Chapter 2: The mysterious girl

Author's note: This is one of the few stories I managed to salvage after I lost all my data, since I'd previously sent it to myself. Enjoy this chapter!

Just to warn you, there's some harsh language in this chapter.

That evening, as Ozaki returned home from the EDF headquarters, he was deep in thought.

He'd created quite the environment after the apocalypse. The new world they lived in was simply bursting with vibrancy. The ruins of the old cities remained, (some yet to be even begun to be cleared away), but new cities had sprung from the old. The EDF no longer chased after monsters, but there was no longer any need. Only a million people had survived the destruction, but now the population had more than doubled. Ozaki had watched the new generation grow up in this world of peace and prosperity, among them his own children. It made him proud that he'd been one of the premier creators of this new and beautiful world.

No more wars. No more poverty. No more fear of kaiju. The world was practically perfect.

But Ozaki, who was all but the engineer of this new golden age, was sure that he hadn't fixed everything. Namely, the emotional scars left over from the kaiju apocalypse. He still felt responsible for the deaths of many. All those who'd lost their lives, particularly those in the M Organization, still occasionally haunted his dreams.

All the people he'd respected... Sensei Ogira.

All the friends he'd lost... Yoko, Koji.

All the friends he could have made... Kazama.

He had been the one who had bothered Ozaki the most over the years. He was sure that if Kazama had lived, the two could've worked past their problems and become good friends. Deep down, Kazama was a good person. His final act alone had been enough to prove that. If only there was some way, any way, to repay him for that selfless act all those years ago-

"You bastards! Get your hands off me!"

Ozaki froze, his thoughts jarred. He'd just heard a girl yelling, seemingly at other people. After a minute of straining his unusually-sharp ears (which thankfully hadn't dulled with his age), he began to hear sounds of a scuffle down one of the dark alleys that branched off the brightly-lit street he was walking down.

Well, if someone needed help, he was going to help them. Because that was his way.

"I said get your hands off me!" the voice snarled again.

"Heh, what could you do about it, girlie?" scoffed another voice, this one male. "Your hands are tied." Ozaki peered down the alleyway the sounds were coming from. Using his also-sharp eyes (ah, the perks of being a mutant), he could faintly make out at least four hulking outlines surrounding a struggling, smaller figure. It was too dark to tell much else, but Ozaki was sure that the four were a street gang. He clenched a single fist. In rewriting the code of laws that all the world now followed, lawmakers (and himself and Miyuki, who'd been there at the time), they'd made sure to include harsh laws regarding crimes. Time to take the law into his own hands agains this gang.

"What a spitfire we have here!" another voice chimed in.

"Let me go!" the first voice shouted again. "I don't have any valuables!" Normally, this could be taken as a pleading for mercy. However, Ozaki didn't hear this victim pleading with them. He heard a harsh demand. If he'd been a mugger, as these four appeared to be, he would've let her go. She didn't sound scared. Rather, she sounded mad. Her little declaration of having nothing was just another way of telling them to back off.

"Well, let's check her anyways," one of the muggers told the others. "She's probably lying."

"We can have a bit of fun, anyways," one agreed, prompting stupid laughter. Ozaki closed his eyes and forced himself to focus, trying to draw on his Keizer energy. It seemed like a good plan now, but he was a little worried that his anger at these men would make him accidentally hurt them rather than incapacitate him.

"Disgusting pigs! I'm seventeen!" the girl snarled. Ozaki began gathering Keizer energy, increasingly upset.

"For the last tim, let me go!" the girl shouted, sounding even angrier than before. Not a hint of fear was in her voice, though.

"Nah. Not yet," one of them replied. "Oh, what have we here?"

However, Ozaki never got to hear from him what the girl had. Just then, he heard a dull thudding sound and an 'oof!' Soon afterwards, he heard the sounds of a scuffle: punches being thrown (and hitting their marks), feet pounding, and a knife being drawn. By now terrified that they'd hurt the girl and were now fighting amongst themselves, Ozaki forgot about the Keizer energy and started running.

A little ways down the alley, he reached four bulky men in rather dirty but obviously expensive clothes. Obviously the thugs, probably some wealthier young adults who thought it would be fun to break the law. Well, it looked as though they'd gotten more than they'd bargained for. All four were now sprawled on the ground, obviously unconscious. The lone figure that was still standing was a young woman, who was turned away from him and was inspecting the fallen individual closest to her. She was carefully inspecting his pockets, obviously turning the tides and stealing from them as they'd intended to do to her.

"Stupid!" she muttered. "Let your guard down. They were pathetic, anyways." Pretty soon, it seemed as though she found something and stopped riffling. She pulled herself into a standing position. After a few moments of muttering to herself, she seemed to realize she had an audience. Not bothering to turn, she started speaking in an ungracious tone.

"You didn't miss anything, don't worry," she began coolly. "All it took was three well-aimed kicks to unmentionable areas, careful maneuvering around the fourth so that his clumsy slash with his switchblade cut the rope they'd tied around my wrists, and four pressure points. Oh yeah, don't get any ideas about turning me in for stealing from their unconscious bodies. It's my right. I beat them."

"It's against the law, your right or not," he replied.

"I'm not afraid of the law," she snapped.

Ozaki was surprised at her audacity. Allowing himself to glow a little to light the alleyway slightly better, he began appraising the young woman, who was now counting out something in her hand. The little he could tell about her was purely cosmetic, except for the fact that her full height was only a few inches shy of his own 6'0. Otherwise, he couldn't see anything interesting. Well, her jeans were ripped, her black combat boots seemed worn down, and her black tank top was obviously rather dirty. The fact that her waist-long reddish brown hair seemed rather matted with dirt just added to her look. Unlike the men who attacked her, she was actually in a tough situation. Ozaki wondered if she was a runaway. If so, what in this near-perfect world could she be running from?

"Are you sure you're alright, Miss? Are you lost?" Ozaki inquired. Worth a try, anyway. Yes, she was in trouble with the law, but she intrigued him. He was going to regret making her pay a fine and returning the goods she'd stolen from her attackers, who in turn were going to have to pay something as well. However, that fighting skill she'd demonstrated was amazing if what she said was true. Perhaps there was another option for her...

"Hah!" the girl's exclamation was worthless. "I'm not lost. I'm entirely too close to my home for comfort." Ozaki heard the click of a switchblade.

"Don't try turning me in, you hear?" she continued. "I've got a weapon. I assume you're unarmed."

"Correct. But I don't need a weapon when I am one myself," Ozaki shot back. "Lower your weapon, kid."

She stood stock-still for a moment, before suddenly whirling to face him. Ozaki immediately saw that her fierce position wasn't to fake strength. There was a fierceness in her brown, almond-shaped eyes, an angry aura, even. It was obvious she was strong. Her eyes were full of anger and hatred as she looked at Ozaki, although he could tell it wasn't directed at him. Instantly, Ozaki realized she looked familiar. But what could a fierce, teenaged runaway be reminding him of? He'd rarely seen such harsh eyes. Her face, too, was not a kind one. Every contour of her face was harsh and unforgiving, her mouth was set
in a serious line, her eyebrows were furrowed in a scowl. No, this was not a happy girl. Ozaki wondered if she had ever smiled.

Yet at the same time, the familiarity was shining through.

"Well?" she looked coolly at him. "You gonna attack or what?" Ozaki remained silent. "Fine, then. I will." with that, she leapt high in the air, too high for a normal human being should be able to. Midair, she maneuvered herself so that she'd hit Ozaki straight on and lunged downwards at the speed of a raptor diving for pray. Having fast reflexes, Ozaki jumped aside just in time, despite the fact that he had been extremely startled by something.

The girl had to be a mutant. No human could've done that.

If she was, she'd be the first he'd encountered since the war other than his children. Perhaps the species wasn't all but extinct after all.