Last chapter, Restroid discussed his rather harsh view on humans. Six months after that- we saw Kodan and some of his soldiers take down two corrupt "special forces" members, more specifically the ones who killed his two innocent friends a few years ago. Now, we skipped to Prósopsi who was pleasing Aphrodite, until Commander Erucid knocked on the door which interrupted the two...

Prósopsi's P.O.V.

I quickly run to the door, since I haven't seen Erucid in a few weeks now. He's been busy helping to take some soldiers out on patrols around the continent to help train them, and also it was to help amp up the security of the territory in general. But anyways- I swing open the door,

"Hey what's up! Haha it's been been so long, thanks for your hard work. Come in come in." I urge the smiling Erucid inside, and just like he promised he's holding a plate of a six different flavored, and tasty looking, donuts.

"Thanks. And yeah you already know I've been a bit busy, the new recruits are looking good this year though which is nice. The fundraiser did great too, what do you think of the new tattoo?" Erucid says with a laugh as he steps inside, tucking his brown bangs into his backwards blue billed hat at the same time, to show off the black peace sign that's on his white skinned forehead now.

"HA! Oh- jeez man sorry for laughing, it uh- it looks so cool!" I lie which makes Erucid just shake his head, I really shouldn't have laughed there. He got it for a good cause- he promised the public he'd get the tattoo if a fundraiser for helping the homeless got a certain amount of donations. Forget what the fundraiser was called now, but more importantly it goes to show Erucid is a good guy which is one of the reasons why I like him so much. I've only been his "boss" for a year and yet he's been so nice to me so far.

"Yeah yeah I know it looks goofy, just wait 'till I have to shave my head when the donations get to 100k Herin. Anyways. Where do you wanna sit? Got some great stories to tell about the newbies, and some other stuff too- if you don't mind at least..." Erucid says with a frown at the end there which surprises me, and so I start walking towards the kitchen area of my pretty big room. A small but fancy looking glass table is there, and he follows behind me to sit down at it- well I don't know why he wouldn't at least.

An hour later...

🍩🍩🍩

"Oh boy, you should've seen the girl's face after she realized- you would've laughed so hard." Erucid says as he stands next to me as I'm sitting at the table munching down on a donut, but jeez these things are messy... or maybe I'm just messy, hah. After all Erucid's red long sleeved shirt with "Tirion" printed on it, as well as his blue jeans are both completely clean.

"Yeah that sounds pretty funny.
...Also, you said you had other stuff you wanted talk about before?" I ask a little nervously which makes Erucid's eyes open wide for a second.

"Yeah... just wanted to ask you something. You've heard about the allegations that are on Commander Jaxonite, right?" Erucid asks which makes me cringe as I cover my eyes with my palms.

"Haaaaaah... yep. I mean, let's be honest, he was always kinda a jerk but still... never thought he'd be a... oh boy." I try to finish my sentence but I can't. Jaxonite's had the title of "Halloween" for more than 10 years now which makes this whole situation a mess.

"A rapist, you mean. And maybe even a pedophile. You are going to do something about this, right? Sorry but I'm sure as hell not working with someone like that, there's even damn videos of him doing that stuff. Sorry for getting mad but... I'm sure you get why I'm worried here." Erucid asks as he stares at me with his brown eyes. He looks more scared than angry now.

"Yeah... I'm, I'm sorry. I promise that you won't have to work with him, but, unfortunately-"

"Shit. Oh God. There really can't be an exception to that stupid rule here? I don't care if he's been a Commander for 10 or even 100 years, a damn rapist should NOT just be excused because of "what he's done for Hopian", he should be locked up in a cell. They're gonna cover this up, aren't they? ...Are you?" Erucid asks with disgust as he slams himself down into his chair at the table that's right in front of me, and I can't help but look away.

"I've- I've only been here for a year. I'm sorry, ok! I'm not gonna change the rules of the army, especially this early on. Commanders who've worked long enough in the position have a tenure that's almost impossible to break, you know that. BUT, if solid evidence comes through for him, you know... doing that twisted stuff to kids, then we should be able to get him charged." I say as I still can't even bare to look at him. Mainly out of shame, because I COULD technically push Jaxonite into getting charged right now but... I don't want to. He saves far more people than he's assaulted, and this territory sure needs all the help it can get. Crime is higher than ever now.

Also- if I go against the government's wishes this early on in my career... who knows how long I'll keep my job and be able to protect people for.

"I knew this was coming but it still hurts to hear. I get why you don't want to push this, I guess... hard to break a system that's been here longer than we've been alive. And I wouldn't want you to get fired either, our last Head Commander was horrible, sorry to say. Hopefully we can change this all one day, though... promise me that we won't let Jaxonite continue to do this sick shit though. Please?" Erucid asks me with a sigh, and I give him a bunch of small nods to promise that.

"If Jaxonite ever does that again- I'll use some "unethical" methods too to punish him. Or give him an "early retirement" if it comes down to it." I think to myself, heck if I know if I'm being honest though, or if I'm just lying to make myself feel better.

"...Also, sorry, if you don't mind me mentioning it- you seem, I don't know... meeker today? Normally you're still cool, but now you seem more- chilled out I guess? Maybe I opened you up a bit, haha. No offense at all by the way, I like you more like this." Erucid says with a small smile which confuses me for a second...

"Nooo! Don't tell him you idiot!" I hear Aphrodite laughing like crazy as she runs up to Erucid from behind me, I was wondering what she was doing- but really what's up I wonder?

"Also cool shirt, it from the same show as that figure by the TV?" Erucid points out which makes my heart sink- looking down, I can see that I'm wearing my purple "The Exiled" t-shirt, and even worse the action figure he's looking at is Asira in a skimpy bikini!

"Uh- I- nononono- AH- can you please leave, it's been nice talking but I have to um, go to the washroom, yes!" I blurt out as I get up and try to literally push him to the door, oh God I bet he couldn't even understand me there- I must be blushing like crazy too.

"Hey hey, easy- I think your collection is neat man- see you later, I won't te-" Erucid tries to whisper to me as I open the door to my room, and luckily he steps out with a wave as I close the door shut-

*SLAM!*

"Aphro- haaAAAAHHH!!!" I stop myself from lecturing Aphrodite (who's of course laughing her butt off) since Erucid could probably hear me from the outside if I did. Instead I stomp towards my bedroom as my eyes get teary.

"Oh my- AHA that was great, guess that guy knows that you're a manchild now- you see the way you were eating there too? I'll give you some credit though, you handled a face to face chat better than I thought you would without my powers. When's the last time you did that- hey your Goddess is talking to you!" Aphrodite whines as I slam the door to my room shut right on her, and go to flop face first onto my bed.

"Just shut up." I think to myself as I slam my face into my body pillow over and over, I don't have the strength to deal with Aphrodite now...

"There goes my respect from my subordinates huh? Great. Awesome! Erucid even noticed I was "meeker" too, oh God I'm so screwed..." I think to myself, and groan even louder as I realize I'm still only in my boxers too...

"WHY AM I SO STUPID?!" I cry out as I thrash around on my sheets,

"Good question!" The ever so kind Aphrodite calls back out to me- if SHE gave me a heads up before I let Erucid in, NONE of this would've happened! Not like she gives a crap about me though- I hate my life.

A few hours later...

💧🧢💧

I take a deep breath, then knock on the door to Erucid's "residence". I'm hurting so much on the inside but, luckily THIS TIME Aphrodite's using her powers on me which of course gives me confidence- along with my glorious white robe.

"Coming!" I hear him answer, and a second later he swings open the door wearing nothing but a towel as his hair is soaked and draped across his face.

"Oh- hi again Prósopsi. I wanted to as-"

"I wanted to say I'm sorry. For my informality before, it was completely unacceptable as your Head Commander, and for any member of this army. I promise I'll change my ways, so... can you please promise to not tell anyone about what you saw? I'll compensate you for doing so." I can't help but interuppt him in a stern tone, I just want this crap over and done with- if I even can do that...

"Hm? You mean back when we were talking? Why would you apologize- I came into your own room, so why would I expect it to be all formal and stuff? If anything I'm sorry for not telling you that you weren't "fully" dressed, just thought you didn't care, since you know- even in public you're pretty lenient. But some people like Ontarus may make fun of you if they heard about what I saw and all, so yeah I wasn't planning on telling anyone." Erucid says with a smile as he runs his hands through his long hair.

"Ohhh you've got no idea how much that means to me, thank you so much. And you wanted to ask me something just now?" I ask with a sigh of relief as Aphrodite hops onto my shoulders for some reason which makes me bounce down for a second.

"Yeah- well it was about your personality actually... you were pretty different in your room back there, and I have a theory as to why- was wondering if you could confirm it for me? I want to get to know you better, if you don't want to say that's cool though." Erucid asks which worries me for a second and at the same time Aphrodite lets out a gasp- obviously a fake one though.

"Sure. I forgot to tell you something before too so that works out." I say- or lie I guess. No way I'd ever tell him about Aphrodite, but I may tell him that wearing my robe gives me confidence... maybe.

An hour later...

🔴🤜🔴

"Ohhhh, I see. I may check out the show one time actually, sounds like it could be a fun watch." Erucid says as he takes a sip of the cup of water that's next to him. I ended up telling him about my robe like I planned and how it gives me confidence. Also I even mentioned some of the (tamer) shows I watch, since he was so interested and nice about the whole thing.

"Yeah, I'd totally recommend it. Also. More importantly, I've got a job for you, if you wouldn't mind taking it. There's been reports of a new gang going around and taking out some of our soldiers and even sergeants. They don't seem to be a Commander level threat but, still I'd rather try to take them out before they could potentially become that. The "Red Fists" I think they're calling themselves." I ask Erucid as I look into his brown eyes, they really are nice...

"Well- you're my boss so, not like I can refuse- I'm joking. Sure. So I guess you'll want me to go on patrols then to try and catch them in the act? Or do you have some leads on them?" Erucid asks which snaps me out of my small daze,

"Yep. Or yes, sorry. We've got some leads, pretty interesting where we got them from actually..." I say as I crack my knuckles and glance out the window to Erucid's room... still have to get used to seeing blue skies outside. I kinda miss the dark and calm fake skies of the Hopian Continent, but it's not like I ever went outside much anyways.

One month later...

🤖🤛🤖

Kodan's P.O.V.

"Ha! Hiya! HoooooAH-"

"Shut up it's five AM!" Someone shouts at me from the distance which makes me stop my training for a sec, jerk- guess I don't have to make the sound effects though but it is fun.

*FWOOSH!*

Using my reflexes alone I duck to the side as my training bot swings a punch right by my head, and then spring up to throw my own punch at the bot's gut using my metal gloves, which makes the bot slump over instantly. Least it has company next to the other 50 training bots I took out a minute ago though. They're made for the Hopian Army but they're available to the public to buy for a pretty big chunk of Herin. Five of those bots were "Officer Level", and the other 45 were "Sergeant level". Definitely not bad if I do say so myself considering Officers are 1 level below Commanders, though I do kinda doubt the accuracy of strength measurements there due to how crazy Blessings can be.

Suddenly the flip phone in my pocket starts to ring that I've made sure can't be "intercepted", I think my tech guys called it. And so I take it out of my shorts as I jump back to dodge another bot that throws a kick at me, with the help of my gravity powers sending me flying backwards into the wall- ow.

Glancing down at the screen though, I can see that it's Kolt calling, the leader of one of our assault squads- course I answer and,

"Help us!!! It's-"

*TCH!*

The call ends, ohh boy that doesn't sound good. I let Metallica go with that group too because Kolt and his squad were supposed to just be doing some late night questioning, which almost never goes wrong. The hel- heck happened?

Either way I start bolting out of our base's gym to get to the armory, where a teleporter that I have set onto King Metallica's location SHOULD be. I pray it is at least, people know how important it is so I doubt any F.O.O.L. as Metallica would say, would move it. Oh God I hope he's ok- I need to hurry.

Two minutes of scrambling later...

👟💨👟

"Alright, let's head out!" I shout out as me, and the 20 other armed soldiers I quickly grabbed from their training session on the way here, are crowded into the huge armory we have now.

Since no one's complaining, I look down to my palm where the makeshift "tele-tri" is lying. It's wire-y triangle-y interior is visible from the clear plastic stuff it's made of. I flick the tiny lever that's on the bottom of it like usual, and I instantly start to black... ou-

"FIRE!!" I snap out of my daze, to see that I'm now in the middle of a dimly lit street where a ton of groaning bodies are cluttered together along the road next to me. More importantly though a second later gunshots start ringing out. But Metallica who's right in front of me seems ok as he spins his head around to look at me.

"A.H. hey pal, you came just in time! This guy's tricky-"

*CLANG- BOOM!*

I almost get blown off of my feet, as I can just barely manage to see Metallica's side get whacked by something so fucking hard- that it sends him flying through the brick buildings next to us, which of course makes me shit bricks since Metallica weighs about 700 pounds.

"Chill!" I finally calm down, to see the monster jump in front of me who's spinning a big purple staff in their hands. But he stops spinning it, and thrusts it at my chest-

*CRACK!*

"Fuck!" I shout as I just barely manage to block the hit by raising my right wrist up, which deflects the staff's end and makes it just barely slide into my chest. And even THAT makes me gasp for air.

"The hell is this guy?" I think to myself as I take a deep breath, then kick myself back super far with the help of my gravity manipulation, as the man pulls his staff back. And at the same time I finally realize- ohhh shit oh fuck, that's Commander Erucid, wearing his classic baseball hat and navy blue Hopian Army uniform for once.

"Don't move you dummies, unless you want to get your asses kicked." The three-and-only Commander commands.

"That explains the damage then- man I'm lucky to have been wearing these." I think to myself as only shards of the metal gloves I was using before are left on my hand, if I didn't have them on my hand it would've been done for-

"Huh? Hey, you praise the Five Kings by any chance?" ...? Ok then, apparently I'm hearing Erucid call out to me pretty casually as he's jumping around and dodging the shots my soldiers are firing at him, while sending a bunch of them flying at the same time with his staff- oh God this is bad- I need to get Metallica out of here, but how?

Wait!

"...Right- shit, think- this isn't the end of the world. Everyone knows Erucid's Blessing somehow hits harder the more scummy you are... but according to what? Ah- right, it was leaked years back too- the Five Kings! So I can probably kick his ass." I think to myself as I struggle to take deep breaths, as a girl from our group gets sent flying by me.

"No- I should try to sneak by him first before anything else." With the help of my powers I launch myself right by Erucid as he takes out another bunch of my troops which a single swing of his staff-

*FWOOSH!*

"Hey- you didn't answer my question, you praise the Five Kings?" The guy swings his whole ass staff in front of me, so I force the gravity around me backwards like crazy to avoid crashing into it- shit that was a lot of force on me to stop so quick though.

"I'll have to make an opening, no troops left to cover me now." I think to myself as I glance around to see at least 100 of my soldiers scattered across the streets around us, some even got launched up into buildings- Kolt must've called a bunch of other backup troops before me.

"Yeah I follow em', what about it?" I say to Erucid as I take a few more steps back to stall for a bit of time. I also look for an opening as the guy holds his staff out, and up in the air a bit.

"Was asking in the small chance that you were innocent here, since I'd imagine most folks who follow the Five Kings and all wouldn't be criminals. But- guess you're an exception there, since you were trying to escape just now. You're under arres-"

*BOOM!*

Before he can finish his sentence I lunge at him as quick as I can, throwing my fist out at his chest- which he of course easily blocks and knocks away with his staff.

But while Erucid's staff is to the side I swing my left leg into his right calf,

*CRACK!*

In the blink of a damn eye he steps back, and adjusts his hands to swing his staff around to both block and smack my leg away.

"That's broken- and he was just blocking too?!" I think to myself as I grit my teeth in pain, almost falling over but before I do, I take a deep breath and force the gravity around me to drag my, literal, flipping self backwards across the rough pavement beneath me.

"I- shit! I won't give up, no way I'll be able to get past Erucid, so what else can I do?! ...That!" I think to myself with a bit of hope as Erucid starts running for me, I can maybe just change the gravity around me to send my ass up into the air!

I squint my eyes shut and take a bunch of deep shaky breaths, commanding the gravity around me to push me up instead of down and VERY quickly- and ohhhhh my I'm moving up!

I open my eyes as I start to get sucked up into the air like I'm being abducted by a UFO. I can see Erucid standing below me as he holds his staff above, and behind his head with both hands. Metallica is running behind him- good he's ok!

"Oh shit." I think to myself, as even though I'm like 10 feet up in the air right now- Erucid jumps up to me, and starts swinging his staff down towards my hea-

*CRACK!*

A/N: Erucid and Prósopsi talk about the corrupt Commander of the Hopian Army, Jaxonite- and Erucid is tasked with taking down the newly discovered Red Fists group, and seems to have done so quite efficiently...

I hope you all consider voting or commenting if you enjoyed, and see you next week!