Reunion (Valo)

[Amakusa Takehiro]

[orange]"Oy... how long we gonna be driving?"[/orange]
[beige]"Not long now. Rest. I'll wake you when we get back."[/beige]

[beige]"Jimseung, wake up. We've got company."[/beige]
[orange]"Are you serious?!"[/orange]
[red]"Get 'em, boys!"[/red]

[orange]"Oh, shit, what are we gonna do - what the?"[/orange]

[/teal]

[beige]"I suppose it's safe to say you've never heard of me."[/beige]

[Valo Morei]

"A factory?[/i]"
"Yes. There have been rumors of shady groups hanging around there. Right now, it's our only lead."
"Better than nothing... I'll check it out.[/i]"
"Alright, but Valo... please be careful."
"Yeah.[/i]"

And with that, I hung up and stuck my satellite phone into my inner jacket pocket. I was sitting on my motorcycle at the outskirts of the city, gazing up at the stars momentarily. "Be careful", those words held more weight than they should've. She knew my time was running out, and desperately, she was trying to find a cure for me. Regardless, Katarina couldn't fight very well. I still had to go into the field myself. If we could only find some trace of my father's research...

I started up my bike, looking down the road ahead of me. The factory wasn't too far away from my current position. I could check it out and be back within a couple hours, depending on what was there. Not wasting too much time thinking, I began to drive down the road ahead of me. I had taken a back road as to avoid the highway, knowing that was the last place I wanted to get ambushed again.

Within a few minutes, I had found myself at the back entrance to the factory. At least, there was a gate separating myself and it. I dismounted from my motorcycle, walking up to the gate and noticing it was locked. Not wanting to make too much noise, I took a few steps backwards before running forward, jumping up and over the fence, landing perfectly on the other side. Getting up with a slight grin of satisfaction, I began to walk towards the back entrance.

I approached the door, finding it slightly ajar. It was really dark inside, which made me glad I brought a flashlight, and I turned it on as I slipped through the crack of the door. I looked around, finding crates and other stuff just laying around, eventually landing my light on staircase that led to an upper catwalk. I figured I'd get to higher ground, the windows up above would provide more light from up there. I took the stairs, turning off my flashlight as I got to the second floor, the moonlight falling on things around me.

Passing by some of the crates, I became curious as to what was inside of them. However, I'd have no time to check. I suddenly heard a lot of commotion coming from outside, and I witnessed some silhouettes coming inside from the front entrance. I moved quietly along the upper catwalk, trying to see what was going on. There was a window in the front, and I peeked from it, noticing a rather large group outside.

This must be the group Katarina warned me about... But there doesn't seem to be any indication that they're Haru's men...

My eyes were looking around outside, stopping on a rather large figure. One that looked really familiar...

No way...

Without thinking, I quickly climbed into the window, jumping forward and out of the building. There were two men advancing on the large one, and my unexpected attack from above would have me landing right on top of them, bringing my palms down towards their faces and slamming them into the ground as I landed with them.

I stood up, just now realizing the craziness of the situation. Two men against god knows how many. Looking towards the one they were attacking, I saw that I was right in my suspicions.

"So it is you.[/i]" I grinned. "We'll have time to catch up after we deal with all of these guys.[/i]"

[Amakusa Takehiro]

[teal]

[beige]"Oh, what a good sight to see after all these months of the same thing, over and over!"[/beige]

[beige]"Have you met my nephew?"[/beige]

[/teal]

[Valo Morei]

I whistled as Amakusa smashed in the guy's face as he approached him from behind. That was a hell of a vicious attack, and unlike myself, Amakusa didn't hold back.

"I'm more or less surprised to see you're still up and kicking.[/i]"

The last time I had seen Amakusa, he was degrading from the effects of the Valor project. It seemed he had overcome this finally in one way or another. Ironically, I couldn't say I was doing much better than the state he was in in the past. In this darkness, it was hard to see just how much paler I was now, but my fighting ability wouldn't be up to par with how it was back in New York.

Looking behind me, I had seen another person attacking some of these thugs, rather viciously as well. "Your nephew? Well, this is news to me.[/i]" I sidestepped to avoid a knife from another one of the guys, quickly bringing the back of my fist to his face and knocking him unconscious. Another guy swung a pipe at me, and I caught it in my hands, planting my foot in the ground as I spun on my heel, bringing the guy around me and throwing him, pipe and all, into a group of his friends to knock them down, falling funnily enough like bowling pins.

"Strike![/i]"

[Amakusa Takehiro]

[orange]"Who's this guy, Uncle?"[/orange]

[beige]"This is Valo Morei. He's the one I told you about."[/beige]
[orange]"Ah, one of your rangers, right? How's it goin'? I'm Jimseung."[/orange]

[/teal]

[beige]"Still feel like fighting, boys?"[/beige]
[red]"Let's... let's get out of here! Go, go! Leave the wounded!"[/red]

[Valo Morei]

"Rangers, you told him about that, huh? Nice to meet you though, Jimseung.[/i]"

I grinned, bringing back memories of the 552 days was always nice. Funny enough, I still pursued my ranger activities here on occasion. It made me wonder how Tsubame was doing, in any case. She and Orion were two faces I hadn't seen since New York.

I watched as the rest of them began to back away in fear, leaving their own wounded behind, to which I frowned. I guessed they weren't much of friends if they're just going to run like that.

As they retreated, I crouched down to check one of the bodies on the floor, tearing off his sleeve looking for one of the Project markings. Seemed there was nothing on this one's shoulder.. I checked the back of his hands, not finding anything either. I shrugged and dug into his pockets, finding a wallet. The guy had hardly anything in it, but I became to look through it for anything that might be of use anyway.

"I didn't know you were still alive.[/i]" I said aloud to Amakusa as I was searching. It'd been a really long time. New York was 5 years ago. The only reason I knew how long had passed exactly was because of Jayne being in my life again... time was never something I kept track of in the past.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

[orange]"You too, Valo."[/orange]
[beige]"You know I can handle myself. Always have. You, on the other hand; you've met some pretty dangerous men in your time. I'm surprised you're not in a wheelchair right now. Though, if you were, I'd just fix you back up like I did before."[/beige]

[teal]

[beige]"You looking for something particular?"[/beige]

[/teal]

[Valo Morei]

"Heh, nothing I can't handle though. I'd say the worst has passed, for the most part.[/i]"

All I really wanted was for this fighting to be over, so I could finally live the rest of my life in peace. I now know that I wanted to live that with Jayne. And as this sickness rattled my body and I had begun to degrade, I couldn't help but wonder if this is how Amakusa felt all those years ago.

"I'm looking for any signs that might show that Haru is involved here... My informant told me that this place might be connected to the Projects somehow. I guess it's fate that we ran into each other here tonight.[/i]"

I tossed the wallet back onto the guy, finding nothing of note in there. I stood back up to my full height, looking over at Amakusa.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

[beige]"Let me see your face, boy."[/beige]

[beige]"How long ago?"[/beige]
[orange]"What's wrong?"[/orange]

[/teal]

[Valo Morei]

I looked back at Amakusa in shock. He noticed it right away. I guess nothing could get past my old mentor, and I gave a weak smile as I looked down after he had examined my face.

"About a week ago. Shugo came to my rescue when I got ambushed. Haru's men had two injections on them, but they weren't able to get Shugo too. Just me...[/i]"

My hand reached up to my neck where they had injected me. A slight mark there, but it felt as if it held the weight of the world. I was dying, and there was no denying that. Unlike Amakusa, my mind wasn't going with it... just my body. But the moment I had been injected, I had gone psycho and nearly killed the ones who did it, so whose to say I'd be sane always?

"Takehiro... How did you stop your degradation?[/i]"

[Amakusa Takehiro]

[beige]"Then there's still time..."[/beige]

[beige]"It was Mekiel who'd saved me. He'd given me an antidote, three injections,"[/beige] he tapped the side of his neck. [beige]"I'm going to find it for you. Don't you dare consider going about finding it on your own - you'll die. This is no matter for heroism or independence, Valo. You should have contacted me straight away."[/beige]

[/i][/beige] he asked, turning to face his friend.[/ul][/teal]

[Valo Morei]

"Mekiel...[/i]"

So there really was a cure. I felt a lot more hopeful by the minute. But how he got his hands on this cure was another question. Even Amakusa knew this wasn't going to be an easy task. I'd die? It was likely, but I was guaranteed death if I didn't do anything about this.

"Well, I feel a whole lot better knowing I got you on my side. I would've got in touch if I knew of your whereabouts.[/i]"

Maybe. I wasn't one to involve others if I could avoid it. The only reason Shugo knew of this is because he was there with me. Katarina was the one to inform me of my condition. I've hidden it from everyone else, including Jayne... though I knew she saw right through me. She was a genetic engineer and could possibly save me, but...

"I haven't seen him in a long time...probably back in New York.[/i]"

I've hardly seen anybody. It's a miracle to find someone you knew still alive.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

[beige]"We'll need to find him. Find out where he found the cure... You need to come with me, Valo. You can't be on your own - it's too dangerous."[/beige]

[beige]"This informant of yours, how much does she know about you? About Valor? Maybe we could have her help us find Mekiel."[/beige]

[/teal]

[Valo Morei]

Too dangerous... That's how everything always was. Not just these battles, but even getting close to people while being in this state. I had seen other Projects succumb to degradation, it looked like a horrible way to die. The way your body overcompensates for the sickness eating away at you, you're in constant, indescribable pain for the remainder of your days... I wasn't at that painful stage yet, but my body was definitely much weaker and I had less stamina than before.

"Katarina... I've told her everything. She's been with me since the beginning. As much as I hate to have her in this deep, she's as involved as I am at this point.[/i]"

Four years ago, when I had first been forced to work under the government, she was the only one who treated me like I was a person. Everyone else had just seen me as a weapon to do their dirty work, amazed that I had survived the city of glass. They had taken Hari away from me, but I knew she was safe now. Katarina later took an interest in my personal endeavors, coming through to help me despite my initial disagreement to the idea. She's saved my life on many occasions, it seemed she could help me with that once more.

"If Mekiel's done anything out of the ordinary... it wouldn't be hard for her to track him down.[/i]"

[Amakusa Takehiro]

[beige]"For your sake, see if there's anything she can do. But we have to make sure she's safe, as well. Jimseung, here, we can have him look after her if you feel it's necessary. I'm not sure how safe she is, but he can do a lot as far as protection."[/beige]

[teal]

[/i] He'd begin to walk, pointing his flashlight toward the building. Maybe they could get lucky? But things were never that easy.[/ul][/teal]