A broken nose, and a busted jaw. Man, I felt the temptations to burn the whole place down to nothing but ash. But, unfortunately, nothing but Ash I was. No pun intended. Ash. The boringness that's left as an aftermath of something greater. And as such, I wasn't the kind of guy to do all the fun, enticing stuff like burning the entire building down.

"I want to get back at that guy in there for breaking my nose," I said, "but I slightly oppose your decision, Xavier. Setting the entire place aflames might not do us any good, after all."

"Yeah," Xavier replied, "I know. It'll even deter them from actually giving us what we want to greater extents, knowing that we're the perpetrators of the fire, of course. It's a research facility as well, so I'd imagine them going insane, should information be lost. I just felt like using my power for a bit."

I looked at me. "Pfft. Didn't you use it like ... all the time? You said you were a cop, didn't you?"

Xavier looked away. "Yeah, but I'm no longer a cop." 

I continued to peer at him. "Mind if I ask what happened? Did you get fired?" 

"A monster happened," Xavier replied, fast, with an unexpected response. 

I had no idea what he meant by that. But he did seem to grow conspicuously uncomfortable, so I avoided asking him any more questions like those. 

"I locked away my ability after that," he placed an index finger at his temple, "with my mind. I deleted it. It was gone. That was until," he clenched his teeth, "some energy awakened it again. It was rekindled. Reborn. Now I feel the bloodlust and it's apparently trying to make up for all the years it's been locked away."

I looked away from him. "I understand. I know what abilities can be like. I know how addictive they can get. But I think I know how the negative aspects can all be avoided."

Xavier slowly looked at me, lips parted. "Huh? You do?"

I smiled at him. "Of course I do. And it's a pretty simple answer too. You just don't let the power control you. You're its wielder. You're the king, and it is merely a tool, a servant, a bulter—call it whatever you want. Just remember that it's something meant to not use you but he used by you."

Xavier nodded, taking it all in. "I have to try that some day."

"You should."

Xavier sighed. "Let's try getting in that place and move on with our new lives already. We've wasted too much time here."

"Agreed," I said.

He folded his arms. "I think I have a plan. Should we," he leaned in, "take out two of those guys, and take their suits?" he asked, whispering. "Or should we just try sneaking in at night or something? You don't know how much the person they have in there means to me."

That's it. 

The curiousity was eating me from the insides.

I raised a brow, looking at him, quizzical. "Who exactly is this person?"

I couldn't hold back from asking. 

Xavier averted his eyes. "I ... don't feel comfortable telling you that yet. I'm really sorry, but it's better that I don't. The last time I felt overly comfortable telling people about it almost costed me my valued person's life."

"Ah," I nodded, "I see. Then, I suppose that's not a problem. I'm sure you have you reasons."

"I'm a twenty-nine-year-old man who's been a cop for years, of course, I have my reasons. I have reasons for everything I do."

I had no idea whether it was sarcasm or not. 

I just wanted ... my metal bat. I remembered it. Its cold metal, it's bold silver color that shined even through blood. It's heaviness. The traces of Jin left all over it. I needed to retrieve it by all means necessary. 

I placed my hands on my waists. "How are we gonna to get in there now?"

Xavier heaved. "It's not gonna be easy. It's either we disguise ourselves, or we intrude at dusk. But we don't even know if the organization will be closed down at that time."

"Plus," I chimed in, "If it does close, there's a possibility of things like doors and elevators with passwords and other types of security units. Not to mention cameras, and multiple floors to search."

Xavied shook his head. "That's a plan that might not work at all. Suddenly I feel like an underdog again. I think we should still try it out. We just need to know the location where our valuables might be located."

"This building looks big ... I don't know," I looked up at it.

"There must be some storage room or something in the building," Xavier continued, "They didn't authorize the citizens to enter the new world unless they were scanned. Things not approved of by the scanners were taken away. We need to think of a feasible plan."

Suddenly, I started to hear footsteps coming from behind me. I slowly turned around only to see a man in white approaching the gate ahead. The man walked arrogantly, sauntering toward his destination, chin up, nose looking down at everything. 

He stopped. "You two seem awfully close to my workplace. Is there anything I can do for you?" He asked, looking his nose down at me. His voice was chic. His tone and voice was masculine yet feminine. A strange mesh. 

I fumbled. "Y-you work here?"

"I may not be like the others," he said, "but of course, I do."

"Oh well ... uh ... my friend, Xavier, and I left our things in there and hadn't gotten them back. The guard refuses to permit us to enter, or even to deliver our—"

"Very well, very well," the man started walking, "follow me."

"Wait ... um .." I looked at Xavier. Xavier looked at me and shrugged. 

I shrugged back, and we both started following the strange man who claimed to work at the organization.