Picking Up the Pieces (ZetaInfection and KougaOokami)

[ZetaInfection]

Face Claim

Suit

It had about a year since the resolution of the war. Without the Unions around the citizens had to forge a new path. They could no longer rely upon the Star Signs to deal with Ability Users, they had to adapt. That wasn’t easy when most still thought of them as freaks and monsters. Some would even say their existence was a mistake, those of religious groups saw them as abominations made by those who would dare oppose god’s grand design. Those were the radical types and weren’t all that common thankfully.

With the wars end came a time of peace. People who had been swept up in it were rebuilding their lives and reintegrating into society. There were many who easily managed to fit in, and others found it harder. There was one such person who hadn’t made that transition yet. He was a young man in his early twenties and a looker to boot. Well, that would be the case if his scowl wasn’t pushing people away from him and keeping them at a distance. He had slightly disheveled hair of a light gray hue that didn’t seem to want to stay perfectly flat. His eyes were a vibrant deep green and he had not a drop of facial hair to speak of. Maverick was his name, a self-proclaimed one for lack of a real name. He hadn’t been given a name. He was one of Delta Union’s many unwilling experiments, the only difference was that he lost his memory during a failed experiment. That lab was all he knew, at least until he was ordered to take the head of a high ranking rebel. His skill with a gun was quite good, but it wasn’t good enough to get the job done properly.

With that offer of freedom he was granted the opportunity to start a new life. One where he made all the decisions for himself. Unfortunately he had grown a thirst for payback that he couldn’t quite quench. What had caused that desire he couldn’t say for sure. He had grown so hell bent on it that it consumed his life. He had spent every waking moment striving for it, his dreams haunted by that familiar face he hated so much. In the end he achieved his revenge. The price he had to pay for it however, was quite steep. He had barely lived through his rejection and now that he finally achieved his goal he had nothing to fall back on. He was lost, unsure of what he wanted to do.

The price had been steep enough that he just wandered off without a word. He had no steam left nor a desire to fight for a just cause. There was nothing left. He spent so much time chasing his vengeance that he hadn’t thought about what would come next. Given the nature of his power and just how badly he had rejected it wasn’t unreasonable to think he was going to die. He was at peace with it though. He had acknowledged that he had been on borrowed time from the beginning. The only reason he was alive now was because his power manifested late.

The past year had been spent aimlessly with no real goal in mind. He expected to just die in a gutter somewhere where he belonged. Even now he was lost and feeling rather miserable. What was even the point of living like this? Tonight he was drowning those thoughts out, instead sitting at a bar with a glass of whiskey in hand. He had sat in the corner at the end of there counter out of habit. He didn’t want people to look at him or acknowledge him.

Tonight he was dressed in casual attire, just a black t-shirt and blue jeans. He never liked being formal and he could care less about style. All of that was meaningless. The happy faces and the laughter, it was irritating to listen to. He planned to drink until he wasn’t as worked up or cautious. It was draining to constantly be aware of everything around him but he couldn’t help it. The war was over yet he was still just as wary of everyone and everything around him. He was on his second drink when he felt himself relaxing a little, wondering just what he was going to do tomorrow.

 

[Kouga-Ookami]

Maru Ottoshita

"We're ready to blow the place on your signal sir. All the charges are in place, we suffered heavy casualties but those of us still standing have all been evacuated."

Those of us still standing. The words were like a punch to the gut and dark eyes surveyed the handful of battered and bloodied men around him. They had marched on the Headquarters with all their might, a full battalion of 400 soldiers, the best trained ones they had. Looking over the handful that remained all he could see were the faces of the men that had fallen in this long and brutal fight. It had taken only a matter of hours but it felt like years.

"What of Maverick?" He asked, dreading the answer.

"There was no sign of him, sir." The man sounded sad and sympathetic.

Turning his gaze back to the smoking building he knew that they had dealt a powerful blow to Star Signs today but if they walked away with that building still standing then the Union would reform and retaliate even harder. Taking a deep breath and saying a silent prayer for all the souls of the men still trapped inside, he simply said, "Blow it."


Maru bolted up out of deep sleep in a sweat and his skin felt unnaturally cold. Rubbing his hands over his face he realized that his power had partially activated in response to the very real dream. It wasn't just a dream though, it was a memory, a night terror. Soldiers returning from battle often faced night terrors that would cause them to relive moments of panic and pain, making nights restless. For Maru it was even more dangerous because often his night sweats would cause his Ability to activate. Like this time. His skin shone with the metallic shell that covered it. He knew enough about his powers now to know that it would soon start to flake away now that he wasn't in danger. Some of the iron would be reabsorbed into his skin while the rest would probably wash away in his morning shower.

It left him feeling dizzy and light-headed. Unexpected uses of his power like this was why he had been on a high iron diet for years now. It helped to replenish the iron used and often wasted in moments of unnecessary panic. He also knew that with each and every involuntary use of his powers he put himself as great risk of Bio Rejection. He had no idea how long it would take for the Rejection to take him. Though at this point, was there any reason to even keep up a pretense of caring?

Standing, he showered and dressed and went about his usual routine. His apartment was somewhat small, but it still felt too large for him now that he lived here alone. After the war he had gotten a job as a security guard at a small bank. They weren't too happy about him being an Ability User, but his ability couldn't be used to rob them and he had experience with handling guns so they were willing to give him a shot. So far in the past year no one had tried anything when he was on duty. There was no way to tell if his presence made any difference, but it was enough to keep him in his position. It was a monotonous job that quite honestly bored him and left him much too much time alone in his own head. He had a few regular customers that would intentionally take the time to stop and talk to him. He appreciated the gesture and genuinely enjoyed the human interaction so he kept muddling on. The only other human interaction he got was at the bar, where he spent much of his free time.

After his shift at the bank he didn't bother to change out of his security guard uniform before heading to the bar. He usually showed up at the bar in uniform. To be honest the uniform felt more comfortable on him than street clothes. He'd been living a militaristic life most his life. Even before the rebellion he had been a grunt in Star Signs military troops. It had been a means to support his family and back then he hadn't been aware of all the dark and twisted things that Star Signs did. It wasn't until his own employer had taken his only son and done horrible things to him that his eyes had been opened to the monstrosities his company was doing. That was when he had formed the rebellion with a few close-knit friends - also military men.

The bank guard uniform was all black and visually similar to a police uniform. Since he wasn't on duty the heavy armored vest had been left at the bank, but the dark uniform underneath was still tight enough to show that he was a man that spent a lot of time working out - despite the long hours of drinking. That paired with his youthful face and that pitiably lost look he often had made him quite popular among the ladies. Never a night went by at the bar when he had to turn down the offer of a drink and/or company from a lovely lady. There were a few regulars that had a bet going on how long it would take for one of them to get him to go home with them. He didn't plan on going home with any of them so their bets would never be cashed in.

"The usual, Mike." He muttered as he made his way to the bar, not even bothering to look around as he set his cigarette on his lips and lifted his lighter to ignite the end of it.

The bartender, to Maru's surprise, didn't set a drink in front of him. Instead the man leaned over the bar and whispered. "That kid is here."

Maru blinked in surprise and focused his attention on the man for the first time. He looked... excited? "Kid? What kid?" He asked, exasperated. He just wanted a drink.

"The one from that picture you're always holding. Well, I think it's him. He's older of course."

That caused Maru to perk up and he glanced around. "Where?" He asked but before the man could answer, Maru's eyes landed on him. It couldn't be, could it? His heart began to race. Maverick had died in the collapse of the Headquarters building... Hadn't he?

Without saying a single word of thanks, he stood and made his way to the corner. The closer he drew, the more confident he became in knowing that it was Maverick. If it wasn't Maverick than the kid had an identical twin he never told Maru about. Of course since Maverick had no memory of his past before Star Signs there was the possibility that he had an identical twin out there somehwere.

Setting a hand on either of the man's shoulders, he said in his deepest, most official voice, "We don't take too kindly to your type in here." Then he leaned on closer and in a softer, more comradely tone added a single extra word. "Maverick." It was a long-running joke between them. Or at least those were words he had jokingly used with Maverick before. The youth had such a one-tract devotion to revenge that Maru hardly - if ever - saw him smile but he liked to believe that he had been breaking through the kid's cold exterior before the raid on the Headquarters.

 

[ZetaInfection]

The voices around him were becoming a blur of nonsense. Just background sounds that held no meaning. Places like this got louder than he’d prefer. Maverick was staring at the liquid in his glass as if it were the most interesting thing in the world to him right now. When he moved the glass the liquid would splash up against the sides of the glass, soon to return to the flat peaceful state it head been before. It easily molded around the ice cubes in such a way that it was natural. Maverick couldn’t help but wish that he could return to such a state, to be as fluid and adaptable as a liquid.

This idle musing was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder however. The words at first seemed hostile, something he responded to by turning to look at whoever dared to bother him. “And I don’t give a fuck about-“ He cut himself off when he saw who it was that was touching him. He would have roughly shoved the other away if he were anyone else. His irritated visage was replaced with surprise mingled with uncertainty. “Maru?” he managed to say as he looked the other over.

There was no doubt about it, this was definitely Maru. He wasn't really sure what to say. What was there to say? The last time he’d seen the other was before the raid. Before he singlehandedly messed everything up for himself. “It’s...been a long time.” Too long, in fact. In all honesty he hadn’t bothered to look for the other.

He had felt that even if Maru was alive the war was over. Surely there was a normal life the man could return to. He would settle down in the peace he created and maybe find a woman. Maverick couldn’t bear the idea of messing that up. He wasn’t normal, he wasn’t like everyone else. Hell, he wasn’t really worth anyone’s time. It was unlike him to think so lowly of himself but here he was.

He turned to take a sip of his drink and motioned to the chair next to him. “That seat isn’t usually open, but I’ll make an exception.” In other words he never let anyone sit next to him. He hated being touched and hated having people near him. Usually. He didn’t know what people were thinking, what their intent was. There probably wasn’t any but he still felt wary. Maru was the only one he’d let near him, and that rang true even now. He was actually relieved to see the man alive and well.

 

[Kouga-Ookami]

"You don't give a fuck about Maru?" The man replied with a smile, knowing full well that the initial savage comment had nothing to do with the name that followed but finding it amusing nonetheless. "That's a pity. I'll have to find this Maru and express to him how little you care." His dark eyes studied Maverick and he could see the weariness the other felt. There was something different about the young man. Before when he'd look into his eyes he would see the hatred that consumed him. Now that he had enacted his vengeance that anger was gone, replaced by... nothing. The man before him seemed empty and hollow. Maru knew that feeling well. It was the same feeling he had felt after the war. He still felt it sometimes. It was a constant battle to fight against the nothingness.

"Too long." He muttered as he sat in the offered seat, very aware of how much it meant to Maverick to be offering up the seat next to him. He glanced to the bartender, held up two fingers and pointed at the bar in front of them. The man nodded and busied himself with preparing two more drinks.

"How have you been, Maru?" He asked with genuine concern, brushing his hair from his face as he watched the younger man. The first time he had seen Maverick on the battle field the youth had reminded him of Tenji. He still saw that vague likeness but now that Maverick was a young man it was harder to see it. Tenji had been so young, too young to compare to this battle-hardened youth.

Knowing well that the best way to get Maru to open up was to not press him, Maru decided to talk about himself instead. "I've had trouble finding purpose in life since the war." He confessed. It was a heart-felt confession, even if Maverick wasn't the first to hear it. He had long conversations with Mike about this very subject. The bartender was always a sympathetic ear and gave solemn advice on occasion. "Hanata is gone. The loss of Tenji was too much for her. While I was gone she moved on and started a new life without me. Wish I could do the same." The last sentence held more of a whist-full sadness and was spoken beneath his breath, as though he were afraid to say such words aloud.

Just then the bartender set a glass of whiskey in front of Maru and a fresh one in front of Maverick before retreating back to the other side of the bar to give them space. Maru picked up his glass, staring at it a long moment before downing the amber liquid in a single swallow. He had spoken of his wife only once to Maverick and come to think of it, the kid might have been asleep by the time Maru was drunk enough to talk about her. He had mentioned Tenji though. The whole army camp had known about Tenji. It had been his death at the hands of Star Signs that had been the final spark to ignite the war.

 

[ZetaInfection]

The question was a simple enough one to answer yet he found the words caught in his throat momentarily. "Existing." he answered as he finished the drink he had in front of him. That was pretty much all he was doing, floating around from place to place while doing odd jobs here and there to give him enough money to get by. Jobs that didn't require him to interact with people too much. In fact, he had a feeling he would lose any job he could get if it had to do with people because he couldn't look genuine.

Leaving it at that, Maverick instead listened to Maru. At least he wasn't the only one who was lost, although he recognized that it was a petty thought. Maru didn't deserve to be a lost as he was. The man had done great things. Maverick recalled little of Hanata, but he remembered who Tenji was from the other's stories. Everyone who had anything to do with them knew. Their goal had been to ensure that no one else had to die such a meaningless death. Though he'd kept it to himself so as not to offend, but that had never been Maverick's reason. He didn't even need to have said it however, as everyone there knew he only had one thing on his mind the whole time. His reason was irrelevant as long as he helped them.

He recalled many of Maru's men being quite wary of him though. They assumed that since he defected to their side he could easily defect back given the right incentive. Maverick gave a sideways glance at the other and shrugged. "She didn't deserve you then." he responded quietly. He knew little of those sorts of matters but in his mind if she cared enough she could have waited. That was just his selfish way of thinking though. There could have been a myriad of reasons behind the decision after all.

When the bartender brought them both a new drink he pushed the old glass ahead so he could take it back and have it washed. "I suppose you want to know what I've been doing? Or at least what happened?" Maverick downed a good quarter of the glass before staring at the drink with a tired expression. "I did it. I finished what I started, then left. I thought...I though that maybe if I killed him it would make me happy. That I could stop obsessing over it like a fool." His words were quiet and contemplative as he spoke. "Sure, it was satisfying. At least until it was all over. I'm not sure what to do now that he's gone though. There's nothing left to do." If he could he would have laughed at himself but instead he just went quiet, choosing to finish his drink rather than elaborate further.

 

[Kouga-Ookami]

"She didn't deserve you then." Those words coming from anyone else would have driven Maru into an anger, a need to defend his ex-wife. Coming from Maverick, however, they were gentle, soft spoken, and honest. Maverick wasn't trying to insult the woman that Maru had once thought to be his soul mate. All he could do was nod in response, part of him felt the same way and yet there was still a part of him that wanted to find her and beg her to return to him. He knew it would never work though. There had been issues before Tenji's death. His death had only been the final lynch pin in a failing marriage. A marriage that had only been born out of a noble intent to do the right thing.

Clearly his honesty had broken through to Maverick because soon the other began to speak and he focused his attention on the other male. He didn't need to answer the question, Maverick barely even paused, instead launching into a quite explanation of the events that happened that night. A vague explanation but one that Maru had wondered about for a year now. "I've wondered about it for so long. That night, when I gave the order to blow the building, I wasn't sure if you escaped. I imagined you inside somewhere, the floor suddenly giving way under your feet. I've dreamt about your body being crushed by thousands of pounds of rubble..." He trailed off, watching the other for a reaction before shaking his head. "I'm glad you got out."

All this talk about there being nothing left to do made Maru feel heavy. How many times had he thought the same thing? And yet he had forced himself to keep going. For what? He had always felt as though there was a reason he had survived that night, why he kept going. In part he made himself carry on. How many lives had been lost to give him the freedom to have a normal life? How many people had lost fathers and sons, brothers and uncles to this war? He lived on so that their sacrifices wouldn't be in vain. Though he knew that wouldn't be enough for Maverick. The young man had always had a one-tracked mind and thought mainly of himself. He needed something more important to live for. Nameless faces wouldn't be enough for him. He chose not to address it now. He didn't want the other to feel like it was trying to force something on him that he didn't want.

"That's it then. Sagittarius truly is gone. There are rumors that he survived. I personally saw the downfall of Capricorn, Leo, and Libra. My men told me they saw Aries fall. The only two I was unsure of were Sagittarius and Gemini. Though no one has seen Gemini in thirty years so I'm fairly certain it was a code name for someone that didn't really exist. There are some out there that think that Star Signs will return. With all their leaders destroyed, however, I don't think it's possible."

 

[ZetaInfection]

When Maru started talking about his own experience from that night Maverick turned his attention away from the cool glass in his hand so he could look at the other. He was actually a little surprised by the way Maru spoke about it, like it had actually weighed heavily on the older male. He was about to say that he probably should have stayed but thought better of it. There was no need to make things any darker than they already were. What's done is done after all. "Yeah, I'm glad that you made it through the whole thing as well. No one is immortal, and the battlefield is a very uncertain place." Unlike those games or movies where you knew who was and wasn't going to die based on whether or not they were good, real life was far different. Good men died all the time.

Libra was a bit of a bitter topic but he was glad to hear she was in hell where she belonged. Not that he didn't think he was also going there in the end, but that was something he cared not to think about. "He's one hundred percent dead. Probably even one hundred and one percent." He had made damned sure that the man was dead. He wouldn't have been able to drop his grudge otherwise. "If you blew the building to hell then Scorpio is probably gone as well. Can't really confirm it though." Nor did he honestly care.

He knew that Divine had made it out since he'd actually assisted in Maverick's escape, but he didn't consider that one to be a threat. If anything, that lunatic was probably happy that he didn't have to do Sagittarius's bidding any longer. It was probably best not to mention his escape though considering Divine had been a bit problematic for the rebels. If anything, that idiot was probably far away now.

Maverick leaned against the counter on one arm, his chin resting in his hand as he looked the other over briefly. Didn't look too much different than before. Maru had always been easy on the eyes, at least in his opinion. "So, what do you do for a living? Judging by that uniform it must be something important. Even if it isn't, it's probably better than the whole not of nothing that I've been up to." Though he wasn't really thinking about it, this was perhaps the most he had spoken in one sitting in quite some time.