At three in the afternoon, the core members of the Zeta Squad – Camille, Ella, Gina, Neil, and Marcus, gathered once more. The mission now, however, was a relaxed lunch. They looked for Hugo first. The girls searched through the academy, while the boys went to the hostel, but the captain of the Zeta Squad was nowhere to be found. Finally giving up, they gathered at the cafeteria half an hour later. As was their tradition, they found a table at the north corner and sat together to enjoy their meal.
This quintet was a well-knit group. Neil, Ella, and Marcus were of the same age – 23, Camille was 2 years younger, and Gina was 4 years older. Apart from Gina, the rest of them had even spent a lot of time together at academies in the city. And, in a year and a half with the Zeta Squad, they had completed more than a dozen missions together. Whether it was a miscreant to be brought down, a criminal apprehended, or an artifact of value to be procured, the Zeta Squad was fast becoming the go-to choice for the Eye. Under the leadership of the famous Hugo Baylis, this squad of youngsters was considered among the best the Eye boasted at the time. With Ki reserves greater than many of their superiors, Marcus and Neil were the main powerhouses of the squad. Camille, who served primarily as a Spotter, was considered one of the most skilled among her peers when it came to close-range combat. Ella was the squad's Mystic, considered a prodigy by her superiors. And Gina was added to the group specifically to assist Hugo in planning and leading.
Another factor in their success was the fact that all of them except Gina had trained under Hugo at one point or another during their time at the academies.
They bickered like siblings, covered for each other like lifelong friends, and no matter where they would scatter, they always circled back – many a time at their usual cafeteria spot.
The trays hit the table with a clatter – a mix of cafeteria staples and questionable choices. As always, Marcus had gone all in.
"Come on Neil! Chicken broth?!" he exclaimed looking at Neil's plate beside his. "We just bagged the White Bolt! Celebrate for once, man!"
Capable of housing nearly a thousand Martial Artists at a time, this multi-story cafeteria consisted of a large kitchen at its centre and rows of chairs and tables placed all around on each floor.
As the others giggled, Neil replied, "True. But if it didn't change you, why should it change me?"
Marcus chuckled, shook his head, and said, "Ha! Toothpick!"
Everyone laughed and continued eating till Gina brought up the subject of the White Bolt. "Who do you guys think he really is, huh?" she asked. "I mean really, really."
"He is a scumbag!" Neil quickly replied. "A bounty hunter and a low-life!"
Ella chimed in too. "Crazy as it sounds," she said, "I heard that he is a part of a Cult."
"Yeah, I've heard that one too, man," Marcus said as he spun a spoon over his head. "They say he even led one of them once."
Camille shook her head. "Seems unlikely, don't you think?" she asked.
"Why?"
"He looks too young for that plus we all know how those Cultists are…"
"Agreeing with Cami on this one," Neil said with a nod. "People in Cults, especially their senior members, never move without assistance… and he's no senior."
"So…" Everyone stared at her as Camille took a pause then said, "Let's just analyse the situation, you guys…"
Marcus and Ella laughed, Gina smiled and shook her head, and Neil just looked down and began eating again. It was a running gag. Ever since she had joined the squad, Hugo would always tease her in a discussion. Since it was a Spotter's job to be good at analysing situations, he would always stop right in the middle of a discussion and say, 'Let's just let Cami analyse the situation.'
"Where is Master Baylis when you need him?" Marcus asked laughing.
"Ok, ok, but seriously," Camille said as she leaned ahead. "Look, he is said to be a bounty hunter who nobody wants to employ because he is more than likely to just run away with the money and never get the job done, right? But if you look at him, he is so freakishly strong that he can go toe-to-toe with a Zaatsu, even kill one! Then why would he do something so childish like running away with someone's money? Doesn't make any sense. And why does he carry only a katana? I'm telling you… there is something awfully suspicious about that guy."
"And then there's the Dark Arts Scriptures that he stole," Gina added.
"Hmm, that too." Camille shook her head.
"No one could have employed him for that job. No one even knows where they are." She grabbed a napkin and added, "And bounty hunters these days don't go around on such lengthy search missions anyway."
"Yeah. With us on their tail, why would they?"
Marcus raised his hand and said, "Yo! What about that sword?"
"What about it?" Camille asked.
"Yeah… so… he broke Gina's like it was made of plastic. And we are supposed to have the best ones in the world. Nobody, no outfit got swords like ours."
Camille tried to respond, but before she could, Ella interrupted. "Mm nope, that wasn't his sword," she said flicking her finger in negation. "It was what he did with it…"
Everyone smiled and looked at Marcus who said, "As much as I want to… but please, explain further."
After a chuckle, the Mystic explained saying, "He was using a technique which I believe is called Instant Charge."
Camille asked, "What's that?"
"Instantaneous Charge," Neil corrected her. "Hugo uses it all the time. Instead of keeping Ki thrust at max all over your body, many Martial Artists with limited Ki or with much of their reserve exhausted tend to use sudden thrusts in parts of the body to strengthen their attacks."
"Oh, that," Marcus said gulping his food down quickly. "Knocks your senses to Jupiter and back! The guy's Ki feels almost stagnant, like a normal human, and then suddenly he puts a charge on his knuckles and literally sends you to the damned place, man!"
"Exactly," Neil replied then looked at Ella across the table and said, "But to use that on a weapon is a whole other deal. He was juggling the sword in the bout he had with Marcus and Hugo. If he had continuous hold on the weapon, I might have believed it. Even Marcus puts Ki into his staff all the time. And like I said, Hugo does all this as well. And he does it better than anyone you'd know."
"Hmm, I would agree under normal circumstances," Ella reciprocated, putting her fork down. "I don't think you recall, but many Persian Mystics of the 15th century almost exclusively used that same technique when going into a hand-to-hand battle or one that involved weapons. Master Ehsan Hashem, in his book 'Spells for a Different Time' talked of it in detail."
"Look, while holding a weapon, according to Mystic traditions, one can find a Ki connection. We are all masters here; we have learned that much Ki manipulation. But try doing something like that with even a nunchaku. Just going from one hand to the other makes it difficult. And he was even letting go of his sword!"
"It is possible, Neil…"
"May well be, but I'm pretty sure a scum like him wouldn't be able to pull it off."
"It could have been charmed," Camille commented.
"Nope," Gina replied. "We brought it back and did a full check-up on it. No spells or carvings on that sword whatsoever. A plain katana blade."
"Then what other explanation could we have, Neil?"
"He must have stolen a technique or two from a wizard somewhere." Saying that, Neil looked down and began eating again. The others looked at each other and smiled. It was usually at this point that arguing would stop being effective with the younger Zaatsu of the Zeta Squad. Past it, only Hugo could argue or discipline. However, after almost a minute of silence, Camille did something which the squad avoided altogether. She taunted.