Kaze: Rebels

Home

Their home was a huge basement thing made of metal. There were many hallways branching off from the main corridor in too many different directions to count them all. The place felt warm and inviting.

Dog-2 smiled. "Welcome home! My real name is Lily, that's Ariel..." She pointed to Finch-5. "And that's Jackson!" She pointed to Raccoon-1.

"Thank God you guys are alive!" A guy with sky blue hair entered the room, wrapping Ariel in a hug. I recognized his voice. "When I heard that you were duking it out with the police, I--!"

"Box-man?" I asked, cutting him off.

"That's Seth!" Jackson smiled. "Oh, I think Phantom and Fantasma are coming now!"

Phantom looked like a normal kid. Dark, tousled hair and dark eyes, with a shy smile. Fantasma, on the other hand, was a completely different animal, perhaps a demon. Her hair was white and unruly, and her eyes were dark with little white slits in the middle. They shined with confidence. Her nails and teeth were sharp, and looked as if they had both been filed. Both of them wore white sweaters with X's embroidered across the front and sleeves that were too long.

"Uh, hey." Phantom said. "We heard that we were getting some new friends..."

"Thank you...!" Kage smiled. "You guys are just kind enough to be creepy."

"We have no reason to be mean to you. You belong here, just like all of us!" Seth smiled.

"And who is this little demon child?" I asked, looking at the girl next to Phantom. "I know your name is Fantasma."

"Hiya!" She smiled, showing off her very sharp teeth. "Where do you come from? Do you know what we are?" She asked.

"Uh... No...?" I said, looking to Lily.

"The big, bad men who tried to hurt us made them. They're fake Guardians. Fantasma controls light, Phantom has darkness." She said.

"Oh, that's--."

"We were government experiments but got saved once the President gave them an order to let us go." Phantom said. "Sadly, though, it had already taken a toll on Fantasma."

"Guardians are no longer feared and hated. Instead, we are respected just like all other citizens, and we've lived in peace and harmony, together, since then. The two races of humanity were finally brought together." Seth explained.

"Great!" I said. "When and where are we now?" I asked.

"September 2nd, 2000, the United States of America. Or just America if you don't have much time."

I remembered something. "Wasn't America that one continent discovered by Hernan What's-his-face?"

"Cortez? Yes." Kage said.

"It was actually discovered by Christopher Columbus." Jackson said, his voice flat.

"What? No way! And we're there?" I asked.

"Yup! We became our own country, based on human rights in 1776." Ariel smiled. "There are no slaves, no segregation laws, no discrimination against women. Everybody has a say!"

"Oh." I said. "So the Greeks."

"Kind of." Seth said. "The Greeks were--"

"But! We don't need to launch into a political lesson right now. Why don't you get acquainted with all of your new friends?" Ariel interjected. "I can go set up a place for you to sleep."

"That'd be great." I said as she wandered away.

"Hmmm..." Kage said, staring at Lily.

"What?" I asked.

"She looks like a dog with her pigtails. That must be where she got her nickname."

"Kage, be nice. She doesn't look like like a..." She really did look like a puppy. "Huh."

Lily walked over to us. "Why are you two staring at me like that?"

"Do you mind if I call you Little Pup?" Kage asked as I tried to laugh as quietly as possible.

"I guess I don't mind, why?"

"Because you look like a puppy." He shrugged.

"What?! I do not!!"

"You kinda sound like one too."

I broke away from their conversation for a bit as they argued and watched as Phantom neared the exit.

"I'm going for a walk!" He called. "I'll let you know if I get in trouble!" He shut the door behind him. I whirled around when I heard a bang. Lily had punched Kage in the nose, making him fall to the floor. She crossed her arms and walked away as Kage got up and walked toward me, holding his nose. Jesus Christ! I thought. These people are intense!

"Actually, I think I'm gonna go find some food and explore this place in case we have to bomb and run. Wanna come with me and be useless again?"
He asked.

My stomach complained loudly. "I guess I could use some food, but I'm not useless. And I'm not bombing the place."

"Suit yourself." He said as we set to wandering the halls. "Do you think they'd have stuff for nosebleeds?" I couldn't contain my laughter.