January 27, 2012

"Guess who's graduating high school in a few months," Bang said as he sat before four gravestones. He points both of his thumbs at himself. "This guy!"

The seventeen year old boy smiled as he stared at the graves of his deceased family members.

It's been nine years since they died. Bang and Cardo spent nine years without their father, mother, and their youngest brother and sister. The only person who watched over them was none other than Claudia, who is now twenty-nine. Normally, him and Cardo would visit their family's grave together along with Claudia once a week, but ever since he's gotten used to his teleportation ability—he's been visiting the family grave more often.

Bang kneeled to look at the gravestones before staring down at the dirt. "I know you're all tired of me apologizing," he chuckled sadly. "I know it's not my fault and that I need to move on for my brother's sake."

The teenage boy looks at his father's gravestone. He sighs.

"I'll be the older brother you want me to be," Bang declared as he stood up. "I'll move on so Cardo can do the same!"

He looks up at the sky with a bright smile. "I hope you're watching me!"

"I'm sure they're watching, Master Bang."

Bang jumped from the voice, turning around to see Claudia standing behind him. He gawked at her, wondering how the maid was able to find where he was.

"H-How did you—"

"I've known you since you were a newborn, Master Bang," Claudia answered before he could finish. "It was either here or making a fuss somewhere downtown."

"You really do know me more than anyone," Bang laughed softly, scratching the back of his head. "Is Cardo still home?"

"Master Ricardo is still in bed since I left to find you," Claudia walked up to Bang before looking down at some dirt that got on his pants from him kneeling earlier. She crouches to brush the dirt off. "Still as sloppy as you were sixteen years ago."

"Except I can clean up after myself," Bang pulls his legs away from Claudia. "I'm not a child, ya'know?"

"But you are a child," Claudia chuckled as she stands back up.

Bang sighed and crosses his arms. "Can't believe that guy stays at home all the time."

"He never leaves the manor," Claudia tilts her head at the tall teen. "Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking of taking him out downtown, let him see the rest of Seattle," Bang answered.

Claudia shakes her head at Bang. "Master Ricardo will only refuse."

"Not unless I push him enough!"

"At least let me take you home, Master Bang," Claudia insists. "I drove out here to find you, and I will be upset if you just teleport away again."

"Hehe..." Bang laughed softly,  still smiling at his maid. "Didn't think you'd drive around looking for me only to find me here. Like, their graves is on our property anyway—you didn't have to go that far."

"I was only being worried, Master Bang," Claudia answered.

"You don't need to worry about me," Bang replied. "How about I teleport us back instead of walking?"

"Unlike you, I will feel nauseous and on the verge of vomiting again if I teleport with you," Claudia glared at the teen.

"O-Oh yeah..."

Bang and Claudia walked back to the manor. Bang was doing most of the talking while the maid listens to him.

"I really want him to go back to school, you know?" Bang asked. "He needs to go out and see the world, meet new people."

"As much as I do agree with you—Master Ricardo does not like being around other people," Claudia explains.

"But what about that 'Ashley' girl that comes over sometimes?"

"Miss Cordelia has been friends with Master Ricardo since he was five years old. I suppose she is someone the young master tolerates."

"They look cute together," Bang puts his arms behind his back. "Think they're dating?"

"No," Claudia answered bluntly.

When they made it back to the manor, they went inside as Bang looked at the large interior. Since it's only been him, Claudia and his brother Cardo living in this manor for the past nine years, it feels a bit empty.

"Cardo is in his room, right?" Bang looks up at the stairway before him.

"When is he not?" sighed Claudia. "I'll be preparing lunch, excuse me."

Claudia bowed to Bang before leaving to the kitchen.

Bang closed his eyes and concentrated. His arms glowing a bright blue color. His entire body, along with his clothes, disappearing from thin air before reappearing in a large bedroom.

The room was dark because of the closed curtains. Bang saw his brother still in bed.

"Hey, Cardo, wake up," Bang walked towards the king-sized bed and saw the blanket covering him.

Bang pulls the blanket off of his brother. He saw the black haired teen sleeping, but he knows it's an act. He sighed and walked towards the window, grabbing the curtains and opening them, letting the light in and shine on Cardo.

"Ughhh, what the hell?" Cardo tiredly spoke as he turned his face away from the light.

"Get up, bro, I wanna hang out!" beamed Bang.

"I don't wanna. Get out," groaned Cardo as he grabs the his blanket, attempting to pull it back over himself.

Bang takes the blanket and yanked it off the bed entirely, exposing Cardo's entire body. The fifteen year old only wearing a black t-shirt and shorts.

A low growl came out of Cardo's mouth as he glared at his older brother.

"Come on, you gotta go out," Bang crosses his arms at Cardo. "It's not good for your health to stay indoors all the time."

"I do go outside."

"Only at night!"

Cardo rolled his eyes at Bang before sitting up and looking at his older brother. "I'll go out as long as we're not teleporting, I am NOT vomiting again."

"You're so lame," Bang chuckled softly as he watched his brother get out of bed.

"Not everyone's a freak like you."

Bang gasped. Insulted by his brother remark. "I am not a freak, Cardo."

"Yeah, yeah," Cardo scratches his head as he was about to take off his shirt. He stopped before looking at Bang.

Bang raised a brow at Cardo's stare. "What?"

"Get out."

"C'mon, bro, we're brothers."

"Get out!"

~~~

Bang and Cardo left to downtown Seattle. The to brothers walking down the sidewalk, going past many people.

"Why are we here of all places?" Cardo asked as he looked around cautiously. "Are you trying to have us mugged?"

"Well, I'm sorry, but you're the one who decided to wear a suit out," Bang said as he looked at his brother in a black suit and tie.

"It's a casual suit, Bang," Cardo shot a glare at his older brother.

"Yeah, $10k is far from casual," chuckled Bang as he looked around the city. "See? Going out isn't so bad. You get fresh air, you get some sunlight, which I'm still surprised about since we're in Seattle and near the end of January."

"I do agree about the lack of rain, it is nice that it's sunny today, but I only smell cigarettes from here," Cardo covers his nose to block the odor.

Bang laughed softly at Cardo as he pats his brother's head. Cardo getting annoyed by him and swatting his hand away.

"Care to spare a dollar?" asked a homeless man, sitting down in front of a close-down shop.

Not hearing the request for charity from the homeless man, Bang and Cardo continued walking.

"Has anyone seen you use your powers?" Cardo asked quietly, keeping his voice down just enough for Bang to hear. "I know how much you like to use them, but you gotta be careful. You don't wanna cause any unnecessary attention."

"I'm already getting this talk from Claudia, I don't need to hear it from you too," Bang groaned. "And besides, no one ever noticed me teleport. I'm being careful, don't worry."

Cardo looks down at the ground, a worried yet sad look on his face. "If I lose you too, I don't know what I'll do..."

The two brothers stopped walking and stood still. Bang turning his head to look at his brother. He never knew Cardo would be this worried. He always tries to act stoic and he usually sees him angry whenever he messes around with his brother. But seeing Cardo be so gloomy, reminded him of when they were both grieving for their dead parents and younger siblings.

"Cardo," Bang spoke suddenly, causing Cardo to look up at his brother. "I ain't letting anyone take me away from you, and I won't let anyone take you away from me. 'Cause we're brothers, after all."

A rare sight beheld before Bang's eyes. A small smile from Cardo's lips.

"Alright... thanks," Cardo started walking again before continuing. "And that was way too corny."

Bang gets flustered and speed-walks after Cardo. "Hey! I was speaking from the heart, goddammit! Don't call me corny!"

Later, they decided to go into a café, finding a table after ordering their drinks.

Bang sat down across from Cardo, watching him drink his coffee. "I'm not surprised you take your coffee black."

"And I'm not surprised you bought a Frappuccino, the go-to for every teenage girl," Cardo retorts humorously as he takes sips from his coffee.

"I have a sweet tooth," Bang drinks his frappe from his straw. "And guys like this stuff too."

Cardo shrugged. "I don't know, I've only ever seen Ashley and other girls my age buy that, or something else like a latte or anything sweet or sugary."

"I keep hearing that name, but you never tell me anything about her," Bang offered his frappe to Cardo who took a sip from the straw poking out of the cup. "I wanna know more about this girlfriend you have."

"She's not my girlfriend," Cardo shook his head. "And you should know who she is, we've known her since childhood."

"No, no, no. YOU have known her since childhood," Bang corrected his brother, pointing a finger at him. "I've only just seen her around from time to time, you actually talked to her and became her osananajimi."

"Was that Japanese you said just now?"

"It means 'childhood friend', Cardo," sighed Bang.

Cardo rolled his eyes at Bang, not wanting to talk about the girl he mentioned.

"We still talk and see each other from time to time, even though I don't go to school anymore," Cardo explained. "She keeps trying to get me to go back, but I refuse every time."

"But, you're supposed to be in school," Bang pouts at Cardo. "You're missing a lot of your high school experience."

"I prefer homeschooling from Claudia," replied Cardo. "I learn more from her than any teacher at that school."

Bang looked around the café, he saw some eyes staring at the two. Eyes of mostly women gazing upon the De Leon brothers. He looked back at Cardo who seemed to have notice this already, but chose to ignore it. Cardo looked at Bang, seeing the grin on his face, as if he was planning some way to tease him.

Cardo, who already finished his coffee, sighed at Bang. "Can we leave already?"

After leaving the café, Bang and Cardo continued to explore the rest of downtown. Normally, Bang would teleport around to make it faster—but because he's with his brother, he doesn't mind taking more time to walk around.

"City's beautiful, ain't it?" Bang asked to strike up conversation.

"Some of it," Cardo answered. "There are still places where it looks like a playground for creeps."

"Every state has that," laughed Bang. "Except Wyoming, I think..."

A soft laugh escaped from Cardo's lips, until a sad smile appearing on his face.

"It'd be nice to walk around like this with Amor and Nathaniel..."

Bang was caught off guard by what Cardo said. Noticing his grief-stricken expression hiding behind the smile. Bang squirmed in panic, trying to think of ways to cheer him up.

"Y-Yeah, they would've loved the place," Bang agreed with his brother. "But..."

"I know it was a long time ago," Cardo looked at Bang. "I should move on, but something in my gut's telling me that I shouldn't."

Bang looked back at Cardo, also feeling down as well. He knew Cardo couldn't let go of what happened that day. He also wish that day never happened, but he always told himself that he needs to move forward. He tried telling Cardo that too, but it's not easy for him.

As Cardo looked away from Bang's gaze, now staring at the ground. Bang slowly brings his hand onto his brother's shoulder.

"Keep your chin up," Bang said, drawing Cardo's attention back to him. "Better days will come."

Cardo's eyes widened from what Bang said. "That's..."

"Yeah, mom used to tell us that a lot whenever we're down," Bang snickers. "I think we've been out for a good few hours, how about we head home?"

Cardo nodded in agreement. "Sure. Wanna teleport us there?"

"You sure about that?" Bang asked worriedly.

"It'll be faster, right?"

Bang smile widely, his hand still on Cardo's shoulder as he raised his other hand into a fist.

"Let's go!" he shouts before teleporting Cardo and himself back to the manor.

Bang and Cardo appeared in the entrance hall of the manor. Cardo collapsed to his knees onto the floor, covering his mouth as he gagged, as if he was about to vomit.

"No, no, no!" Claudia spoke loudly as she entered the entrance hall. "I just cleaned the floor!"

Bang laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "Maybe I should teleport people to the bathroom next time?"

"I'm fine," Cardo panted before clearing his throat as he stood back up. "I'm getting used to it."

Bang grinned before slapping Cardo's back. "Attaboy!"

Cardo made a retching noise before her hurled onto the floor.

"Master Cardo~!" shrieked Claudia in disbelief.

~~~

"There it goes again," said a woman in an office chair, staring at a monitor in front of her. "A surge of energy appeared in the Seattle area again."

In a control room of the CIA base of operations. Multiple agents are gathered to collect intel or monitor people of interest.

On the lady's screen showed a map of Seattle which was zoomed in to the downtown area, showing a flashing blue dot on a street. Which usually means a lot of power is being used in that area. It could be the high use of electricity, nuclear energy, etc. Normally it'd say what is being detected so they can send a team to investigate. But this time, it isn't.

"Could this be a bug?" muttered the woman as she rests her cheek on the palm of her hand.

A man in glasses with a blue button down shirt and tie walked up to the woman and stared at the screen.

"It's always in that area..." the man said, caressing his chin. "We should report this to the director."

"I already told his secretary months ago, and I still haven't gotten a message back since," the woman sighed. "No one in the bureau knows what he even looks or sounds like. It's like he doesn't even exist."

"He's a man of secrecy," the male colleague nodded in agreement. "Or maybe he's a woman?"

The sound of double doors slamming open caught the attention of all the agents in the room. The agents saw a tall man with white hair and wore a black suit and tie along with black round sunglasses. The man looked around with an amused smile on his face. He looked around the room before spotting the man and woman. He walked up to the two.

"So, what's this 'energy surge' you've been talking about?" he asked the two.

"A-Agent Camou," stammered the two.

"It's 'Sir' to you two," chuckled the white-haired man as he looked at the monitor, noticing the blinking blue dot on the map on the screen. "I see... it's the same as nine years ago."

The male and female agent looked at each other in confusion before looking back at Agent Camou.

"S-Sir Camouf—"

"It was a joke, Margaret," Camou flashed a teasing smirk at the woman. "You can just call me Cam."

"Well, Cam," interjected the male colleague. "Do you know what this is?"

"Yes I do, Cooper," stated Camou. "But unfortunately, this has now become a confidential case."

As he said that, more agents in black suits came into the control room.

"You're all dismissed for today," announced Camou. "If you like to leave the room by force, my men will gladly assist you in your masochistic desire."

The men and women in the control room looked over at the intimidating agents in black before leaving the room voluntarily. Camou and the black agents being the only ones left.

Camou sat down on the chair and stared at the monitor before displaying through a projector onto a large screen at the front of the room.

The white haired agent pulled his cellphone out of his pocket before dialing a number and calling it, bringing the phone to his ear until someone answered.

"Director, your suspicions are correct. There is an abnormal in Seattle." said Camou.

A mature and monotonous male voice responded. "I'm sure you already know what I'm about to ask you?"

"And you already know that I'm the best man you can count on," boasted Camou. "Don't you worry, sir. We'll bring this one in real soon."

"Be careful," warned the ominous voice. "You don't know what kind of abnormality they have."

"I've dealt with worse ones," laughed Camou. "And don't worry, no one will know what happened to them."

Camou hangs up and stood up from his chair before looking back at the agents with him.

"We got new orders, ladies and gentlemen. We're heading to Washington State!"