Undercity.
There is only one word to describe this part of Cybercity.
Rotten.
Crumbling infrastructures, the smell of rotten flesh and piss on the ground, rats scurrying the trashes and addicts of whatever substances 'viral' in the black market roaming the streets. These are the sights that will caught the attention of everyone in this city.
This is also the thought that crossed Karen first mind the moment he opened his eyes.
"Help....."
"Help...."
"Kare..... please help....."
"Karen.... please wake cough cough."
Only then did Karen realised that Makoto is laying beneath him.
It seems that the latter had brought him here. Sadly for Makoto, the moment he landed on the roof of this building, Karen had already lost all energy and lost consciousness. His drawback immediately sets in.
In other words, for the last twelve hours, Karen has been on top of him with his body weight over hundreds of kilogrammes pressing against the youth.
Karen groggily stood up, before falling to his butt as he still needs more energy after waking up.
"How long did I passed out?" Karen asked, seeing that it's already midnight.
Makoto stood up, stretching his body.
"An entire day." Makoto answered, looking over the skyscraper in the distance.
When Karen was about to be defeated by the two heroes, Makoto had descent. Using his Aspect, he easily defeated the two heroes before taking Karen with him.
When Makoto had landed on this building, Karen had long lost his consciousness and his drawback had taken effect. With the sudden increase in weight, Makoto was unable to lift him because he had been piggybacking him. Because of the position, even dragging the latter like he did yesterday failed.
"Will Wak Tolak kill us?" Karen suddenly asked.
"He won't. Don't worry."
"You two been gone for an entire day and how did the two of you ended up on the news?!" Wak Tolak smashed his palm on bar counter.
The two had just returned home, well returned bar only to be met with Wak Tolak's scoldings.
The sound of the news broadcast of what had transpired in the morning become a background noise as the middle aged man glared at the two.
Both youths look down, not wanting to meet the man's gaze.
"And you didn't even bother hiding your appearance." Wak Tolak pointed out to the image of Karen's face masked appearance shown on the broadcast.
"A mask! A literal facemask! How's that going to hide anything?!"
As he said this, the white haired boy's entire appearance suddenly changed. His hair colour became messy, turning dark while his face distorted, transforming entirely. If before his face is quite a pretty, now he looks rather ordinary.
"What about your drawback?"
Karen pulls out a chocolate bar from his pocket. Unwrap it and start eating whilst staring qt Wak Tolak blankly.
"A chocolate bar? Really?"
"Calorie densed and this chocolate had been mixed with multiple other nutrients enough to sustain me for a few hours."
"How much nutrients can a bar of chocolate even help you?" Makoto was flabbergasted, "Also, why didn't you eat one before your energy runs out?"
"Technology is already advanced enough for a bar of chocolate to be a staple in some countries out there " Karen answered blandly, "No one would eat during battle or when there are building level heroes and villainess fighting."
"What country has chocolate as a staple?"
"Samara." Karen said bluntly.
"But chocolate isn't even grown there." Makoto suddenly points out
"Imitation chocolate bar, easy to make, sweet enough for children to enjoy and has enough energy to last a person for a few hours." Karen said bluntly, taking a bite from the chocolate bar.
"Do you know how to make one?" The redhead's eyes lits up.
"Do you have the ingredients?"
"Are you two really talking about making chocolate when both of you are being talked about on the news?" Wak Tolak was flabbergasted.
"It's not that bad." Makoto shrugged.
"You guys now are wanted by the entire city!" Wak Tolak pointed out.
"Our identities are still hidden?" Makoto said calmly.
"Do you want me to show you to make the chocolate or not?" Karen who is already standing at the entrance of the kitchen spoke.
"Oi! Don't just enter my kitchens when I still haven't finished scolding you two yet!"
The swinging doors swing open and the youths promptly enter the kitchen.
A while later, Karen's shouts can be heard from within the kitchen.
"You can't even properly crack an egg!"
Indeed, Makoto's cooking skills is quite terrible. Although living in Undercity requires high survival skills, all these times Makoto has been relying on Wak Tolak's cooking for his meal.
His jobs was to just become the waiter during the day and probably take some merc job during the night if he has the time.
As for school, he hadn't attended one for quite some years. Not that he is skipping them. Well, he did. The facilities there were horrible and in all honesty they weren't really teaching anything.
Even Wak Tolak never bother with sending him there. If you are wondering, yes he signed himself to become a student at the school.
A literal 6 year old kid went to the front gate, with all documents and the teacher barely take a glance as she listed his names into their system without even bothering to see the parents.
That was just how bad the education system in Undercity is despite being a part of Cybercity. Those higher ups barely care for the people below.
In the first attempt, Makoto failed miserably.
In the second attempt, the two almost ruined the kitchen.
In the third attempt, Wak Tolak kicked them out of the house.
In the end, the two boys simply sat somewhere near a fire escape. The neon signs nearby leaking out lights down to the pavement below.
"I haven't gotten the payment for our job yesterday." Mamoto cursed out.
"Both of us are now wanted criminals. Are you really thinking about money right now?" Karen can't help but raised an eyebrow.
"I've been living in this city ever since I can remember. Believe me, the law enforcers here are as bad as the criminals robbing on the streets." Makoto jokes.
As he said this, a shout can be heard down below.
A middle aged man is struggling against a robber.
Bang!
Karen who is standing by Makoto's side picked up a nearby pebble before throwing it.
The pebble ricochet from one walls to another street light before hitting the robber.
Makoto whistled, impressed by Karen's throwing skill, "Impressive, but did you know something interesting about the 'ecosystem' in this city?"
Karen merely glanced at the redhead.
"At the top are the corporates, businesses or anyone related to the hero industry. They control the media, the news and even the heroes worshipped on the streets."
"Then underneath them are the villains, the thugs on the streets and even the vigilantes who are trying to fight the system."
"These outlaws," Makoto stood up, "get to wreak havoc and achieve their goal in making money or whatever in exchange for destruction."
"With villains going around causing trouble, it gives the heroes the chance to fight them. With more flashy fights they get to use, the more trending they will be on social media. The more popular they become."
The rehead looks down, seeing the middle aged man picking up his bag and kicking the robber.
"With more popularity, more endorsement from big corporations who want to endorse their products."
"And then there is us, the people at the bottom of the food chain. The idiots trying to cling to the slim hope of survival in this broken city."
Makoto point out to the billboard showing the hero Crimsoning promoting the newest addition to the Echelon Corporation's new energy drink.
"This cycle,fed the people with a false sense of security. They'll pay more for houses where heroes patrolled, some even even going as far as paying heroes to patrol their streets.
"Some idolised even the villains who killed so many innocents not because they understand his struggles but because he was cool from all the media showing his fights against the heroes."
"A hero fought a villain, destruction follow. Ruined streets, destroyed shops and even ruined building become the result. Insurance prices and taxes increased. As for inflation," Makoto stopped explaining.
He doesn't have to.
The point was clear.
The hero system is - flawed in so many different ways.
"Then what about the mercs?" Karen suddenly asked, "What role do we play in this system?"
"The mercs?" Makoto turned to the boy, "Anything for money. Some corporations hired us to guard their 'not so legal products ' to safety, some hired us to clean the mess they've made and some heroes even hired us to become the villain of the week."
"You are asking a lot about these things? Don't the Samarans know anything about the outside world?"
"Women getting rolled down the streets by a tank until the fetus in her womb ripped opened are a normal occurrence. We don't have the time to care for the people when there are people fighting against the occupation that has been going on for centuries." Karen clenched his arm, staring off into the distance.
"Even those who shared the same roots as the Samarans had done nothing. For centuries, a genocide is taking place in the so called holy land and the world has done nothing."
Cling!
Makoto's phone suddenly rang.
Makoto pulls out his smartphone from his pocket.
"A new mission?" Karen glanced at the screen on the phone.
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Mission: Hummingbird Energy
Description: The Hummingbird Enterprise is transporting a batch of if their newest products to a new destination. Stole one of the product from the batches and send it to the designated located.
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