Total KO... I mean UPDATE! (Kenin)

[Mathew Amtrum]

It seemed that they had escaped the cops after the Riot, Emil had gone his own way. While Jeremiah had sacrificed himself to buy them time to escape. Even while him and Emil split up Kenin chased Mathew, enraged that he was punched in the face, obviously in that trance thing that he was in last time they had fought, though it was lasting far longer than it had before.

It was just past the college campus when Kenin collapsed to the ground, his time running out. Mathew took note of how long it took this time for Kenin to go down for good. It was interesting, so interesting that it had to be a Qi. He couldn't think of anything else that could allow him to push past his normal limits to such a degree. Though it could be artifacts like the ones that Mathew wore. He would have to ask him about it. He would make that a point.

Normally he would have just dropped him off at the infirmary again, but with Cops still swarming around the campus looking for people involved with the riot Mathew decided to lay low and just wait for Kenin to come to. This way Kenin could update him on what he had learned, and Mathew could make sure that another one of his assets didn't end up getting thrown in jail.

[Kenin Katashi]

Kenin didn't remember a thing, as his mind swam he came to, noticing that they were nowhere near the cafeteria. It was just him and Mathew it seemed, and he was ready to ask what the hell happened. Did Mathew somehow knock him out and drag him here? He felt like that was wrong, because he felt a bit exhausted even though he didn't remember actually joining in on the fight at all.

"What the hell...." He said as he stood up, finding himself a little worn and sore. He rubbed his temples a bit as he forced himself to speak, "What happened? Last thing I remember somebody smashed a chair against the back of my head and I was about to get real friendly with the ground...."

He also was curious as to why that riot was happening, all he knew was that all of a sudden there was a large fight and he wanted to be a part of it. This was getting pretty ridiculous, first the fight with Stefan back in chicago, then waking up in the infirmary with a busted up body after his second fight with Mathew, then this. It wasn't anything Barker had done, and it wasn't anything any of his gear had done. Far as he knew only his bandages had any strange properties.

[Mathew Amtrum]

"You really don't remember anything?" Mathew said, his doubt was clear in his tone as he squatted down next to Kenin, resting his arms on his knees.

"Well I will give you the short version. The dumb fucks that run the Student Liberation Front thought that they could just yell that the Pillars were dead and there would be no one to fight that. Some students didn't like that and they revolted, Emil declared himself the new Student Captain, and then the cops stormed the place. I punched you to get you to chase me out figuring it was like last time you went berserk."

Mathew said turning his gaze back to the school. He thought he could see cops dragging some people out of the school. They were far enough away that Mathew didn't think they would be bugging them. After all they were likely only going after those involved and Mathew and Kenin were just minding their own business. He couldn't make out who was who though as they hauled kid's away, but he knew Jeremiah was surely one of them.

"It's thanks to one of my men that we all got away. Yourself included." He said motioning his head to the cops dragging students away on the other side of campus.

Mathew stood up from his crouching position, leaning backward to crack his back before cracking his neck on both sides. He was feeling stiff and it wasn't a guarantee that the cops wouldn't try to hassle them, or that Kenin wouldn't go nuts again. If that happened he wanted to be ready.

"All I can say is I hope getting your ass out of there was worth it. You have anything for me?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't want to admit that he kind of liked the kid. He was tough and stubborn, kind of like Jeremiah. He had traits that Mathew could respect, and since he didn't want to admit that to himself or the kid he would keep it business for now.

[Kenin Katashi]

"I was.... fighting? Jesus what did they think would happen?" He asked himself with a laugh. If you thought a place was full of violent individuals you didn't immediately try to take control over them. The only reason they didn't fight back against the School Captain from what he understood was because they knew that person to be strong through reputation. The second a gang tried to take over they didn't want to listen to every member just because they were a part of the group. Kenin hated gang members, but he respected the strength of the leader. He still would have joined in on that fight knowing why it was going on.

Kenin looked over to the kids getting arrested it seemed as Mathew cracked his neck. He wondered if he was just sleep fighting, like sleep walking. But it was more than that and he knew it. "Yeah, I got something for you. Just take one god damn look at me. Some guy, Barker, experimented on me. Unbreakable bones, healing factor, and all the physical changes that came with it. My hair is back to natural color, and my eyes are all kinds of fucked up."

He opened his eyes as wide as he could to give Amtrum a good look at it all, "Nearly joined the SLF too, but it seems I was able to dodge that bullet. To think, I was probably one fight away from being on the side that was making that damn announcement. Maybe I should join them, get close to the leader and figure out what the hell is up with them...."

He walked a bit closer, "So, you know this Barker guy at all?"

[Mathew Amtrum]

Does he seriously not know?

Mathew asked himself, still not really sure on if he bought the fact that Kenin was unaware of the fact that he was fighting. On one hand when Mathew fought Kenin he didn't seem to respond to Mathew at all. But to think that even after the fact it was a blank. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Or if there was a way to make him aware of what was going on. With his ability to recover from injuries while in this trance, and the awareness to make calculated choices, Kenin could be fashioned in to quite a weapon.

His speculation turned to fury when Kenin went on to tell him about Barker and his experiments. His first instinct was to tell Kenin to stay away from Barker, that he was nothing but bad news. However he didn't. He would just glare and frown at Kenin, well past Kenin. He wasn't hiding his disgust for Barker, just hearing his name made Mathew want to bash someones face in on pure principle.

"Yeah I know him." Mathew said almost spitting the words out. Like he couldn't get them out fast enough.

"Barker tested on me too, I was locked up for a year in his facility as he injected me with God knows what and monitored my progress." He didn't tell Kenin that he wanted to kill the man. It wasn't his place to sway him either direction when it came to Barker. If Kenin was smart he would know that the guy was nothing but bad news.

"You are very fortunate to have been released already. Though I would watch my back if I were you, if Barker has dug his claws in to you they won't be easy to remove I bet." He said wrinkling his nose in disgust at the topic.

[Kenin Katashi]

"Well he gave me an option to go with him, so I did since it seemed I was going with or without doing it on my own terms. Figured it was best to just go with him. Besides, so far I've liked what's been done to me. Painful as all fuck but...." He looked down, gripping his fists. "Faster... stronger.... tougher.... and he said he made advancements to my Qi. I'm guessing that's what it is that makes me fight longer."

He remembered something Mathew said earlier, one of his. One of his sacrificed himself. "One of your men? What do you mean by that?" He asked. Was Mathew in a gang or was this more of like a smaller group he had going? Either way all Kenin was to this boy was a freelance informant. He was like the scumbag character who gave info for cash in the mobster movies, the one who couldn't remember something until you handed him another twenty.

[Mathew Amtrum]

To say Mathew was disappointed in Kenin would be an understatement. He knew first hand the perks of the experiments, Mathew had progressed far quicker than he would have been able to otherwise. He knew his abilities had been heightened because of the testing that Sean Barker had done to him. But it was nothing that he could not have done on his own given time and dedication. It was a short cut, nothing more. He wondered if Kenin would see that, in time maybe. Or maybe he didn't mind the idea of being a test subject like Mathew did. Just the idea of not being in control of his destiny enraged Mathew, the thought that he was the product of someone else's efforts was unacceptable. Mathew was what he was, because of his efforts. Because he was the best.

Maybe Kenin sensed that Mathew was beyond mad with the current topic of discussion or maybe he really just realized what Mathew had said earlier. But while he was glad to not talk about Barker this wasn't much better. Jeremiah while not a full Reaper yet was still an asset and a potentially valuable one. He didn't like the idea of sacrificing him, even if it was to save the King.

"Just what it sounds like. I have people that follow me under a single banner, and one of them chose to buy us the time that we needed to escape. He made his choice and I decided not to waste the window he gave us." He said with a shrug. He didn't really know what to say.

He wasn't going to romanticize it. They were a gang, well the start of one. Nothing noble like saving lives or protecting the weak. He wanted control. He wanted to build something, some sense of Order. And if he could control the criminal activities of the city in large, he would have that.

[Kenin Katashi]

"Another gang," He said after hearing about it. He had mixed feelings about a gang ran by Mathew, then again he had seen several of them, most of them small. The largest he had seen was the SLF but they weren't very intimidating, which probably lead to the whole power struggle that just took place. Either way he decided that maybe a gang ran by Mathew was best. By now he had fought several people, including Jayr, and Mathew by far was the most difficult of them.

"Well that was smart. Thanks for hitting me and baiting me here I guess, even if it was so you could get an update. Other than that I can tell you that Jayr is a pretty strong fighter. Fighting her felt a lot like fighting you except totally different styles, hers seemed more offensive where you fight a little more conservative. My money is on you if it comes down to a fight between the two of you, though."

He mentally debated asking about joining the gang. Mathew was one of his stepping stones after all, a way of measuring his strength. He respected the guy, that was pretty much how he felt toward him. It wasn't like he liked him, or that they were friends, he just respected his strength and what he must have gone through to get it. That and he had been experimented on as well which meant he understood the pain that Kenin went through to get all that he had received.

"So this group got a name? Any need for a lowly local snitch of sorts?" He joked, since really that was what he was to Mathew. He found out information and delivered it like pizza, except he didn't have a policy about being late. It was simply when you give information you get paid. There really wasn't much else to tell at this point, but a group that Mathew was in charge of was alright with him. He'd be able to stick around the guy, and it'd give him more incentive to make Kenin stronger.