As the boys made their way over to meet someone important to them, the clouds began to crackle with lightning, and soon after it started pouring rain on Emerald City.

The rain wasn’t too heavy, but it wasn’t a drizzle either, cooling down the air to the perfect temperature and making the night far more beautiful and magical.

However, on the other side of the city, near the shipping docks, the atmosphere was gloomy and sad for Leon who was sitting out in the rain outside the entrance to the hanger which was the Dark Raven Headquarters.

He had been sitting outside for almost an hour, feeling even greater anxiety than Bill considering who Paul Czolgosz was. The rain had also begun to pour down near the shipping docks leading Leon to get soaked as he sat there like depressed and anxious about how to proceed.

‘I know I promised him that I would talk to my father again, but how? Just how? We haven’t seen eye to eye in years and I never listened to anything he said, how can I show my face to him after all I have said!?’ Leon thought to himself while continuously getting soaked by the pouring rain.

Suddenly the door he was sitting beside, opened from the inside popping Leon’s bubble of thoughts as he turned to see who had opened the door.

He had purposefully chosen to sit outside the emergency door because nobody ever uses it unless there was an emergency which made Leon a bit anxious and curious as to who had come snooping by the emergency door.

“Master Leon, I was going to leave you alone, but I simply can’t watch you getting soaked in this rain. Please come inside and let’s get you dried up, you don’t want to catch a cold do you?” Benson the Butler said half-jokingly with warmth and concern as he came out of the door with an umbrella.

“Benson… You knew I was here from the start didn’t you?” Leon said softly as he looked up to their butler with a gentle smile.

“Yes, sir… what kind of a servant would I be if I didn’t keep track of everything around here?” Benson said professionally as he pushed the umbrella forward to shield Leon from the pouring rain.

Leon looked up to Benson with small tears forming in his eyes as it had been a long time since he had let his true emotions seep out.

“You are more than a servant, Benson. You are my best friend!” Leon said as he got up and hugged Benson.

The two shared a few seconds of embrace before Benson broke off and gestured for Leon to come back inside.

*****************

After some time, Leon was clean and dried, sitting atop his bed, telling stories about all the different events that took place during the recruitment test. ｂ𝚍ｎｏｖ𝚕．ｃｏｍ

Benson was listening with great attention like a mother who was listening to her son tell her all about his day at school.

By the end, Benson was quite delighted to hear that Leon had already become a private and was accepted into the special task force.

“Master Leon you have accomplished so much and far exceeded any and all expectations, you even made good friends along the way, but I think now it is time…” Benson said with a serious yet calming tone.

Leon sighed as he knew he couldn’t avoid this moment forever. He just wished he could continue talking with Benson forever, but he had to snap back to reality.

“Do you really think he will talk to me, Benson? After everything I have done…” Leon asked as he slowly made his way over to the door to go and meet his father.

“I know how you feel, Master Leon, but he is still your father, and believe, he loves nothing more in this world than his family and you are now his only family left, so please let him reconnect with his family. He has been broken for far too long…” Benson said in a caring voice as he patted Leon and opened the door for him to exit the room.

Leon took one last deep breath before nodding to Benson and walking out of his room. He walked through the same hallways he had walked through a thousand times and yet they felt long and never-ending as the butterflies in his stomach were growing larger and larger.

Eventually, he did reach the end of the hallway and stood outside his father’s office door.

He proceeded to do the special knock and soon his father’s voice resounded from within the room.

“Enter,” The voice said.

Leon gulped down hard and summoned as much courage and confidence as possible before opening the door.

“Father, I have returned,” Leon announced as he entered into Paul’s office.

****************

{Back in Emerald City}

Bill made his way over to the rich neighborhood right by his high school. This was where his father lived. It was a rather large estate built like an old-school Japanese home with a beautiful courtyard and back garden that had several cherry blossom trees as well as a training area for abilities.

William Johnson, Bill’s father was very fond of old cultures and was especially drawn in by Japanese home designs from over 1200 years ago and wanted to integrate them into his home, making his house one of the most beautiful and unique houses in the entire neighborhood.

The area was right on the border between the Dark Raven and Los Zetas’ territories which was a hotspot for gang fights and robberies which was why the area was so desolate and quiet at night with only gang members and police roaming around in the streets.

Bill had to be extremely careful as he was a wanted man by the Los Zetas and given all his recent achievements, he knew El Diablo would be on the lookout for him more than ever.

Ever since Bill had escaped from the warehouse, he had never gone near El Diablo’s territory again for fear of getting caught, but he had to make this journey if he wanted to finally make amends with his father.

Bill purchased a good quality hoodie from one of the night markets on his over to the rich neighborhood and wore it to conceal his face.

Taking it one step further, once he was in the danger zone, Bill opted to travel from rooftop to rooftop instead of the streets which would get him there faster and keep him concealed.

He used his wind ability to jump from house to house and soon made it over to his father’s house without any trouble.

After making sure the coast was clear, Bill made the final jump from the house next door and landed directly into the training area where his father used to train him and his siblings.

Bill used his wind ability to make a smooth landing and now with him safe inside the property he didn’t have to worry about gang members spotting him and he could take off his…

“If you dare move a single muscle, I’ll tear you to shreds!” A voice whispered in Bill’s ears from behind and before he could even turn around, he was already pinned into the ground.

Bill was completely overpowered by someone with far superior strength than him and it took him only a single second to recognize who it was.

“You picked the wrong house to rob, you little thief!” William Johnson said as he twisted Bill’s forearm, almost breaking it right off, causing immense pain to Bill and making him scream in pain and agony.

“Wait… wait…” Bill tried to speak but was completely cut off by William stomping on his head with his bare foot.

“If you’re looking for mercy there ain’t none here! This is your last bad decision, I’m afraid” William said as he inflicted even more pain.

The rain was still pouring hard and Bill’s face was completely covered in mud, making it impossible for William to recognize who he was.

Noticing the seriousness in his father’s voice, he wouldn’t be able to say anything before he kills him so he had to act and act fast.

Bill summoned all of his willpower and his eyes began glowing green again. He had already used his mutant gene earlier and using it again would only exhaust it more which was something that Commander Thorne personally recommended him not to do if he wanted to become strong because the consequences of overusing the mutant gene were dire.

However, right now, Bill didn’t care as it would take everything he had to even stand up to his father much less defeat him.

After receiving the boost from the mutant gene, Bill summoned his wind aura and blasted William away from his body.

“Mutant Gene? You gang membered have really upped your game, huh?” William commented as he landed safely on the ground, virtue of his wind ability to cushion the landing.

Bill wanted to speak, but Willian didn’t even give him a chance as he rushed back in towards him at high speed with a visible white disc made of concentrated rotating air.

“But it doesn’t matter what drugs you take! You will never overpower experience and hard work!” William shouted as threw the powerful disc straight at Bill like a frisbee.