"Agh!" Decha grunted as POYO slammed him into the concrete roof of a very tall skyscraper. He still had a little more strength to fight. He wiped the blood off his lip and scowled at POYO. "Deliverance sent you,"

He pushed himself off the ground and clutched onto his torso, still not fully recovered from the beam wound inflicted on him days before. Decha extended his hand, but the staff completely disappeared. His eyes widened in surprise.

"W-what?" Decha flicked his hands, hoping for the weapon to reappear. He figured out that the staff had a shield that prevented POYO from dealing serious attacks.

POYO rushed forward and kneed Decha in the torso.

All the air left his mouth and he slammed and skidded across the ground. Decha barely had time to recover when POYO pistol-whipped his head.

Decha groaned when POYO placed its metallic foot against his chest and shifted the sword to his abdomen.

"...no..." Decha grumbled weakly.

He had to protect himself for the sake of Rory. If any of his organs were damaged, especially his kidneys, then he wouldn't be able to donate. He wouldn't be able to save her.

"POYO..." Decha coughed. "Please...!"

A holographic figure appeared next to POYO. The same one he'd seen in Deliverance's letter.

"You're always getting in my way..." The disguised deep voice crept into Decha's ears. "I knew the Generals were persistent, but man, you're out of your mind for having your level of determination."

"... Deliverance."

"So, you do know who I am. That means Clarke rambled about me, eh?" The hologram figure walked closer to him. "Where is he?"

"Like I'd ever tell you," Decha sneered.

"Look at the position you're in boy, all I have to do is give the word and my bot here will end you."

"It's not... your robot..." Sweat kissed the side of Decha's head as POYO pressed harder on his chest.

"And how would you know that?" Deliverance scowled. The hologram crouched down to get a closer look. "Those eyes... they're familiar..."

Decha narrowed his eyes, wondering what he meant. Had he encountered Deliverance before?

Deliverance stood back up and crossed his arms. "So it's true... N96, you're the General on the case. That's why you were able to catch on so quickly..." He cackled.

"I'll do whatever it takes to arrest you," Decha hissed. "Then, I'll execute you accordingly."

"Bold of you," Deliverance mocked. "There's one thing I never understood. How are you able to match my droid's attacks so much more efficiently than all the others? I know you're an Outsider, but there's no way that even a high-ranked Official with the best training could match it."

Deliverance walked over to POYO. "Scan him,"

"It doesn't matter!" Decha grabbed onto POYO's feet and tried to pry them off. POYO had already scanned him and processed the results.

"You're equipped with tech." Deliverance pointed out. "Familiar tech... but they're not provided by the Agency." Deliverance observed Decha's gloves and combat boots. "These are of a similar make to my bot."

"What do you want? A medal?"

"Kill him," Deliverance commanded. "Once he's out of the way, we can continue."

"No!"

Deliverance's hologram disappeared and POYO screeched harshly before raising the blade.

"POYO! No! She'll die!" Decha squirmed and tried to wriggle out from under its foot. "Rory... will die!"

He felt pathetic to be begging a robot to spare him, but his pride diminished the moment POYO swung. "Rory will die!" Decha howled one last time.

POYO stopped just as it was about to stab him. "Ro...ry..." It glitched and kept switching back and forth to its original programming. This bought Decha enough time. He gripped onto POYO's leg and flipped onto his side.

The robot stumbled and fell. Decha was able to free himself, but there was no way he could've gotten away quickly enough. Decha took a deep breath and crawled away.

POYO stopped glitching and cried out in more robotic sounds before attacking again. It kicked Decha and grabbed him by the neck. Decha was raised off the ground and his air was cut off as POYO clenched its metallic fingers around his throat.

"POYO..." Decha puffed as his vision diminish. He used the rest of his strength to push the robot by the shoulder. In an instant, he was released.

Decha's body hit the ground once more and another holographic figure appeared. It wasn't Deliverance's, but Rory's.

Decha was caught in a daze as his vision became more clear. When he finally came to, he was perplexed to see her standing there, mistaken that she was actually in front of him.

Rory held her hands up in a protective stance, preventing POYO from getting any closer.

"Rory..." Decha mouthed. "Get away from it!"

The hologram didn't listen. It wasn't supposed to. POYO raised its blade and swung at her, but a force field appeared around the two. Rory's hologram eyed POYO emotionlessly and placed her hand on its torso.

Decha was amazed by the entire thing.

POYO began to shriek. It shook its head and the sounds it made were very disturbing. Rather than attacking, POYO hopped off the roof and fled the scene.

The bo staff reappeared in Decha's hands. Decha panicked and tossed the weapon away, but it fizzed out into particles before reappearing in his hands again. "What the he—"

A hand touched the side of his face. It wasn't real. But there was warm energy that alerted Decha. When he looked up, he saw Rory's hologram next to him. She was smiling at him.

"Rory..." Decha frowned. "What are you—"

Rory's hologram touched the staff and her hologram vanished. Decha spent a moment trying to register everything that happened.

The sound of faint shouting brought him out of his trance. He looked left and saw Jax, and a few Generals running at him.

"Decha!" Jax threw himself onto his knees and rushed to check to see if he was hurt. "Are you okay?! What happened? Where's POYO?"

Decha was unsure how to answer all of those questions because he wasn't sure what exactly happened.

"Are you hurt? Wounded?"

"I feel fine," Decha grunted. "I think I'm starting to lose my mind." Maybe he was hallucinating. Did Rory tamper with the gloves? They were upgraded. But there was no way. He had them on for the longest time. How could she upgrade them while he wasn't aware?

Jax smirked, "Well... you always have been a bit crazy."

"Don't make me smack you, Jax," Decha snarled.

Jax embraced him, catching Decha off guard. "I'm so glad you're alive."

"Hands off." Decha nudged him away. He pushed himself off the ground and steadied himself against the wall. "POYO was sent by Deliverance."

"We know," Jax nodded. "Director Chen sent a full unit to Kilos. Warrant or not, they're going to search the entire building. It was approved by the council."

"Tell him to stop the Agents," Decha massaged his side. "Deliverance knows we know about him. If we conduct an investigation there, it won't lead anywhere. We have to rely on any piece of information that Clarke gives us. This way, we can pinpoint him."

"How are we going to protect Astell?"

"The only way we can protect this country is by looking out for patterns. The bombs happen in secluded crowded areas. Chen needs to put in place a capacity limit for each building that holds over 100 people."

"You heard him," Jax gestured at one of the Agents, "Go report to Director Chen, now."

"I'll be fine, Jax,"

"You can't stand on your own." Jax shook his head.

"As long as my internal organs are fine, I'll be okay."

"I'll help you to the infirmary though."

"No need." Decha huffed. "My leg is sore, but I can walk it off."

"Decha," Jax frowned. "You don't have to do everything alone, okay? I've got your back." Jax tapped his shoulder softly with a faint smile.

Jax released him and stepped forward. The moment he passed Decha and walked ahead, Decha stopped him with a few words in response.

"I never doubted that you did."

"So... you saved my life earlier." Jax chuckled softly. "Thanks for that. But... where'd you get the staff?"

"I don't know..." Decha examined the gloves skeptically.

"Did Rory have something to do with them...?"

"I'm going to find out," Decha narrowed his eyes. Rory was in a heap of trouble. The entire crowd had witnessed it. She'd broken the law before, but he fully planned on letting it slide.

This time, he was going to have to give her a warning. He could only imagine the horrid things the protestors might do if they found out that a Bracketer was constructing tech for him.

He was still trying to earn the people's trust. They were already livid that Jamison was released. Decha didn't want anyone to go after Rory because she is related to him. This was unnecessary attention.

~~~

Rory and Avon were playing tic tac toe with each other. After having dinner, Avon wanted to play. Rory was his only option. Jessica was busy handling work in her office.

"You won, again." Rory smiled and rested her back against the couch cushion. There was just no beating him, he always knew how to win. Avon was extraordinarily smart.

"Roree. Again?" Avon asked, wanting to play another round.

"Actually," Rory yawned. "I'm a little sleepy. We can play some more tomorrow if you like?" Rory wanted to settle down for the night and maybe watch a movie before going to bed.

Before Avon could answer, the front door opened and Rory looked over her shoulder. "Oh—"

"Decha!" Avon stood up excitedly and skipped over to him. Decha grabbed him up in a warm embrace and smiled.

"What are you still doing up?" Decha poked the boy in the nose.

"Playing with Roree!" Avon giggled in response.

"Where's mom?"

"She's in her office," Rory answered instead of Avon. "What happened?" She noticed the small cuts on Decha's face. They were patched up and already cleaned, but Rory became worried.

"Work happened." Decha put Avon back on the ground gently. "Avon, go ask the butlers to help you brush your teeth. It's time for bed."

"I don't wanna!" Avon whined.

Decha frowned and eyed Rory. "Stay here for a moment."

Decha grabbed Avon's tiny hand and led him up the staircase. He disappeared behind the doors, leaving Rory alone in the living room.

Rather than going into her room, she decided to wait until Decha was done helping Avon. While doing so, she got curious. What did Decha do to get hurt?

She wanted to turn on the news to see. But the moment she thought of it, Decha came down the stairs quickly. He grabbed onto Rory's arm and dragged her down the hall and to her room.

"Woah! Decha!" Rory gasped when he pulled her in and locked the door behind him. Her mind went wild with what could happen next. She even felt her face get warm over one thought. She wasn't prepared for it, but she didn't oppose the idea.

"Mind explaining this?" Decha began and flicked both of his hands. The neon blue glowing bo-staff formed physically in his hands. Rory was surprised to see that it had worked. Her fingers hovered over the material as she struggled to hide her excitement.

"Well... um... it looks like a staff."

"Rory, you upgraded them."

"Upgraded what?"

"Don't play dumb with me. We both know you're too smart for that." Decha frowned. "You upgraded the gloves without telling me."

"I was going to propose that the gloves developed a bug and self-enhanced to attune to your skills." Rory smiled softly. "But I guess you wouldn't buy that, huh?"

"What do you think?"

"Do you... not like the staff?"

"There's nothing wrong with the staff. The issue is you upgraded the gloves behind my back and constructed a weapon without a license!"

"Okay, first, I didn't go behind your back. I did it while you were sleeping. Second, the gloves had serious issues, and they had to be fixed."

"So you thought breaking the law was the perfect solution?" Decha scowled.

"I didn't break the law! I didn't construct a weapon. Technically."

"Technically?" Decha scoffed.

"I didn't make a weapon. I programmed data into the gloves where something that LOOKS like a weapon can be activated. The staff is like a hologram. It's not something that can be picked up easily."

"It's still a weapon. It's used for defense and attacks."

"But only you can use it. It's not for the General public."

"Rory, you're not listening to me."

"You're not understanding me, at all!" Rory huffed. "I made it to help you! I didn't think you'd be so ungrateful for my work!" She crossed her arms and looked away from him.

"Seriously, it shouldn't be that hard to say Thank you. Every time I try to do anything nice, you always scold me for it. I'm not a child, Decha!"

Decha was too fed up to muster up a response. Rory used his lack of reply against him.

"And you're looking at me like I'm still in the wrong here. Fine then, I won't make anything else for you. Are you happy? You can be the tough guy you want to be now. Don't worry about your pride, because I won't tamper with your stupid ego anymore!"

"Rory, I'm worried about you," Decha confessed, not knowing any other way to get his point across. "I appreciate the upgrade, I do. But your safety and your health are priorities that I'm responsible for. Any kind of weapon that is used and not provided by the Agency can be traced back to the person who constructed it."

"So what?"

"As a General, I'm obligated to arrest you for the crimes you commit. I can lose my pins and my rank if I don't. And when you're arrested, you have to be held in the Agency's cells." Decha caused the staff to disappear by flicking his hand again. "This will draw too much attention to you. Astellians are already livid whenever a Bracketer is mentioned."

"You think I can't handle that? So what if a couple of Astellians hate me? That's no different from before!"

"I know you can't handle it, Rory. I didn't forget all the crap that happened to you at Grandell." Decha sighed. "What I want is for you to be safe, and out of trouble."

"I want that for you too," Rory mumbled in response.

"I'm a General. Trouble and lack of safety come with the job. You know this."

"You're not as tough as you like to portray yourself, Decha. Everyone expects so much of you, and I know that you are stressed because of it. You act that way because you think you can't be vulnerable around anyone."

Decha's expression went blank as she figured him out.

"I know you hate admitting it. But you need the help." Rory huffed. "I just wanted to help without embarrassing you or dampening your pride. And I don't have Tekels to repay you for everything you've done for me. This is the best way I know how to give back."

Decha sat on her bed and massaged his forehead. He was speechless. He couldn't describe the exact emotion he felt at that moment.

"I'll use the staff," Decha grumbled. "But you have to promise me—"

"Actually, I made some gloves for your colleagues too," Rory admitted, ashamed. "One for Jax, and another for um... the other guy... your other friend? Although I'm not sure what his skill sets are, the gloves will be very effective."

Rory sat on the bed next to Decha. "I know it was against what you said... I just... I couldn't help myself."

"I don't want you to be dragged into this case,"

"Decha, you confuse me. You tell me that my inventions are great. But then, you say you don't want me to invent because of my health. But the reality is, I feel a lot better when I'm creating designs for machinery or programming."

Rory exhaled and slouched forward. She just wanted to try to understand what he was truly thinking. "Now you're telling me it's because of the case. But... What is the actual problem? Do you... not trust me?"

"I trust you..."

"So... what's the issue here?"

"It's a combination of everything. Your health and this case. I'm gonna be honest. I'm not sure what the heck is wrong with me."

"What do you mean?"

"This is gonna sound so corny..." Decha scoffed. "Before I met you, I was focused on doing anything I could to accomplish any assignment I was given. And that often required me to take drastic steps to reach success."

"And what about... now? After you met me?"

"I can't get you out of my head."

Rory laughed at Decha's words, but he wasn't joking. It was corny though.

"I'm sorry," Rory snorted in a fit of giggles.

"People were right. I did lose my mind." Decha groaned. "I overthink whenever it comes to you. You're a challenge. And now I'm not even sure if what I'm doing is the right thing or not, because I'm always worried about what you'll think or say."

"Wow... I feel honored that I'm always occupying your mind."

"Rory, this is serious,"

"Okay, tough guy," Rory snickered. "There's nothing wrong with you. You're just more considerate than you were a few months ago. That's a serious improvement for an Astellian. It's not to say that Astellians aren't considerate, but it's just not... normal here. I'm talking based on what I've experienced."

"Uh-huh." Decha narrowed his eyes at her.

"Well... honestly, I think you've always been considerate. But you're just not used to expressing it this much. And here's a plus side, you're easier to talk to now."

"I was always easy to talk to."

"Um... not really." Rory shook her head. "You are a bit intimidating. Just a tiny... weensy bit."

Decha rolled his eyes. Rory kissed the side of his face, catching him completely off guard.

"Heh... anyway," Rory fiddled with her fingers nervously. "I won't make any more gloves or program any devices without your permission next time. I only created them to help you."

"Thank you,"

Decha's kind response nearly made Rory swoon. She couldn't believe she heard it right. Just the other day he apologized, and now he was showing gratitude. Was this the same guy she met 2 months ago?

"And don't overthink all the time. Do what you have to do to stop the bombs. I trust your judgment because I love you."

~~~

Here's a little preview of what's to come



The *REMAKE*

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