First Squad

New Look and Life

"Is it done yet?"
Kowloon asked excitedly as Apetrully fixed his hair. His hair was, to put it lightly, a complete mess. It was as if no one properly took care of it for his entire life. Kowloon wanted it cut shorter, but not too short! He wanted to have hair like one of those cool movie characters he saw once. It wasn't an easy job, and it was taking a while, but Kowloon was a champ. Li Shen had brought enough food not only for himself, but for everyone on board. This meant that Kowloon had something to eat while his hair was fixed, which kept him satisfied.

"I'll be done...now!"
Apetrully exclaimed. He then showed Kowloon what he looked like through a tiny mirror, and Kowloon was thrilled! It was exactly what he wanted! The hair had gone from a dirty ratty mess to a smooth and sharp looking cut. His hair stuck out the back of his head like a shark fin, and he also had some hair sticking up in various places.

"Thank you sir!"
Kowloon said excitedly as he hugged Apetrully. He then ran over to Li Shen and looked up at him expectingly, "Are we gonna get food now?" Kowloon asked.

"We need to get you some new clothes first Kowloon. We can't bring you into a restaurant in your dirty clothes. Trust me, we'll find something cool for you to wear."
Li Shen said. Kowloon looked both disappointed and excited, and he went back to snacking to subside his hunger. The aircraft then flew over to the nearby EGG Children's Clothing Boutique, and it landed on the roof of a building near it. Li Shen flew down by himself and walked over to the boutique, thinking about what Kowloon would like.

It didn't take more than 20 minutes to come across some great outfits for the young boy. One of them was black pants, a green jacket, and a white shirt. Another one was pajamas that looked like a karate robe. The third outfit was a red shirt with gold details with the words "little warrior" on it in Chinese, and black pants. The final outfit was striped pajamas. After paying for the clothes, Li Shen carefully flew back up to the aircraft and took the clothes out of the bags.

"W-Wow, all of this is for me? T-Thank you policeman!" Kowloon said as he began to sob again, overwhelmed by the kindness being given to him. He had never gotten so many new clothes before, the clothes he got before were cheap and second-hand. Li Shen picked up Kowloon and soothed the boy until he stopped crying, which took a few minutes. To think, this child had been treated so badly that new clothes brought them to tears? It made Li Shen's blood boil, and if he ever met Kowloon's sad excuse for a father he'd beat him senseless. That would technically be illegal though, and Li Shen didn't wanna go to prison, he wanted to stay with Kowloon to help him feel okay for the first time in his life.

"Are we gonna eat now?" Kowloon asked as he looked up from Li Shen's chest.

Li Shen nodded, and he flew everyone to the roof of a building near what appeared to be a kid friendly restaurant. It wasn't something quick like a McDonald's, rather it seemed like a fun family diner. It was called Bubby's, and Kowloon appeared to know the place judging by his excited reaction. Kowloon put on the first outfit Li Shen bought him. As he was doing that, Apetrully pulled Li Shen aside.

"Li Shen, I'm impressed at how quickly you picked up the role of a father figure. How did you do it?" Apetrully whispered.

"I'm honestly not sure myself, I'm just doing what I think Kowloon needs me to do. If he needs someone to comfort him, then that's who I'll be for him. I'm already used to protecting people, so this just feels...right. I think I'll need help when it comes to handling bad behavior though." Li Shen said, half-joking at the end.

Li Shen then went over to Kowloon and picked him up, and Kowloon held onto him as they flew down from the roof of the building they were on. Li Shen then went back up for Apetrully and Woo, and the four all got some food to go. Kowloon got bacon Mac and cheese, and the adults all got various types of salad. It was a bit difficult flying everyone back up to the roof and not dropping anything, but it was manageable. After Kowloon finished eating, he put on one of the movies as the aircraft soared above Chinatown. Apetrully and Woo were piloting while Li Shen kept an eye on Kowloon.
Kowloon was made to put on pjs, and while he did he noticed through the window that they were flying over Chinatown.

"Where we going?"
Kowloon asked as he slipped the top part of his pjs on.

"We're going to a safe and fun place for you to live, and it's near Big Green. Big Green exists to bring peace between humans and animals. It's in China."
Li Shen explained, making sure to be at Kowloon's level to make him feel comforted.

"All the way in China? It's gonna take us years to get there!"
The little boy exclaimed. Li Shen had to stifle a laughter as to not make the boy feel bad, and explained that the flight would be much shorter than that. It made Li Shen feel better knowing that even after what the boy had been through for who knows how long, he still had some innocence. After some time, Li Shen took Kowloon to the back of the vehicle, which had built-in beds along the walls. Eventually, the aircraft would be upgraded so that there could be small rooms, but for now a bed was all that Kowloon needed. Once he fell asleep, Li Shen went back to the front of the aircraft and sat down in one of the pilot chairs. He wasn't actually piloting, he just wanted to look out the window. After sitting in silence for a moment, Li Shen spoke up.

"You think that I'll be able to help him? I mean, I don't know which of us is taking custody of him, but we've gotten so attached that I feel like I should adopt him."
Li Shen said as he stared out the window.

"You'll be fine Li Shen, you've already done a good job so far! Me and Woo will help you out in any way we can. Also, if you want guardianship of him, then I'll do everything in my power to make that happen." Apetrully said in his usually confident voice.

"While we're settling him in and dealing with any legal matters, we should take him to a professional who would be able to determine if he has any conditions caused by trauma, and how we can help." Woo chimed in with a somewhat worried tone.
Li Shen and Apetrully nodded, and the three men looked out at the night sky as they made their flight home.