The Crash: Examined

His helicopter just landed, and Cody stepped onto the ground, making a quick jog to the destroyed bus look cool.

Some examiners working for Hexcorp had been there for several hours. One in particular brought something up to Cody.

"Cody sir. Something from our searches came up. The bus wasn't only attacked by a tornado, but there was a lightning strike as well. The lightning strike flipped the bus and may have been done by an Elemental. As was the tornado." The woman remarked.

"Nicely done, take a break. You'll need it for us to search more." Cody said, pointing to a spot for her to rest at.

He then walked closer to the bus, eventually going inside the tipped bus and inspecting the remaining backpacks. Inside one, he found the ID of a student named "Amora Kuroki" He went back to his helicopter and opened a panel, scanning the ID for results from the school and police.

One result popped up, it seemed to be an old notice from the school.

"Amora has been coming to school with something on her arm for some time now. Her guardian, a nicely dressed woman, has told us that it was from a serious burn earlier on in her life. We have requested to put a guard over it, to avoid serious bullying from Amora's classmates."

And that was all.

Cody looked over some pictures taken of Amora, and could see her arm.

It didn't click instantly as it should've, but he soon realized.

"Darkness?!" His mind began piecing things together and knew it was Leon's child. He knew he had to do something, but the bus crash was the first priority.

While he was returning to his search, somebody else entered the bus with something to show him.

"Sir! Look what I found!" he said, seemingly excited.

He handed a box of IDs to Cody, explaining that they were scattered around the surrounding area, and that he found them while using the bathroom.

"But there are no bathrooms around... never mind, let me go through this."

Cody examined the contents, with a couple names sticking out to him.

"Shirley Radke, Andrew Cortela, ------- Kokai." He looked them over and tried to wipe the dirt on the smudged first name of the Kokai person, but it only smeared the name beyond recognition. The picture of the person was also smudged with water and dirt.

"Well. What a coincidence." Cody said, lighting a cigarette that he had put up to his lips.

He noted some scraps of paper at the bottom of the box and began toward his helicopter again, piecing the scraps together to read a message:

"The bus will crash at around 1:15. Be prepared and watch over the target. She is important to what we need. A lightning strike will be the signal before the tornado strikes."

And with that eerie ending, Cody took a puff of his cigarette and hopped out of the plane, the pilot opened his window to let the smoke out.

Cody searched through his pocket, trying to find the ID of the girl with connections to Darkness.

Once refreshing his mind, he began speaking to himself and heading back to his helicopter.

"Well... I suppose Amora is up next. No clue where she is, but I could try meeting with Leon to tell him that his daughter is alive."

The helicopter lifted off and began going toward Leon's house nearby.

Jackson, Cody's son, began speaking to him.

"Can you get rid of that cigarette? Mom's going to kill you otherwise."

Jackson's little rant reminded Cody, and he threw it out of the helicopter.

Jackson handed a photo to Cody, and in it was Amora walking down a street, by herself, seemingly after a school day.

"She looks like a brat." Jackson remarked, looking away.

"You better stop that. You say shit like that, but once a girl even goes near you, you blush like your life depended on it." Cody said, smiling.

Jackson denied this accusation and stayed quiet, trying to push the attention off of himself.

Cody watched the house get closer and closer, until eventually they landed and hopped out. Cody stayed with the pilot, telling him that he can leave for today and that Cody was going to stay at Leon's house for a while.

"Rightio! See ya!" The pilot said, handing Jackson his bag and flying off.

Jackson immediately entered the house and could see Amora on the couch. She quickly stood up and spoke kindly to him.

"Leon and Reyon told us you were coming! Welcome! If you're hungry, there is some nice tasting lunch on the counter!"

"No, thanks, I'm pretty sure it's almost time for dinner anyway." He said, trying to walk away.

"Are you alright? If you need something, I can help?" Amora asked.

"Yeah, I just want to explore a little." He said, not turning to look at her.

Amora followed him and introduced him to every room in the house, even showing him the elevator.

"And this just so happens to be the room you'll be in!" Amora said, smiling brightly.

"Right. Thanks." He said, walking over to the empty part of the room and began setting up his inflatable mattress and its holder.

Amora left him alone, and Jackson began blushing.

"Damn it dad... you weren't supposed to be right!" Jackson thought, feeling regretful for calling Amora a brat.

***

Amora headed outside and Jackson followed. Aya had talked to him for a small bit before he went outside.

While outside, Rat, Cody, Reyon and Leon all left for something that Rat needed.

Jackson stepped inside and began drinking some coffee left behind by his father for him.

Amora stepped inside and was chatting with Jackson for a bit. She showed him what she adds to coffee, and he tried it.

"Woah! It's better than before!" He stated loudly.

"Right! It's so tasty that way!"

She was smiling brightly and moved her hair away from her eyes. Andrew then stepped inside and said that Aya needed her outside. Amora left and Andrew closed the patio door.

"Listen here. She's my girlfriend, so don't try anything." He said, trying to be intimidating.

"Well, the asshole boyfriend, that's a cliché." Jackson said, nodding his head.

"Are you trying to start something?" Andrew asked, clenching his fist and turning red.

"Why not? I think I'm the in trained in self-defense." He smirked, knowing he was untouchable.

Andrew was going to walk closer, but the patio door opened with Amora saying that Aya didn't need her.

"Right, maybe I misheard her. Sorry about that." He said, leaving the house, bringing Amora with him.

"Asshat." Jackson said, sipping from his coffee.