Chapter 21 - Reunion

"What do you guys want to do now?" Jack asked the group as Rynold sat on the bed and the others were just snacking. Even if he wasn't accepted to the group yet, the question of what they're going to do moving forward is going to get asked sooner or later.

"Eh," Rynold was nonchalant at how they wanted to proceed because he already had a plan in mind. For now, he had to leave the city and go back home but it was a lot more complicated than that since the people around him have their own plans.

Rynold continued to explain further. "I just plan to leave for now. What about you guys?"

It was a complex question that raises more questions than answers. Each of them has their own thing to do and, at least for some of them, Rynold actually knew what they were thinking about.

Oliver probably has to go back home since he came from a relatively rich and bigshot family and Skye's family was pretty much like that as well. It's actually how they met. Elle on the other hand came from an upper-middle-class family but, considering her suitors, she was well on her way up the ladder.

"I'm gonna break into a car outside and probably ransack a couple of gas stations and head on out of the city. If you guys wanna come with, feel free to say so," Rynold added as he headed out the door, looking for whatever car is out there.

Oliver's home life wasn't that great so he was still deep in thought as Rynold left the house. He was considering his options of leaving the city with Rynold but at the same time, he didn't want to leave his family behind.

"Well, I should've mentioned this first," Jack interrupted the awkward silence. "The exits are all blocked and nobody's allowed to leave without proper clearance. Should've told that before the guy left."

"What exactly classifies as clearance?" Oliver asked.

Jack explained that made the others find it a lot more difficult to leave, "Basically, guys who have business outside the city with proper reasons like business or whatever. The barricade blocks everyone from ever leaving; it's practically martial law here."

"I don't care."

The group looked at the door and saw Rynold standing in it. He just came back from scouting and satisfied that he saw a pretty nice 5-seater pickup truck.

He continued, "I'm leaving either way and I'm pretty sure we can just distract them or something."

Jack shot Rynold a doubtful gaze thinking that that idea would be ridiculous. "Really? Distract them?"

"Alright, fine. We'll just think of something as we go," Rynold was whimsical at what the guards could do once he reaches the barricade. "You guys gonna come or what?"

"How about we actually get clearance instead of violating things that would get us on the bad side of the entire Ark government?" Oliver suggested. "I actually have an idea."

He explained that they should all drive together back to where Oliver's family was living. That way Skye could go back and reunite with them and Elle go find where her boyfriend is.

"Sounds good to me," Jack agreed. "I have no place to go since we soldiers get abducted or taken from orphanages when we were kids." He had a cheeky smile on his face that made the rest of the group uncomfortable.

"Ehem. Right. Well, we should probably leave now and just stick with whatever Oliver said." Rynold tossed the keys to Oliver, "you drive."

The group left the house and hit the road. They passed through some gas stations along the way and managed to "buy" some gas cans and fill them up with diesel. Along the way, they saw the aftermath of the initial Red Rain as they were getting deeper into the city.

The more populated the area seemed the more damage that came out from it.

The buildings were slowly getting bigger as they made their way to the city center where the festival was happening. Oliver was driving like a maniac, making Rynold remember some bad memories of what he used to call the "speed demon."

There were some ghouls that can be seen here and there but there weren't any signs of human life that Rynold could take note of. Regardless, the group turned left just a few blocks away from the city center and headed into an underground parking area. It was the building that Oliver's family owned.

As they got out of the car, they were greeted by an eerie silence. It was a type of quiet that made people uncomfortable, especially since this building was actually heavily visited by people and even more so that this building is one of the biggest legal firms in the entirety of Ark City.

As uncomfortable as the silence was, the group had no choice but to move forward. Power was still up, thankfully, so the elevators saved them from a very long climb by using the stairs.

Oliver went into the elevator and the rest followed. He pressed the top floor of the building as it was the penthouse where his family usually stayed during festivals, with a nice view of the festivities in the city center.

The elevator ride was quiet and nobody wanted to break the silence. Oliver was feeling rather anxious as to what happened to his family but usually, they'd just stay in the penthouse when there's a festival. However, he still couldn't help but feel anxious.

Rynold, on the other hand, was leaning against one of the corners of the elevators. He was trying to stay awake and his mood was rather shaky since he really wanted to leave the city. The others were trying not to say or do anything that would worsen the mood, making them quiet as the night.

Ding!

The elevators whooshed open as they reached the penthouse of the building. Oliver rushed out and saw his family was safe and sound. In fact, the people inside the floor were looking at Oliver with mixed gazes. It was more annoyance than relief that they saw Oliver coming out from the elevator.

"Lil' Bro!"

His older brother, Keith, was the first to greet him. His expression was of a smiling one but it didn't need for a scholar to be in the room to know that the guy was planning something sinister.

Keith went out and hugged Oliver saying, "I thought you were dead! Thank the gods you're alright!"

'The dude's smile is really getting on my nerves,' Rynold thought to himself.

"Okay, okay. That's enough, Keith," Oliver patted his brother's back, gesturing him to let go. "Mom. Dad." He sent nodded to his parents.

"Where the hell have you been?" Oliver's father suddenly shouted. "Don't you know that you should come back here right away when something goes wrong? Where the hell is your sense of responsibility?!"

"You could've called!" His mother added to his father's scolding. "It's like you don't care about what happens to us! We didn't raise some bastard!"

Without even a second after the last statement from Oliver's mom, Rynold instantly whipped out his Mech Knight and changed his gloves to Strength-form.

"Back. Off."

Two words were all he needed to say to calm the two of them down. Their eyes changing from fury to regret and fear in the split second that they realized who they were messing with.

"Dude. I got this," Oliver raised his hand to stop Rynold from coming any closer. He didn't want for his buddy to get into trouble for his sake, especially with something that was trivial for him every time that he went back home.

The two best friends' eyes met and Rynold noticed Oliver's gaze, signaling that he should trust his best friend when it comes to it. Rynold closed his eyes and let out a cold breath. He dispelled X's summoning and reverted back his gauntlets to its Speed-form.

"I'm gonna look around the building for a little while. Be back in fifteen," Rynold raised a peace sign as he turned around and went back to the elevators. Jack followed suit while Skye and Elle stayed behind.

One last time, Rynold met Oliver's gaze and saw how determined he was to get the clearance that they needed from his family. Rynold could only sigh and nod as the elevator doors closed, motioning that he trusted his friend. After all, what could he have done that wouldn't worsen the situation?

Rynold and Jack went to one of the office spaces down the building and saw that it was mostly empty. There really wasn't anyone around that was working during a festival. Union laws of the city prevented the excessive workload of any company,

Meanwhile, Oliver was trying to convince his parents of the plan that was in place but at every moment he tried to speak up, he was cut off. His older brother was holding back his laughter while his younger sister was just watching.