Chapter 5. First mission.

There weren't many who remembered to use the heavy machinery and even then, some had to relearn a few things. This only slightly sped up the rebuilding process. As time passed the mammals learned and relearned how to cook foods left over by the humans, luckily frozen, and the certain livestock that never evolved. This helped with the more carnivorous mammals, keeping a rift or tension from being formed.

The Study faction was hitting a dead end, having found nothing in the remnants of war that could've led to their evolution. The faction would have been disbanded if they hadn't discovered working well managed labs across the new countries and fragments. They used this as an opportunity and studied themselves.

In their X Rays they found small grooves on the side of their skulls, as if probed. When MRIs were had, they found that the evolved cows, pigs, and other changed livestock, had extra organs in their bodies, organs that served no purpose. They surmised that these organs could be taken out and used as food.

This new information gave them a new question; Was this evolution planned? If so, by who and why?

Jackson and Mitch walked up to the house, having just returned from the cemetery.

"Got about thirty minutes till Johnnie on the case comes on." Mitch said.

"You really like that show, huh?" Jackson asked.

"Of course! Johnnie is such a badass detective!"

"What you got a crush on her or somethi-" Jackson pushed his keys in the door to unlock it and paused. "Huh?"

"What? Something wrong?"

"The doors unlocked."

"Did you leave it unlocked?"

"No." Jackson frowned. "Stay behind me." He said seriously.

"Oh god damnit." Mitch groaned, getting behind Jackson and staying close.

Jackson opened the door and took steps in, moving in slowly while watching his surroundings. It was too quiet for his liking. Mitch slowly closed the door behind him as they came in. Once the click of the knob was heard a three foot five inch tall gray, black striped cat with black spikey hair, hopped over from behind the couch. He wore black shorts, had a blue gi on, and was wielding a Bo staff. "HYAAA!" He yelled as he hopped to Jackson and swung his staff down on him.

Jackson blocked with his arms, entering the Breakpoint stance. Mitch and his eyes widened when he recognized his assailant. "Uncle Gary!?" Jackson yelled in surprise.

"Oh great!" Mitch lamented.

"Woooya!" The cat known as Gary twirled his staff above his head before striking it at Jacksons side.

Jackson blocked by bringing his arm beside him. He then thrusted his free hand to Gary's face. Gary leaned back and swiftly kicked his left foot up to Jackson's chin. Jackson barely dodged it and swiped his foot to Gary's face. He was blocked by his staff and then assaulted by a flurry of staff blows, which Jackson started blocking.

"Uh, gya, uuurg!" Mitch tried to move away from the back of Jackson, move away from the conflict in front of him but saw no opening to do so. "Hey! Can I get some distance!?"

"I'm...trying!" Jackson told him.

"HYA!" Gary swung his staff to the side of Jackson's chest.

Jackson took the hit but wrapped his arm around it, locking it there. He tightened his body and his fist, Gary noticed this and pushed on the pole to move back, not realizing that it was what Jackson wanted. He punched the staff, breaking it in two. Gary was taken by surprise and Jackson used this as an opportunity to attack by thrusting his fist to his gut.

Gary blocked and was sent back a few feet. 'An opening!' Mitch screamed in his head and jumped way from behind Jackson, keeping distance.

Jackson sent a right hook to his uncle, to which he responded to by jumping up and sending a strong side kick to his face. Jackson ranked the hit, slid forward and striked a left uppercut to him.

Gary brought his hands below him to guard and push off the punch, doing a backflip. The two stood there, staring at each other. Jackson was in his Counter point stance while Gary had his legs apart, leaning forward with his arms resting beside him.

'That's his Counterpoint.' Jackson thought. 'Should I switch stances? Breakpoint maybe?' He mentally shook his head. 'No. I'll face him like this.' He dashed to Gary who dashed to him as well.

The two sent a flurry of blows to each other, Gary deflecting and countering all of Jackson's attacks, while Jackson could only deflect so many, getting countered himself while barely able to redirect all them.

"C'mon Jackson! Don't get your ass kicked that easily!" Mitch yelled.

Jackson glared at Mitch. "Shut up!" Gary took this moment to jump up and smash both fists on his head. Jackson ducked, knowing he'd go for a headshot. He turned and tensed his body, ramming his fist to Gary's face. Gary pushed it away, pushing himself slightly to the side as well to avoid it. However as soon as Gary moved Jackson's fist, his body untensed and he moved with the momentum, spiraling his foot right to Gary.

Gary was taken by surprise and quickly guarded. The kick connected and he was sent flying into one of the lounge chairs. As soon as he made contact with it, he grabbed the top of it and flipped over it, landing on the seat. Jackson ran up to him and Gary jumped up, ready to kick. He got ready to block or redirect the kick until he noticed the other half of the broken staff falling in front of Gary. That's when Jackson realized the kick wasn't for him, and he realized it too late.

Gary kicked the broken staff and it rammed into Jacksons forehead, sending him reeling back. He vaulted off the back of the chair and towards Jackson. Jackson brought his arms together to quickly block, however his arms were grabbed and forced apart by Gary, who slammed his knees into Jackson's chest, making the cat fall to his back.

Jackson cringed in pain, looked up and saw his uncle thrust his fist to his face and stop it short. Jackson sighed and laid his arms down. "I lose." He said in defeat. He then saw Gary pick up the broken staff he kicked. "Uh...Uncle Gary?" A cold shiver ran down his spine when his uncle lifted up the staff. "U-uhm..U-U-Uncle Gary? I uh...I said I lost." He said shakily.

"Hmmmm!" Gary groaned as he gripped the broken weapon with both hands.

"...uncle…" He said with a higher pitch.

Gary started pummeling Jackson with his broken staff. "You! Broke! My! STAFF!" He shouted.

"OW! OUCH! OW! OOF! WHAT WAS I, OUUCH, SUPPOSED TO DO!?"

"NOT! BREAK! MY! STAFF!"

"Oh c'mon, that was a good move." Mitch spoke up.

Gary froze and turned his gaze to Mitch.

Mitch choked on air at the evil glare he received. "Shit…"

Gary launched straight to Mitch. "HYAAAA!"

"WHY MEEEEE!?" Mitch yelled as he got furiously wacked by Gary.

"Now then," Gary sat on the couch, "I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here."

Jackson and Mitch laid, sprawled on the ground, in pain and covered in bruises. "Y-yea." Jackson grunted, slowly getting up.

"Why'd he have to hit me?" Mitch groaned, also rising slowly. "Jerk."

Gary glared at Mitch. "What was that?"

Mitch froze up and jostled on the spot. "N-nothing!"

"That's what I thought."

"Anyway," Jackson sat in the chair beside the couch, "what are you doing here, uncle Gary?"

"....I heard you remembered your powers and some of the truth of your past."

"...Yeah...I'm a Meta-Mammal."

Gary sighed. "Was hoping I'd be in town when your abilities were unsealed."

"How did you get her so quickly?"

"As soon as Ferris contacted me, I asked him to book me a one day flight from Geruda to Dominion. Flew me on a private jet."

"Classy." Mitch commented, on the chair closest to him, which was next Jackson.

"It really was, had some good food. Anyways, he got me up to speed. Your Meta ID should come in tomorrow along with your Work badge for sky limits."

"I see."

"You do know why you're a private Meta, right?"

Jackson nodded. "The goat who killed my parents knew about me somehow, add that with the fact that we don't know if he had allies or if he was part of group, you get me being kept secret till we know that they won't try to go after me again, that the spy is found, or if he was working alone."

"That last part is out. He had to have worked with someone to find out about you and be able to attack you and your parents while you were heading home. If Ferris hadn't found a way to cover up the fact that you were Meta, making it seem like more of a rumor, you'd probably get more trouble as you grew up. You working as a private Meta may help draw them out yet keep you safe when you're just a civilian."

"Yeah...why not do that earlier?"

"Ferris and I made a promise to your dad till he died. Your mother and he didn't want you to be involved in this at such a young age, hell they didn't want you involved at all but they knew their boy would be mad at them if they made that decision based on that promise you made."

Jackson soberly smiled. "Yeah. I don't think I can forgive them for it, I knew they wanted to keep me safe, and I was young, but….knowing that parts of my past are fake, at least how I remember them, just feels….messed up."

"Jackson…"

"I don't hate them, just didn't agree with that decision…..stupid to say when I dont know what I would've done." He sighed. "But as a dork weeb once said, can't change the past." He said, getting a small glare from Mitch.

"Mitch can be smart at times, huh?"

"Hey! How'd you even know it was me!?" Mitch asked.

"Simple detection." Gary smirked.

"You're mean, you crazy cat!"

"Hm?" Gary picked up his snapped staff, still smirking. "Want to rephrase that?"

"I-I mean, boy you're smart!"

"Better."

"Guess you being back means training soon, huh?" Jackson asked.

"Hehehehehe, yes, and seeing how well you fought in and broke my staff," he evilly smirked and looked to Jackson, "we can start some of the special parts of your training."

Jackson swallowed a huge lump. "G-great."

"I'll pray for ya, Jack." Mitch said to comfort his friend.

"Now then," Gary got up, "we will train later this week, seeing as tomorrow will be your first day as a Meta in an agency." Jackson breathed an air of relief. "Now then, what do you youngins want for dinner?"

"Hmmm I could go for some fried chicken to be honest." Mitch said.

"Me too." Jackson agreed. "With a side of mashed potatoes."

"Alright, I'm making dirty rice." Gary announced.

Jackson and Mitch nearly lost their balance. "That's not what we said!" Mitch protested.

"Never said I'd cook what you ask."

"You dick!"

"Hm?" Gary menacingly glared at Mitch, still with a grin.

"Uh, Jackson you dick!"

"Huh!? What I do!?" Jackson asked, flabbergasted as his uncle Gary walked to the kitchen.

"Asking your uncle to selfishly cook what you want when he just got back."

"Oh lay off, you answered first!"

"And you added to it!"

"Even then you're at fault too!"

"Trying to pin the blame on me? How irresponsible! Glad you're not my nephew!"

"Oh you asked for it!" Jackson created his mech gauntlet on his right arm.

"Whoa, hold on now!" Mitch backed up.

"C'mere you!" Jackson ran up to Mitch.

"Gyaaa!" Mitch shrieked, running from Jackson.

"Get back here and take your lumps!"

"I'm good!"

Jackson was laying on his front, sleeping on his bed, softly breathing away, his whole body covered by his blanket. His bedroom door opened and in came Gary, slowly sneaking in, holding a new bo staff. He got beside Jackson and raised the staff up high. He leaned back and slammed it down on Jackson's back.

"OUUUUUUCH!" Jackson yelled in pain.

"Time to get up." Gary said.

"Why'd you hit me!" Jackson asked, running his sore back.

"To wake you up."

"I had an alarm!"

"I thought your phone broke after the bus incident and your new one wouldn't get her till tonight?"

"I had Mitch show me schematics for an alarm clock through his phone. I made it right," Jackson pointed at the empty spot on his nightstand, "here? What the-?" He looked around the stand for it. "Where did it go?"

"You sure it was there?"

"Positive. I made it and placed it right there."

"Hm...y'know I remember your father telling me about this time you fell asleep with your drill on your arm and it disappeared after a while."

"Really?"

"Mhm. Does this unlock any memories for you?"

"Hm," Jackson waited for a second for the usual brain strain but it didn't appear, "...Doesn't seem so. Guess he never told me."

"Huh. Well he did wanna test to see if your creations had a limit to how long they can stay out, but that wasn't long before he passed so I guess he never found the time."

"Probably. I'll test it out later, I gotta shower and get dressed."

Mitch waited outside in his car, he had pulled in a few minutes ago and honked for Jackson. He saw Jackson come out wearing a white shirt with a ninja otter on it and black shorts. He unlocked his door so Jackson could get in the passenger seat. "Hey." He greeted Jackson.

"Hey." Jackson greeted back, putting on his seat belts. He looked at Mitch and noticed that he was wearing a brown red striped shirt and a pair of white slacks. "Huh."

"What?"

"Expected you to wear a suit."

"Why?" Mitch out the car in reverse and pulled out the driveway.

"Isn't that navigator dress code?"

"In some places, but not at sky limits." He put the car in drive and started driving to the agency.

"Wonder what my ID and badge will look like?"

"Probably goofy with the way you smiled differently in both photos."

"I had too. Didn't want a chance of people comparing smiles."

"Comparing smiles?"

"Shut up. Did Uncle Ferris tell you what I'm gonna be posing as?"

"Yeah, an assistant."

"Assistant? For who?"

"Artisakat."

"Wouldn't that lead to some suspicion? Like wouldn't they question why me and Artisakat are never seen together or that one’s seen and the other’s not?"

"Not since you're a private Meta. You not being seen together makes sense when you consider identities needing to be hidden. So your relationship is purely work based especially since you're new."

"What about the fact that we're both siamese cats?"

"Purely coincidental. It's happened before."

"Hm...alright."

"Speaking of look-alikes, you get that gel?"

"Yeah, it's in my pocket. Glad Mr Fex had this with him. I never really thought about changing my hairstyle when I'm in uniform."

"Yea, you wear a visor, not a helmet, so I don't know why you didn't think that. The visor does change your eye color tho."

"Really?"

"It's cause the visor’s purple, it kinda masks it."

"Ah."

Mitch pulled into the parking lot of Sky Limits and found a place to park. He turned off the car and got out along with Jackson. "By the way, I'm your superior."

"You only have a day on me."

"Two days."

"Either way you're not my superior."

"Who's your Navi?"

"Who's the Meta with the power to crush said Navi?"

"Touche, but which of us can hack?" Mitch said with a grin.

"....Fair point, let's go."

They walked up to the side door in the lot labeled employees only. Mitch placed a device on the scanner beside it and entered a code to have it unlocked. He opened the door to let Jackson in first.

"Been meaning to ask, what's that device?"

Mitch pulled out the device in question. It was black cylinder about three inches long and close to an inch thick. It had Mitchs name on the side. "You'll get one too. It's called an M-key and it's for special employees, mainly ones that work with Metas, like Navigators. It's got my name on it and it works as a keychain, to prevent it getting easily lost."

"I see."

They walked up the stairs and entered the backroom of the lobby, heading to the elevators.

"Ferris is gonna meet us in briefing room seven. He's got your ID and badge."

"Right."

They got off on floor seven. Down the giant hallway from the elevator, each door was twenty feet apart and had a number along with the letter B and a pad on the side that either said lock or unlocked. They went to the hallway to the left and turned at the second right, going to the door labeled B-8, the pad next to it saying locked. Mitch tapped the display pad with his M-key and it said access granted. He opened the door to let them in.

"Welcome." Ferris greeted them, standing near the table. The room was spacious. It had a whitescreen, a round curved table that faced it, a computer desk next to the screen, and a counter across from it that held a few coffee machines along with a mini fridge.

"Hey, uncle Ferris." Jackson greeted with a smile.

"Hello Jackson. Glad to see you." Ferris smiled the same way.

"Same."

Ferris reached behind him and grabbed two cards and an M-key with Jackson's name on it, handing it to Jackson. "Here."

Jackson took hold of them. The first card was his Meta ID. It was black framed, has a picture of him on the upper left in his suit with his hair having red highlights and being more frizzy than shaggy. It said his codename on the right of that photo and under it said "All-rounder". Under it and his photo was the date it was issued. It read "Mar. 25th, 425." as the issue date, and "Mar. 30th, 428." As the expiration date. Underneath that was a Dominion state seal of approval and beside it was the logo for the Sky Limits agency along with its title.

Jackson took a look at his work badge. It was a sideways card and it had a picture of civilian him with the word assistant under it. Above it was the logo and title of Sky Limits. It was in a plastic sleeve and came with a lanyard.

Jackson took his M-key and placed it on his key ring, putting on his work badge. "Where should I put my ID?"

"Place it in your wallet but have it be hidden."

"Or get another wallet." Mitch suggested.

"Why would I get another wallet?" Jackson asked.

"It'll be your Meta wallet."

"Whyd I know you'd say something like that?" Jackson sighed while Ferris laughed.

"Now then. Jackson, if you don't mind I would like you to get started right away." Ferris requested of Jackson.

"Right away? You sure? I just got my ID."

"I know, so what better way to make this official by having you go after a Meta criminal. We actually have the location of one's hideout."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"His name is Webster."

"Webster...he's the villain with the ability to create web like substances from his fingers and freely manipulate them, right?"

Ferris nodded. "That is correct. I would like to catch him and for Mitch to be your Navigator on this mission." He walked up to Jackson and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Are you up for it? I don't wanna force you."

Jackson took a moment to think about it. He remembered the promise he made to his parents, both to their graves and to them themselves when he was younger, and looked up at Ferris. "Yes. I'll do it!"

Ferris smiled warmly. "I'm glad to hear it." He took a step back. "Mitch and I will use this briefing room to monitor your progress." He took out his phone. "Take a look at this please." He brought up a photo of a blueprint for a small earpiece along with it's short program script.

"What is it?" Jackson asked as he scanned it.

"It's a com-link for Mitch to communicate with you on. Tap it on your M-key and its frequency will be linked with Mitch's."

"Alright."

"Game time." Mitch commented, heading to the computer desk. Jackson took out his M-key and created the earpiece. He tapped it onto the top of the M-key and both flashed blue from its LEDs. Mitch's key flashed blue as well. He sat down and set the key in a small machine next to the monitor with a round port where the key goes into. He grabbed a headset that was on the wall and put it on. "Testing testing."

Jackson put the com-link into his ear and heard Mitch's voice from it. "I hear you."

"Sweet!" Mitch typed away at the computer and brought up a map along with information on the target and location. "I can see your location via radar." He turned on the white screen and had it also show the radar.

"Alright. Guess I should suit up, but first." He removed his work badge and set it on the table. "Uncle Ferris?"

"Hm?" The bald eagle looked Jackson’s way.

Jackson pulled out his necklace, the one he got yesterday from Ferris, that was his parents last gift to him, and handed it to Ferris. "Can you hold onto this for me?"

"Why not take it with you? It won’t get damaged easily."

"Even so, I'm not ready to wear it as Artisakat yet, not until the spy is found at least."

"Hm. Alright, I understand." He held onto the necklace. "I'll keep it safe."

"Thanks." Jackson created his gear on him. He took a compact container from his pocket and opened it. Digging his digits in it, he scooped up some of the red gel and placed it onto his hair. Purple highlights came onto his hair and it got fuzzier. He closed the container and set it on the table.

"Head to the sky deck and launch off one of the open bays. Good luck...Artisakat."

Jackson flashed a wide toothy smile before leaving the room and heading to the bay while Ferris took a seat at the middle of the table.

"Want me to put the comms on speaker?" Mitch asked.

"Yes but I only want to hear, not speak. I feel as though I should observe this, for Adison and Tania."

"Alright."

Jackson exited the elevator into the sky deck. He looked around and saw the nearest launching bay. As he made his way there he got the curious stares and glances from some of the other workers.

"Who's that?" A male cheetah in black armor asked.

"That's probably the new Meta working here. I think he goes by Artisakat." Said the female bear next to him.

Jackson walked up to the female otter next to the launching bay, who was currently on her phone. She wore a white shirt and blue denim overalls and had brown hair tied into a bun. "Um, excuse me." Jackson called to her.

"Hm?" She looked up to him.

"Is this bay open?"

"Oh! You must be Artisakat!" She put her phone away. "My name's Bella." She stuck her hand out to him.

"Pleased to meet you." Jackson shook her hand. "Can I use this bay?"

"Sure thing! How do you plan on launching?" She said, going to the control panel.

"Uh, jet boots?"

Bella chuckled. "No, I mean do you want a runway or a launcher?"

"Oh, um, what do you think?"

"Hm, seeing as you said you use your jet boots I’m gonna go with the runway, though really either way works. Runway is just a path opened up for yourself to fly off of, while launching is like catapulting you out."

"Catapult! Catapult!" Mitch chanted.

"I'll go with the runway."

"Awww."

"Shut up Mitch." Jackson told him.

"Navigator asking you to Catapult?" Bella inquired.

"Yep."

"They do that sometimes, especially to the newbies." She fiddled with the panel and red lights ran down a strip of the Runway. "Stand at the end."

Jackson stood at where the lights began. The gate in front of him slid open and he felt the winds outside gently blow on him.

"Crouch down."

Jackson did as he was asked, crouching forward, with one foot stretched back and the other bent forward.

"Get ready to go on my signal."

"Hm." Jackson nodded. The red lights flashed in segments of green down the path.

"Artisakat launching! Go!" Bella announced.

Jackson flared up his jets and rocketed forward, successfully launching from the sky deck. He flew forward, gaining some distance before he talked to Mitch. "Alright, navi boy, where am I going?"

"Ima ignore the fact you called me that. Y'know that abandoned warehouse near Nell boulevard?" Mitch spoke in Jackson's earpiece.

"Yeah."

"There's an underground basement in the one with a red roof and the words RTX spray painted on its front. That's where the target's hideout is."

"Got it."

"From where you are now, it should take you about eight minutes to get there…..so how's it feel flying again?"

"It feels oddly nostalgic. I remember practicing it with my mom and dad when I was younger but I still remember the fake memory. It's...a weird feeling."

"I hear ya, kinda reminds me of an anime."

"Current one, revisioned one, old one, or rebooted one?"

"Current. It's pretty new. See this one guy, a Jackal named Arlin, was actually sent back in time and doesn't remember doing so. So these memories of his old future life clash with his new ones."

"Not too different from me."

"Right?"

"How many episodes are out?"

"About five."

"Cool."

"It's got a kick ass opening as well. I should send it to you later."

"Already got it saved to your phone don't you?"

"Duh."

"You're the reason the phrase "weeb" exists."

"I'll take that as a complement."

"I wouldn't." The voice of Ferris commented.

"Hah!" Jackson laughed.

"Anyway, what's the plan when you see Webster?" Mitch asked.

"Bust in, beat him up if he resists, and take him into custody."

"Sounds good, simple, but good."

Jackson came up to the warehouses. "Alright at the warehouses."

"See the one with RTX on it?"

"Hmmm." Jackson surveyed the area. He spotted a red roofed warehouse and pressed the top button on the left side of the visor to zoom in where the vertical was. He didn't see the words innit and pressed the bottom button to zoom out. "Not that one." He looked around for another red roofed warehouse. He spotted one and zoomed in, seeing the letter RTX on it. "Got it!"

"Alright! Plan of entry?"

Jackson flew above the warehouse. He pressed a button to the right of his visor twice, turning its lens gray. "The hole that leads to the basement."

"There's a hole leading to the basement?"

Jackson pressed the top of the button, changing the lens back, backflipped, raising his feet into the air, and created a drill on his right arm. "There will be." Jet fire exploded out his boots and he went full throttle to the warehouse, aiming his drill forward, spinning it. He crashed through the roof and slammed into the ground, breaking into the basement. The basement was half the size of the warehouse and there were crates and boxes neatly placed on the sides of the wall.

"What the hell!?" A surprised brown German shepherd screamed in shock and surprise. He was five foot two inches tall, wore a red coat, black heavy duty pants, and steel boots. He had blond hair and a bowl cut.

"Hello, Webster." Jackson said, standing up.

"Who the hell are you!?"

"Oh oh! Say you're the Meta of Justice! The one who will bring you in! Artisakat!" Mitch excitedly suggested.

"I'm Artisakat, a Meta from the Sky Limits agency." Jackson told the canine.

"Boo!"

Jackson grunted but paid Mitch no attention.

"Artisakat? Never heard of ya." Webster commented.

"That's fine, I'm still taking you in." Jackson firmly stated.

"Heh, for all I know, you could be some poser or pretender. Why don't we see some identification?"

"..." Jackson sighed. "Alright fine." He reached back, turning away to reach for his back pocket.

"What are you-!?" Mitch yelled.

Webster smirked haughtily before thrusting his finger out to Jackson, shooting a strand of black silk at him. "Idiot!" His smirk quickly fell when Jackson jumped back to the side to dodge the strand and pointed a hand cannon at Webster, firing two shots at him. He rolled to the side to avoid the shots.

"Phew. You worried me there." Mitch noted.

"What kind of idiot do you take me for?" Jackson remarked to both Mitch and Webster.

With a swing of Webster's hand, five ropes of web whipped at Jackson. Jackson used his free hand to create an energy sword, cutting away at the webs. Jackson shot at Webster again, managing to nick the Meta criminal in the shoulder. He recoiled in pain and Jackson took the opening, activating his jets and flying to the german shepherd.

He got right under the hole he made, about to pass it to make contact, when he felt a presence dropping down on him, about to attack. He quickly leaned back, managing to dodge the swipe of a blade, rolling behind him and getting back on his feet.

The one who swung the blade was a black furred female mouse. She wore a light gray zip up hood with the initials SA followed by the symbol of a katana with a clothed masked, and blue exercise shorts. Her head was mostly covered by the hood but her sky blue eyes were still somewhat visible. She was a foot and seven inches shorter than Jackson and had a slender build. In her hand was a kodachi with a white handle with its sheath on her back hip. She stood up and coldly looked at Jackson.

"Who's this?" Jackson asked.

"What? What's going on?" Mitch asked.

"There's a female mouse that tried to cut me."

"Describe her."

"She's about three feet tall, black furred and-" as Jackson spoke, the mouse quickly sped past Jackson, almost cutting him if he hadn't moved away from her blade. "Whoa!" She turned to him and rapidly struck at him with her kodachi. Jackson used his sword to block. "Shes...black furred, and….blue eyed, using a...I think that's… a kodachi?" He said focusing on describing her and blocking at the same time.

"Any other describing features?"

"Well she-"

"Anet! Hold him there!" Webster yelled, pointing his finger at Jackson. He shot a web straight at him.

Jackson jet jumped back. The web curved at him, he was about to block but saw the mouse swing the back of her blade at Jackson's head. He blocked that instead and the web stuck itself on the small sword instead.

"Ah!" The girl gasped as she pushed away from Jackson. She glared at Webster and pulled off the web.

"Sorry, I didn't know you'd do that." Webster apologized.

"Mitch, did you hear that?" Jackson asked his friend.

"Yeah, he called her Anet." Mitch replied. "Let's see if I can find anything."

The mouse crouched down and in a flash zoomed at Jackson with the back of her sword aimed at his head. Jackson disengaged his sword, used his left gauntlets to block to slide it to the side, throwing her off balance, and pushed her away with his other hand. Webster got in front of him and shot ten strands of silky web, bringing them together as they flew to Jackson.

Jackson ran forward, creating the sword again, cutting at the webs. Before his blade could make contact, the webs split apart and closed in on him. Thinking quickly, Jackson activated his jet boots, flying forward, avoiding the web enclosure. He slammed his palm into Webster's gut, pushing him back and having the canine hold his gut in pain.

He was about to follow up when Anet jumped him from behind, swinging her foot to his face. In a flash of speed, she got to the ground and sweeped his legs.

Jackson jumped and had a chance to kick her face. 'She looks young. I'd rather not hit a kid.' He thought. He looked back and saw Webster angrily point his finger at Jackson. 'Maybe I won't have to.' He thought.

"Ja- uh, Artisakat?" Mitch radioed in.

"Not now!" Jackson responded. He reached down, trying to grab the mouse. She zipped into the air before he could latch on. She grabbed the handle of her kodachi and slammed the butt of it down at him. 'Perfect!' In one swift motion, he took hold of her wrist and swung her back behind him, right as Webster shot a web net.

The net latched onto and entangled Anet, tying her up. "Oh shit!" Webster yelled.

Jackson came in on Webster, who tried to shoot another web at him only for his arms to be pushed away. Jackson slammed his left fist into Webster's ribs before striking his neck. He sent two breakpoint strikes to Webster's shoulders, one on each, before sliding forward and sending a right backhand straight to his face.

Webster stumbled back, dazed and dizzy before Jackson sent a straight shot to his chest, knocking him down onto the floor. He grumbled before losing consciousness.

Jackson took a deep breath and stood up. He looked back and saw Anet trying to break free. She tried to cut the web with her blade but since the back of it was against it, it proved useless. She looked at him and scowled.

"Mitch, Webster's down. Got anything on this girl?" Jackson asked his navigator.

"That's the thing, I looked her up and didn't find anything." Mitch answered.

"Well I think she's a Meta. There were moments when she just...zipped around."

"Huh. Maybe she just awakened her abilities?"

"I don't know, it seemed like Webster knew her." Jackson looked at the crates that were against the wall. "Hey, I'm gonna see what's in these crates. Maybe they were doing some sort of deal." Jackson walked up to her container and used his sword to open up the top of it. Looking in, he was surprised at what he saw. "What the-?"

"What? What'd ya see?"

"Robot arms."

"Robot arms? What kind?"

"They look like...but why…"

"Artisa?"

"They looked like parts of the robots I fought during my evaluation but…"

"But what?"

"They look different, as in modified."

"Really? Check the other crates."

Jackson walked to another crate and opened it. "Head parts. Looks like it belongs to the first wave of training bots I fought but the eyes are different and it's got some camera on its heads. I see about six heads."

"That's weird. Why, and more importantly how, does Webster have these?"

"And what's this girl gotta do with it?"

"This is getting weird."

Jackson heard the faint sound of sirens, slowly gaining volume. "You called the police?"

"Yea. They got special cuffs for Webster to take him in, but Ferris wants you to bring the girl in for questioning. I already asked if it was ok with the cops and they said it was fine since she was an unexpected factor in this mission."

"Can you tell them about the crates of robot parts?"

"Sure, I'll let them know now, but it's too late to ask for us to take in Webster."

"That's fine." Jackson picked up the clearly displeased and grouchy Anet. "Hope you dont get air sick." Anet looked at him quizzically at his statement. He heard the footsteps of the cops walking in. "Over here!" He yelled.

A muscular male hippo in police uniform came to the hole and Jackson met him there. "You must be the Meta the Sky Limits agency told us about." He yelled down to Jackson.

"Yea, I'm Artisakat!"

"It's gonna take us a while to get down there, mind cuffing him for us with these? All you gotta do is put it on his hands." The hippo pulled out a pair of cuffs.

"Sure thing!"

"Thanks!" He dropped them down and Jackson caught it. As Jackson went to cuff Webster. "Names Dandy by the way."

"Nice to meet ya!"

"Same to you! Thanks for nabbing this guy!"

Jackson once again picked up Anet and flew upwards. "No problem!" He told Dandy. "See ya later!" He waved as he flew back to the agency, holding onto a wide eyed mouse.

Jackson sat down at the chair in the briefing room. "Job well done, Jackson." Ferris told him, handing him a cup of Sprite.

"Thanks." Jackson replied. He took a sip of his drink before turning to Mitch. "Police say anything about the crates?"

"They opened them all up and, get this, each one had an assortment of robot parts. Each box having parts of the same category, like heads, arms, legs, etcetera, they're having forensics take a look while also questioning Webster. They'll get back to us about what they find."

"What about Anet?"

"The guard you handed her to put her in one of the holding blocks. They searched her and found a flashdrive." Ferris informed him.

"A flashdrive? What was on it?"

"Information about a manufacturing facility and a new power source they're developing."

"Why'd she have that? For Webster?"

"Websters not the kind of criminal that takes interest in that sort of stuff." Mitch said.

"There was one thing. The title of it said "Next Assignment"." Ferris mentioned.

"Next Assignment? Why deliver that to Webster? Orders maybe?" Jackson speculated.

"I wondered that too, but orders from who?"

"Hm. There's a lot we don't know yet."

"Oh hey! They're talking about you on the news!" Mitch announced, bringing up the news channel on the screen.

"-the one who caught Webster was a new Meta from the Sky Limits agency, named Artisakat." The half-gorilla half-tiger newsman said. On the screen was a picture of Jackson as Artisakat. "Not much is known about him, but it has been proven that he was the one that saved those passengers in the bus incident caused by Jet Roller." A video of Jackson flying out the water the day he rediscovered his powers was shown next to the newsman.

"Looking good Jackson."

"Hehehe, thanks." Jackson said with a blush.

"Damn, what do we do now?" A strong looking female lynx in a tank top and black slacks huffed, sitting at a large table.

"Calm down will ya?" Said the parrot with black feathers and sharp claws, wearing a white shirt and jeans. "We knew this was a possibility."

"They got Anet!"

"She was still pretty new, so it's not like she knew much, right boss?" He turned to the figure at the head of the table.

"Right. This is just a small hindrance to our plans." Came the figures femimine voice. She sighed. "Pity. I actually kind of liked Anet. She was such a cute and nice mouse, and didn't ask for much."

"Oh c'mon, boss, if she found out what we were planning she would've ratted on us for sure."

"That, my dear Anchy, you are not wrong on." She leaned back in her chair. "Whatever, not like they'll find much on that drive. We'll have someone pick up the parts later, first we need to find someone new to implement the next phase of our plan."

"I have a suggestion." The lynx said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. With these two, we'll go crashing through baby!"

"Simple and straightforward, just like you Les." Anchy commented.

"Hey it's like you always say, if it suits me, it suits me."

"Alright. Let's hear your pick, Lesiline." The head female said.

"Here." The lynx tapped on the screen on the table. On the screen in front of them showed the profile of Jet Roller and a large male eagle.

"Interesting pick. Contact them quickly, I want this done as soon as possible."

"You got it, boss!"

End.