Underground

As the elevator kept descending, he only got more and more nervous, while a thousand questions ran through his mind all at once.

For example, where exactly was he going?

...Well, it's not like any of his questions were going to be answered just like that. He only had to wait until he actually got to... Wherever this elevator would take him.

Suddenly, a loud "Thump!" could be heard, and the elevator doors slowly started to slide open.

...Uh, that was faster than... I expected...

Outside the elevator doors, was... Another cave?!

"Goddamn it!", he said and facepalmed.

Wait, no. This wasn't a normal cave...

In front of his very eyes sat a huge cave, its ceiling full of shining crystals, giving light to a huge city, right below them... And by huge, I mean it. It was almost as huge as the city where he grew up. And while there weren't any tall buildings, still... That's a city.

"What the... Where..."

He looked around, and stepped out of the elevator. As soon as he did, the elevator took off, in the... Sky?!

"H-Huh?!"

Right before hitting the cave ceiling, it faded and disappeared to who knows where.

In place of the elevator was a futuristic looking sign, reading "Juuga Forest - Out Of Order."

"Wha... Out of order? But I just..."

He looked up to the ceiling again, but nothing out of the ordinary was there. Just... Rocks, crystals... And stuff...

Well, this wasn't the time to ponder the how's and why's. First, he had to figure out where he was exactly...

Obviously, by the looks of it, it's an underground city. But he had no knowledge of any running ones... Sure, they were a thing when he was just a baby, but there were no records of one now.

Well, even if this was a Shelter* or not, it didn't matter all that much. Since the way in was... Well, not there anymore, he had to simply go explore it.

As he looked at his feet, he saw grass. Well, truth be told, it didn't surprise him anymore. Nothing really could, not anymore.

He simply started walking, as it appeared his "landing point" was in the middle of some kind of field. Light wasn't a problem either because of the hundreds of shining crystals, but now he had no way to tell day and night apart.

Well, this ain't the time to complain. Time to start walking. For the thirteenth time today...

And walk he did. He made his way through the strange grass, weeds and plants, and eventually, he got to the outskirts of the city.

He let out a small sigh and sat down on the ground, as to take a break.

"I never wanna walk again in my life..."

Suddenly, a female voice came out from around a building.

"There's bikes and stuff for that, y'know?"

He then placed his hand on the ground, and got up with a spin, and activated his powers as his fists got the same blue aura as always.

"Who's there?! Come out!"

A decently tall woman with long, pink hair came out giggling from behind the building, with a hand put slightly on her mouth as to cover the laugh and smile. Though it wasn't doing a good job.

She was pretty far from him, but she was steadily closing in the distance with an... Interesting walk, to say the least.

"Easy, gingy. Calm down, I don't bite."

"Gingy...?"

The man lowered his fists, but the light didn't disappear nor flicker.

"Who are you?"

The woman did the same little chuckle as before, before speaking up.

"Fine, fine. Keeping up your guard isn't a bad thing in this place, is it?"

She cleared her throat, before continuing.

"My name is Layla. Pleased to meet your acquaintance. Your name is...?"

The man didn't bother answering, and just continued looking at her. As the silence grew more awkward by the second, he finally broke the ice.

"...I don't really like to use it."

The woman sighed.

"A shame, really. I bet you have a beautiful name, no, gingy?~"

His fists were still held tightly, and the light continued shining.

"My name's not gingy."

The woman pointed at his hair and clothes, "Though, it fits well, doesn't it?"

"Excuse me?"

The blue light disappeared from his left hand only, and he pulled on his hair, to get it in front of his eyes. To his absolute shock and horror, instead of the usual dark brown, he was met by a bright orange.

"What the fu...?!"

As his brain was processing this new information, the light from his right hand started to fade as well.

As soon as that happened, Layla suddenly gained a weird pink hue on her legs, and started sprinting at him, at an unusually high speed.

His focus shifted onto her again, and the light appeared on his hands again.

As she kept running at him, she suddenly started moving in weird patterns, throwing him off by a lot.

This caused him to look around confused, and eventually his ears picked up something behind him.

He quickly turned around, right fist in the air, and swung...!

At nothing.

The next second, Layla was standing next to him.

"Easy, tiger. Ah, tiger! That's it. Y'know, since the black and orange...?"

He swung at her with his free, left arm, but she dodged that too.

She simply appeared on his other side, and chuckled. "What's wrong? Ain't fast enough, tiger?"

He smirked, and quickly turned only his head towards him.

"I'm as fast as you are smart, Layla."

Then, a bright blue leg came at her stomach, full power. She barely dodged it, as it grazed her stomach. Layla then took a bit of distance and started rubbing the scraped part of her stomach.

"...Ouchie. You pack a punch, huh, tiger?"

The man, with his leg still in the air, did another spin and landed on his feet, fists raised and powered.

"Hence the nickname."

Layla started chuckling, before it turned into full on laughter. She wiped away a tear as she talked.

"You're funny!"

Then, the smile and laugh quickly disappeared, replaced by a serious expression.

"I'm not really into funny guys."

Then, she ran at him again, and started running circles around him.

His eyes bolted around the area surrounding him to the best of their abilities, but he couldn't keep his eyes on her.

He let out a small "Fuck."

Right as he did that, the woman appeared behind him, with a sinister smirk.

"No swearing, tiger."

Then, he felt something cut into his left arm's shoulder.

He quickly put his right hand over the injury, and let out another, louder "Fuck!"

He looked up, then saw her standing somewhere in front of him, holding two daggers.

"Oh, how cliché is that, Layla?"

She remained quiet, and was once again running circles around him. He took a big breath, and didn't bother looking around him again.

He kept taking big breaths, then closed his eyes...

No use though. The grass was fluttering in the wind, blocking all footsteps... Why was there wind in a cave, anyways?!

He sighed, and opened his eyes again. Then, his ears picked up a faint set of footsteps. Although very, very faint, maybe he...

Tap, tap, tap.

His hand extended fully to the right, still glowing blue. Suddenly, he grabbed onto something. When he looked to the right, he saw Layla. He had grabbed onto her left wrist.

She was mere feet from cutting him again... But he stopped her.

His other hand reached for her dagger, and now both of them were holding onto it.

He smirked, and looked her in the eyes.

"I'm not letting go."

She smirked too, although a bit more sinister than him.

"What a coincidence, me neither."

Suddenly, her right hand, that was holding her other dagger, came flying at his head. He just barely dodged, but then she managed to free herself, and jumped back.

He felt something run on his face, and when he put a hand on it, it stung. He looked at his fingers, and they had blood on them.

He let out a little "Tsk!", and wiped it with his sleeve.

As the adrenaline started fading, he noticed his whole body was aching, and the two new wounds he got from her hurt like hell.

His knees were trembling once more, but he stood upright, not wanting to show weakness.

Layla, still left mostly unharmed, picked up on his body movements.

She chuckled a bit, before speaking.

"Oh, you're hurt already? My my, you must be the type that just doesn't quit."

He took a big breath, and steadied his stance, fists up, glowing blue. As he kept taking big breaths, he started to calm down. He knew talking to her would get him nowhere, but the problem is, how would he defeat her?

He didn't had the strength nor the spirit to do so. It's was an uphill battle.

He sighed, but his stance didn't change not in the slightest.

The woman sighed too.

"You're way less interesting when you're quiet... Guardian~"

His expression got very serious and annoyed, and all the remaining light from his blue eyes faded.

"How the hell did she even...", he thought to himself. He shook his head slightly and regained his composure, although just a little.

"He's dead."

Layla laughed again, then spoke.

"But he's standing right in front of me? I mean, you're not very incognito, Guardy."

A small orange spark fluttered in his eyes, as his annoyance grew bigger and bigger.

"Don't disrespect the name."

The woman payed no mind and continued nonchalantly.

"I mean, similar voice, same fighting style, same powers... You didn't actually think nobody'd notice, right?"

The orange spark in his eyes grew bigger, and his expression was a sour one.

"Shut up."

Layla continued talking, though.

"Oh, and, no offense, but you weren't exactly strong, so... I don't think I've fought against you before, on the surface? While in suit, anyways."

The spark slowly started evolving into a full on fire, and not metaphorically. His eyes had a weird orange fume-looking light coming out of them. His voice was full of anger.

"I said, shut up."

The woman chuckled.

"Oh, also, Guardy, why'd you just disappear for a few days? Then you reappeared, but down here? Ain't that a bit suspicious~"

His fists started glowing a heavy kind of blue, his eyes went even more wild, and his fingernails were digging into his own skin, drawing blood.

"My name... Wasn't Guardy...!"

The woman continued pestering him, with a smirk on her face.

"Oh, but what was it then? C'mon, c'mon, tell me, tiger! Why did the "almighty" Guardy come down here?~"

He closed his eyes, and took a big breath. When he opened them again, they were now fully orange. No signs of white, nor his usual blue eyes... Just orange, like a car headlight.

His fists started gaining the weird orange hue.

"I said... I'm not Guardy..."

Layla smirked then continued pushing him.

"But what was it, then?"

Suddenly, his legs gained the same blue-orange light, and he stomped the ground, hard, appearing in front of her eyes in an instant, with his fist raised up high, glowing with the same colors.

He spoke in a low, annoyed voice, as his eyes continued glowing orange.

"The Guardian."

Then, his fists started glowing with an even brighter orange, as the familiar words started running through his mind once again.

{Blue. The Guardian.}

As his fists started changing rapidly between orange and blue, they finally stopped on a mix between the two, and he swung full force with his right hand, breaking the sound barrier and making a humongous sound, causing Layla's legs to freeze and her eyes to close.

As she sat in silence, waiting for the inevitable punch and possibly death, she noticed... It wasn't coming.

She slowly opened her eyes, and looked forward.

Layla saw him, standing in front of her, not doing anything, with his fist mere inches from her face. The weird light from his fists had faded, and his eyes were going back to normal, slowly.

When they completely reverted back, she noticed... He was unconscious. His hand fell on her shoulder softly, and then, he fell down, face first into the ground. She looked down and to the left, where he was, and sighed.

"...You're not as boring as I thought, then."

She sighed once again, this time deeper, and then reached down, and picked him up. Then she started dragging him into the city.

"Not as light as I thought either, actually...!"

As she continued dragging him into town, eventually they faded away into the city.

***

Somewhere far away, hidden behind some boulders.

***

As usual, the three stalkers were watching from afar. All three had strange looking devices, that allowed them to see all that had just happened.

The two men were quiet, while the woman was barely containing herself.

She scoffed, and got angry at the sight of what just happened.

"How dare she put hands on him! I'll murder her!"

The tall, bulky man with cyan hair put a hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to calm her down.

"No you won't, calm down. She'll help him."

She turned around to face him, and her eyes started shining purple.

"Hands off, Cyan."

As if his life depended on it, his hand flew off her shoulder. When he looked down at it, it had purple fumes coming out of it.

He did a little "Tsk." and looked annoyed.

"Don't use that."

She simply stuck her tongue out at him, then turned back around and turned the weird device back on.

"Ah, they already left into the city..."

The man with the black hair then got up, and started walking towards the city.

"We're going."

The two others got up too and said "Aye, aye." at the same time, then started walking with him.

Eventually, all three disappeared again, turning invisible.

***

A few hours later...

***

As he slowly woke up, the first thing he saw was a ceiling. A white one, with tiles... Just your normal, everyday hospital ceiling.

He let out a huge sigh of relief, and smirked. This meant... That must've been one baaad dream! Surely!

As he sat there, looking up and smiling, his orange hair fell in his eyes and his smile disappeared almost instantly.

"...Or not."

He sat upright, and looked around. It seemed a bit old fashioned, but it was a hospital room alright. He was alone, from what he could tell.

He suddenly heard some voices from outside, and his eyes bolted to the door.

"Yeah... Well, it's... Not like..."

"I know... But... C'mon..."

He couldn't fully hear them, only parts. The other was gibberish. They seemed like two women, both sounded somewhere in their twenties, maybe early thirties.

"Fuck...!"

He got up from the bed, and the entirety of his body felt like it came back from war. Ah, well... Nevermind.

He silently walked towards the door, so he could... Definitely not spy on the two.

He put his ear to the door, and...

"I keep telling you, Layla, you need to stop treating this place like your own personal hideout."

"It kind of is, though?"

One of the women sighed.

"It's not. Stop bringing injured people here when you know neither you nor they can afford the treatment."

"But you keep treating them, no?"

"You little..."

Suddenly, both the voices stopped and footsteps began approaching his room.

He let out a little, inaudible "...Well, shit."

A few seconds later, the door opened, and two women entered. One looked familiar, with pink, long hair, the other not so much. She was short, blonde with a ponytail. She was wearing all white, meaning she was most probably a doctor here.

Though, as the two entered, the room seemed empty. The bed sheets were a mess, and the slippers weren't gone either.

The doctor looking woman chuckled.

"Oh. Where'd your little friend go?"

Layla sighed.

"He must be shy. It's not like he left the room, though."

The blonde woman just shrugged.

"Well, it's fine. We'll just check the security cameras."

She pointed upwards to a corner, and straight at a camera.

A small "Motherfucker!" could he heard from under the bed, and he quickly got up and dusted himself. The three sat in awkward silence for a moment or two.

Then, he coughed, and Layla was the first to speak.

"...What are you doing?"

"Hiding.", he responded instantly.

Layla's jaw dropped a bit in disbelief.

"But... Why?"

He shrugged.

"I dunno. Stranger danger."

The blonde woman laughed, then extended her hand towards him.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Marry, your appointed doctor."

He hesitantly shook her hand, but didn't say a word back.

"...He's a little quiet, no?"

Layla shrugged.

"Maybe. I don't know him that well."

He wanted to remain quiet, but... It all kinda dawned on him...

"...I don't have any money to pay."

Marry sighed, and rested her hands on her hips.

"Yes, I thought that'd be the case. Not to worry though, judging by both your wounds and your hair..."

He pointed at his hair and chuckled, "...You must be a Killium user, right?"

He remained quiet, as he didn't wanna give too much information away just like that.

But, he couldn't stay quiet forever. So he decided... To beat around the bush. Heavily.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. What's it to you?"

Marry just smirked.

"Well, it just so happens that down here, there are a few jobs requiring special people... Like, maybe, you."

He let out a little "Tsk." before speaking again, "...How many of those jobs would a special someone need to do to pay... Let's say, a hospital bill?"

Marry's smirk grew larger.

"Not all that much, actually... I'm sure someone special could do them fairly easy~"

He sighed, looked to the ground, and thought for a second... Maybe two... Then looked back up.

"Fine. I'll do them."

Marry softly clapped her hands.

"That's great!~ Just go to my office then, and I'll give you something to do, then you–"

He cut her off, "Wait, wait. I don't know what's where here. I got here a few hours ago, at best."

Marry simply shrugged, "Oh well, then you can simply take Layla with you."

Both of them, in unison, spoke up in a mix of shock and annoyance.

"What?!"

Marry chuckled.

"C'mon, it'll be both fine and fun!"

Her expression suddenly got a whole lot serious.

"And, Layla, if I remember correctly, you still have some debts to pay here...~"

Layla looked down, and didn't bother protesting too much. Or rather, not at all...

"Y-Yes ma'am..."

Marry's expression changed back to the happy, cheery one.

"Perfect! Come see me when you're both ready!~"

And with that, she turned around and left the two of them alone in there, closing the door behind her.

He just slightly sighed, and rubbed both his eyes then his temples.

She scoffed, "Look, I'm not exactly happy either, okay, Guardi–"

He gave her a death stare, and she quickly took a step back.

"W-Well, you never gave me your name! Wh-What do I call you, anyways...?"

He sighed, and sat down on the bed again. He then looked down, only to realize he was pretty neatly patched up, which was nice... But also only wearing underwear.

"...Where are my clothes, Layla?"

|Shelters

• Underground cities used many years ago.

• Advertised as "The greatest tool of humanity!" and "Your little heaven, here on Earth!".

• They were quickly frowned upon, because of supposed "Inhumane activities," leading to the termination of all of them... Or, that should've been the case, anyways.