Chapter 55: 55: The Raiders and The Trackers III
Jay flinched when the first soundwave echoed throughout the entire junkyard. A pair of hands immediately cupped his ears so hard that he winced from the pain. It dulled the painful high pitched shrieking, but it didn’t stop the toddler from shaking in his female caretaker’s arms.
Two seconds felt like an eternity until the young raider’s voice abruptly ended. It took the transmigrator a while to see the shadow casting over him, and his eyes followed the Red King’s arms hovering over him.
Oh... His dad’s hands were covering JJ’s head the same way she’s covering the toddler’s ears.
Fucking damn it... The marksman’s scream was still echoing inside of Jay’s head. Hell, his little baby bones might still be rattling. His parents seemed unfazed by the ordeal, and the teenage boy even gave a thumbs up to whoever managed to take down the screamer.
When JJ slowly took her hands off the transmigrator’s head, the realization that his teenage parents must’ve practiced, or even had protocols when it comes to protecting the baby. Since the day Jay was awakened inside of the baby villain Kaon’s body, both teenagers were clumsy when it comes to taking care of the baby, but the moment danger appeared, they knew exactly what to do. Protecting the baby’s delicate senses almost follows a formula. To protect his hearing, the teenage girl stuffed her index finger into his ear holes and cupped her fist around his ears as tightly as possible. When they’re close enough or less than five feet away from a person who’s about to be murdered, his young parents would block his view as much as possible. When danger arises, JJ runs and hides with the baby while the Red King stays and fights, and JJ will not attack unless cornered.
Now Jay has to wonder... Did Lady Red or Lady Blue instilled the protocols in them or did the two teenagers come up with the protocols by themselves just to protect a child that isn’t theirs?
"Little guy, Kaon, KJ, can you hear me?" His young dad waved his blood caked hands in front of the baby’s face.
Jay blinked at the teenage boy before he tried to smile and nodded. "Dada."
"Phew..." JJ let out a sigh as she ran her fingers through his hair. "That flea better be the last one."
Thwack!
A body was thrown down from the pile of junk, and it’s no other than the blonde marksman. His head was turned almost a full 180 degree, almost fully backwards. Meanwhile, his torso was twisted in such a way that the transmigrator was sure his spine was snapped at two different places.
At the top of the hill stood Eugene. His deep red eyes looked at the corpse before he gazed at the family. So that’s whom the Red King gave thumbs up at. The Wonder Soldier’s face remained clean of blood, but his poor T-shirt had a giant splash of red on it.
"Must he break the flea’s spine like that?" JJ asked the exact question that the transmigrator had on his mind.
"Part of our—the lessons. Twist the neck then kick the spine." Her partner didn’t seem to mind spilling the secrets. "After you break their necks, break their spines too so if they survive the initial attack, they’ll be too incapacitated to do anything unless they’re one of us— a Wonder Soldier. Even with a Wonder Soldier, it’s enough to distract them for a couple of seconds for you to run."
The transmigrator let out an internal sigh. He’s not surprised, yet he’s still a little horrified. Then again, this is the man who raised the original Kaon into the monster he was. Talking about the original story, Jay couldn’t help but wonder what his young parents would do if the Last Wonder Soldier wasn’t here.
Honestly, the Red King would get rid of the raider either way, and maybe not as fast or effective as the Last Wonder Soldier. The System was right about Eugene Romanov; whether he lived or died didn’t matter to the story. But maybe to Jay the transmigrator, it does because just like a second ago, Eugene helped dispatched of a threat.
Shit... Is Jay finally desensitized enough to use the word "dispatch" on another life? Another soul?
His violet eyes drifted to the man on top of the hill again. What about the guy that he spared going around killing another guy? For now, Jay can still justify it with the fact that the raider, marksman or whatever harmed his family.
Eugene was looking around; his face was awfully calm and void of any expression. When his red eyes met the toddler’s, the corner of his lips quivered before he got a grip on them and forced a smile.
"I think that’s the last of them." The blonde man gave a thumbs up at his younger brother before he jumped off the little hill.
When his boots hit the ground with a thud, he still has that very uncomfortable forced smile on his face.
"KJ, are you okay?" His voice pitched a little higher than usual, like someone who’s saying hello to a child.
"He’s fine." The Red King scoffed at his brother. "Why be friendly all of a sudden?"
"Does... These raids happen everyday?" Eugene’s voice switched back to normal when he talked to the teenage boy. "It’s not safe for your kid at all."
There’s a slight eye roll when the Red King answered, "Obviously. No, these raids don’t happen everyday. Pirate said the raider tries every other week, but I think it’s this bad every time ’cause then there would be nothing left."
"No kids should live like this—"
"Oh, did you gain a conscience during our time apart?" A snarl left the Red King’s lips. "That’s fucking rich coming from you. You and your fellow dickheads from the USC were the main reason these kids are under danger in the first place."
The Wonder Soldier’s eye twitched, but he didn’t respond, so silence started to settle between them.
Jay looked between the two men before he looked up at his female caretaker. JJ’s eyes looked into the distance, and she seemed to be spacing out.
It’s a little delayed but...
"Fucking?" The toddler pointed at Eugene.
To the Last Wonder Soldier’s horror, his younger brother reached out to pat the toddler’s head. His hand was gentle enough to not leave much crusty blood on the baby’s dusty black hair hair.
"No, KJ. That’s a fucker."
"Fucker!"
To Eugene’s relief, JJ snapped out of whatever realm she was in and slapped her companion’s bicep. The little attack was enough to put a grin back on the Red King’s face.
Just as the Wonder Soldier was about to say something, a scream echoed from the other side of the junkyard followed by yelling.
"Pirate..." His male caretaker mumbled loud enough for his brother to hear.
Without wasting a second, the blonde man began sprinting towards the direction of the yelling. Meanwhile, the Red King looked back at his companion and the toddler.
"Jay..." His eyebrows knitted closer together in worry as he tapped on his partner’s shoulder. "Hey, Jay..."
The transmigrator craned his neck to look at his female caretaker and tapped on her hand to get her attention. Her dark blue eyes were rather glassy and lifeless. Shit, what’s wrong with her? Dread and worry started creeping up at the back of Jay’s mind.
"Mom..?" His hands squeezed her forearm tighter. "Mom!"
Jay expected the teenage girl to snap out of it, maybe ruffled his hair for daring to squeeze her arm too tight, but she just stood there, frozen. The transmigrator could see sweat forming on his father’s bloody forehead.
"Not again..." The Red King’s hand left his partner’s shoulder, and he began prying the toddler off her.
The hell did he mean by "not again"?