Camille looked at Neil, smiling. "Are you jealous, brother?" she asked, with one eyebrow raised beyond the other.
Half bent towards his plate, Neil stopped. The fast-approaching spoon to the mouth stopped too and he looked up at his sister. In fact, everyone looked at her. She kept smirking at him.
"I beg your pardon," he said, with a deeper, quieter voice, shaking his head to remove the hair from over his left eye.
"'Scum like him'? He bested all of us, bro." Camille's smile slowly disappeared. "Why are you so threatened if we think he knows something you don't?"
"Seriously?" he commented with eyes wide open.
"Yeah…"
But with a shake of the head, the Zaatsu began eating once again.
Marcus mimed wiping sweat from his forehead and the rest of the gang looked at one another and smiled.
Breaking the following silence, after cleaning her plate of fish and chips, Ella said, "He is top shelf though. I mean with his Ki manipulation but also with his fighting skill and tactics."
"I agree," Marcus quickly said. Then, he elbowed Neil and asked, "What do you think?"
"That's true," Neil replied, leaning back in his chair. He wiped his mouth with a tissue, nodded, and added, "Our boy has been trained well."
"Exactly," Ella said, pointing at him. "That's also why the Cult rumour got spread so much. He had to have learned all of it from somewhere."
"Nah." Neil ran his fingers through his hair. "Cults only teach very basic Ki-based fighting manoeuvres. One of the worst things the Outsiders ever did was take the pure Martial Arts knowledge out to the Cults. They used to be just charm-casting wizards and witches combating using their weird styles. But nowadays they are full-fledged Martial Artists, albeit their skill level is pretty basic."
"It's like they're only able to learn about one module," Gina explained. "So, they basically never reach a level beyond a Dominu or a Datimu – a junior or senior at the academy. They're never very good fighters."
"That's exactly what I mean," Ella stressed, leaning forward. "We are not discussing their fighting abilities. We are talking about his Ki Manipulation, and the Cults have always been good with that." She glanced at everyone else, before saying, "And yes, their magic is far better than their understanding of Ki, but then it may actually be a magic spell rather than proper Ki manipulation."
"Viable theory," Neil said with his eyes closed. Then opening them he added, "But I sensed a connection with the Order in that man…"
A gripping silence fell upon the table with the mention of that name. The Order was the yin to the yang known as the Eye. They were once one but split up after the second great war nearly a thousand years ago.
"Come on, man…" Marcus shook his head. "There's no way."
"Think about it," the Zaatsu stressed. "He had the same ammo as a Martial Artist. Martial Artists only come from the Eye or the Order."
Both outfits followed the same principles and trained their operatives in a similar fashion with similar syllabi. And they both referred to their students as Martial Artists.
"They may be called Martial Artists but they're quite different," Ella said. "We all know that. Those guys act like gods among the public. They fight proud. I was a part of the Mystics group that accompanied the Zaatsus on the yearly sparring sessions between Eye and Order."
And she was not wrong. The Eye kept to the shadows and operated from their well-hidden Regal Palace. They moved only when the balance of the world was tipped too far through artificial threats or calamities threatening to tear through humanity's defences.
The Order, meanwhile, had no central base. Its agents walked among the people controlling governments, research labs, and big corporations. They guided progress keeping order as they saw fit.
The Mystic shook her head. "I have seen their operatives in action," she added. "They are way too aggressive. That White Bolt is too calculated and careful."
This rift between the two organizations was old and was rooted in their basic philosophies. Where the Eye valued the spirit, the Order valued the material. To them, the world was only what it appeared and as such, they never assumed the good in people. They treated them on face value. To the Eye, every life was sacred. To the Order, positive progression of humanity mattered more than the individual.
These differences had led to many disputes, skirmishes, and even deadly conflicts.
"True," Neil said. "But he could be faking it. And he has killed many people in the past. We don't know his true motives yet. Just don't forget, he resembles a proper Martial Artist. That can't come from anywhere other than the Eye or the Order."
Marcus looked over. "So, rogue then?"
Every once in a while, an operative went off-script, severed ties, and attempted to become a ghost. When that happened, both the Eye and the Order would circulate lists of these rogues to watch for, hunt, and contain. They did not tolerate freelancers. Not at that level.
"Highly likely," Neil said with a nod. "Did you observe his fighting style?"
"Typical and classic," the red-haired Sokidu said, nodding. "Petrichor's classic…"
"Yes. He had brilliant form and was following many manoeuvres only a master would."
"But hold your horses, pal. His Ki bursts, the Instantaneous Charge, it was rivalling Master Baylis's, ok? Then, he was also using all elements, Ki suppressions and boosts, and standard Magicism techniques and spells. But he was also using some mighty strange techniques. Some of them I could say were probably Cultist, but I can't say anything for sure. Order never teaches Cultist Magic, man!" When no one responded, he added, "He even levitated seamlessly. He had a bout with us mid-air." He looked around the table. "Hello! Was I the only one sensing nothing ordinary about his levitation? It did not involve the usual Ki Manipulation at all!"
Neil finally turned to look at Marcus. "Have you never seen Hugo fight?" he asked. "He does most of it as well. Trust me, he's a rogue."
"So, all in all, he is a master level Martial Artist, we're all agreeing on that," Gina said. "But at the end of the day, that speed…"
"Yeah," said everyone in almost perfect unison.
"Had Master Hugo not warned us," Ella added, "The guy would have ripped us apart."
Neil shook his head. "I think we could have handled it," he said. "We're all very well trained. We're one of the best squads out there. I think we could have handled it."
"You know what…" Marcus said with a grin, "I kinda agree there with the toothpick."
"Trained by the Order, leader of a Cult, rogue bounty hunter, whatever! The Eye has always handled miscreants of all sorts. Don't sell yourselves short."
Everyone smiled and nodded in agreement. The Zeta squad had completed many missions with a nearly perfect track record and was sufficiently equipped to take on any challenge.
Camille, however, did not agree. "Ego," she said and leaned back. Everyone stared at her as she shook her head then continued, "Confidence is one thing, but if you can't see that the man was a better fighter than any of us, then you are only fooling yourself."
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Neil was clearly agitated now. His eyebrows were scrunched, and he leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. "You could sense him just as well as any of us," he said. "Do you think he was more powerful than Marcus or me?"
"Nope…"
"…Better at Magicism than Ella or Gina?"
"Not really…"
"A Mystic?"
"Nope…"
"Then what the hell do you mean?"
"He took on two Zaatsu, you and Master Baylis, four of us Sokidus, and then 11 helpers most of whom were Sokidus. And he almost got away. Hey Marcus!" She looked at Marcus. "Do you think you could have beaten him one-on-one?"
Marcus did not reply. "Does anyone here think they can take him on?" she further asked.
"I could," Neil replied with a shrug.
"Of course, you could… but you would come out dead, that I can assure you of!" And before Neil could come up with a reply, she added, "How many times have you sparred with Master Baylis? Any of you? Has anyone here lasted more than a minute against Master Baylis in a proper sparring match? This guy was fighting one-on-three! You, Hugo, and Gina, for three minutes straight! And he didn't break any more of a sweat than you guys did!"
The gang went silent. Neil leaned back in his chair, Marcus scratched his head, and Gina smiled with a bowed head. Ella, looking at Camille, commented, "You're making it sound like even Master Baylis couldn't take him… alone."
All eyes were now fixed at Camille who slowly turned to face her Mystic best friend. She took a deep breath and said, "I can't say for sure…"
Eyes wide open, Ella slowly asked, "What?"
"I have never seen anyone counter him that well in battle, El. And we have all seen Master Baylis spar with other senior Zaatsus even. I have even seen him spar with Master Moore, the strongest Zaatsu of the Eye. Even he lost! This White Bolt guy is no joke. He is very, very well trained…"
"Could he have been a spy of sorts?"
"Spy?"
"I mean, he could have been an active member of the Order, posing as having no connections with anyone just to gather info."
"Could be. But Master Baylis is very good at picking falsified intentions from Ki patterns. It would not have been a capturing mission then…"
Marcus added, "Why did we bring him back in the first place? Isn't he like a top shelf criminal? He has murdered a Zaatsu too, you know…"
"It's due process," said Neil, quickly.
Camille chuckled looking away. "Knew you'd say that…" she said, looking back. "It hasn't been the process in recent times, bro."
"Come on, Camille!" Marcus intervened leaning forward. "Give it a rest!"
After a pause, Neil replied, "Sometimes you're ordered to carry out a hit. The offences are so great that judgement is on the spot. We are taught and trained to follow orders, not question those wiser than us. And I believe the job of a Spotter is to gather information and data from enemies, not judging your own superiors!"
"Aren't his offenses so great?"
"If Hugo had let me, I would have killed him too…"
"You don't mean that, Neil?"
Neil decided not to reply, and the conversation then came to an abrupt end, and after exchanging pleasantries, the squad quickly went their separate ways.