherly manner of fighting but this was awkward and with anger. The other times they fought the tension was playful and more to get on the other nerves. Here, however, it was filled with anger and regret.

If I had to put the tension into one word it would be real, it felt like something really serious happened at one point and they're not telling me. I would usually ask and try to make these two get along but, this is something I feel even I can't interfere with. So for the rest of my time there unless I'm asked something directly, I won't say a word.

"Someone say something or I'm going to die of boredom," Apollo said, doing a giant sigh afterward.

"Z, anything works just say it," Apollo told me, which if he had asked me earlier I would have had nothing but this time I've had something that has been at the back of my brain ever since my theory about the two organizations working with each other.

"Well, if that's the case. What are the people in the different governments we should be looking out for? I don't know anything and if I don't know who to look out for I might end up making it worse in the future because I let go of information I shouldn't have or something. So, do you know anyone in the other organizations?" I asked which made Apollo smile

"Alright my young successor, I will tell you everything you need to know about the other organizations. First, there's the Government, the government is super strong, and the reason why they have control over everything right now. If we were to fight them as we are now, we would all die in seconds. Tricky bastards they are, the government dogs." Apollo said, scratching his ear.

"In seconds." That was all I could think, everyone I love, dead in seconds.

"The most deadly is the Top Dog, Top Dog Morgan. Although I haven't seen him or know how he acts, he is the top dog so I suspect he is all about the government being the best and that we should all die acting against the government."

"Sounds like a top dog for the government."

"Right!? Anyways, the rest of them are called the pack consisting of many strengths and whatnot that I don't know until this day because Alfred never gave me a run down. However, if we complete this mission, which we are then I'll force him to give us a run down, how does that sound?" Apollo said with a smile that can be taken as a menacing one, yet still had a hint of genuine charm.

"Okay!" I agreed, smiling back.

"Cool! Now for the other organization, The Otherside, I know a bit more about them so buckle up. The Otherside was founded by a man named Johnny Zoul, the father of the Zoul family. A family of hitmen and stunt artists who wanted to make money other than working for the economy so they lived a life of crime. Instead of earning they were stealing. This went on for years especially since two sons later the family gained more power, a following, and had established a name for themselves as a group of people to not be messed with, that was until the latest son Dazin Zoul.

A total lunatic and didn't care for what his family had built for him. So he wanted to take all the money and run off to cash it in and live his life in a total paradise. However, many people in the family didn't want that to happen so they tried to kill Dazin by some cruel method that involved them being gathered in a room, I wasn't there so I couldn't tell you how they wanted to kill him but I know they wanted to kill him. But then a fire broke out, killing them all in the room that ended the Dazin family.

So many think he was sentenced to a torture method called Man-Torch, which means they burn you to death then dance on your ashes or give them to your loved ones, has a threat. Regardless that's when someone else took over and now is running and controlling all previous followers of the family, they even rebranded from the Zoul Crime Family to The Otherside, which is our target right now. Nowadays I've only seen one of the Otherside members, he goes by Double X, the X's being your eyes if you do the wrong thing." Apollo said with a sigh and a stretch.

"Sounds brutal, deadly even."

"Right?"

"I feel like even with all that background knowledge, we still don't know who we're up against," I said with a confused tone.

"We'll find out since we're storming their headquarters, and if we all make it out alive which we will, we can ask Alfie directly."

"Well let's do this then!"

"Alright! Now focus on walking. We have a long walk ahead of us." Apollo said, reminding me of the walk we still had to do.

"No. No. No!" I yelled at the top of my lungs realizing the long walk we had to do.

...

It took some time but, we started to see the city lights take shape and the city was just ahead of us. We all gasped and started to run into the city, this alone lit up the mood a little more and for once instead of the silence we caught ourselves in it was more cheerful and happy. Even Dion cracked a smile when we saw the city for the first time.

...

"Glad you're awake now, let's talk about your son shall we? Mr. Polemos."

===============EXTRA SCENCE==================

"Man that was one workout."

"Workout? That was more like a work in."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"I'm agreeing with Dion, that doesn't make any sense."

"Everyone a hypocrite."

"There's no way that you thought that was a good joke..."

"Z, please. That hurts my soul."

"You're soul was attached to that joke!? I heard way better from you!"

"Well, it's not hurt anymore. You officially shattered it. I hope you're proud."