A Most Bizarre Seeker 1 (Patreon)

A Most Bizarre Seeker 1 - or ‘I made a promise, and I will uphold it!’ (Huntik SI ft. Jojo logics)

“Hey Jojo, you know… can I ask you something?”

“You already are, Zee~.”

A soft huff, cute and yet nervous.

“That’s not fun. Still, I mean it.”

“Sure, sure. What is it?”

“You… Will you always be with me?”

“I… I will do my best to be there for you.”

“Promise me.”

I sighed. “I promise.”

—----------d-d–d-d—----

Five years later…

I never thought I would have visited Vienna. Then again, I never thought for far longer than I would have ended up in the world of Huntik of all possible Earths similar to mine.

I was ‘reborn’ with the same name, but no family behind me. I was an orphan and one that got so fucking close to help someone that didn’t need the kind of shit that she would end up going through.

My name is John Bukharin, and I am not exactly a Seeker. I am aware of Titans and I have battled some on my own but… I refused to take part in this war. I just wanted for my new family to be safe.

And I wasn’t the only one that was getting on with this kind of quest.

Pressing two fingers by the comm device I had on my ear, I opened the connection back to my ‘eyes from above’.

“Harry, can you hear me?”

“Still do, Jo-bro. But you don’t need to check every ten minutes?”

Another voice snorted at the nerd’s rebuttal. “Don’t forget what happened in Cairo, Har. We almost lost you.”

“I am not an idiot, Den! I have long taken measures to improve my defenses in our hideouts.”

The two individuals I was speaking with were fellow orphans from the same orphanage I was born into in Amsterdam. Harrison and Den Fears. They would have turned into one of the few villainous groups in this series, but I have been the kind of ‘kid’ that keeps an eye out to protect them from bullies.

Harry was the one that got targeted the most, but he quickly learned to keep around me to avoid most of the assaults. He hated bullies, but he understood it was because he was ‘frail and easy’ as a target.

Den was the oldest of the two, and he had been a little shit until I got through him. Years passed and while he still retained a degree of cockiness, he had also learned that family came first.

And we were here to save someone in our family that had been taken from us.

Years have passed, we have been improving our independent group through specialized individual paths, and we were ready to take the heat to the Organization. Formed by a former group of members from the Huntik Foundation, these Seekers were the kind of bastards that wanted to employ Titans (think of them as a mix of Pokémon and Digimon) as a source of money and resources.

Considering that there was a degree of secrecy over the Titans’ existence and that those were meant to fend off the potential return of the Nullifiers, a species of human-hating bastards, it was best to have them beat at all turns.

The main goal for us was not to take them down, but to get a fellow orphan out of the clutches of one of the Organization’s founders. Zhalia Moon had been claimed with some ‘suspiciously swift’ paperwork.

The fact she outright disappeared and didn’t contact us for months was proof that something had gone wrong. And I was aware of what went to the shitter: the Organization had started to train her as an agent.

So, Harry, Den and I formed this group once I had led them ‘unconsciously’ into discovering about Titans. The mere idea there was a secret slice of the  world that had to do with mystical crap was surprising for ‘us’ (minus I), but the fact that the only girl of our own group had been taken away by the big baddies was enough to get our plans in life set for this very goal: get her out of there.

And after years of trials and errors, and getting somewhere with our investigations, we finally found where Zhalia was supposedly kept, a library owned by the Scientist Klaus, the man that had adopted her.

With that in mind, we had our plans set as we got in position: Harry was the coordinator, Den was the ‘reserve fighter’ or the ‘escape catchers’ in case the bastard slipped out of my sight, and I would be the main infiltrator.

Soon, as the operation started, I began making my way into the old quarter of the Austrian capital, finding the library shortly after and breaking in after lockpicking the entrance door. The place had been closed for a while… and for a moment I thought this was another miss.

“Lots of dust, this place has been missing company for more than a few days,” I hummed through the communicator.

“That’s not good,” Harry mumbled. “But they have been paying the rent for this month. So, while she may not be here, we could find something good to track her down for good.”

“Fair. I will get in contact soon.”

I was soon fully focused on looking around for anything that would let me get into the real ‘hideout’ within the library. After looking around thoroughly, I stumbled on a lift. It led to lower levels, and I discovered each of those had names. The second level was a bigger circular library with various forbidden spell books. I was tempted to get some, but I decided against putting unnecessary weight on myself.

The third level was the living quarters, and I got hopeful for a moment as I started to look for anything that resembled Zhalia’s room. I found it shortly after, and I managed to break into it as it had a normal door closing it. It had a fish tank by the wall, a computer by the desk, numerous books and… a safe.

I approached the safe, noticing how the thing used an electronic lock which I couldn’t crack with any tools at my disposal. However, I could open with my ‘magic’. In this world where magic is an ever-learning experience despite it having been around for numerous centuries and millennia, no one knew the full limits of this bullshit thing.

So… I decided to play with what the nickname Zhalia gave me when we were lil’ kids translated from my previous life. Mustering my breath, I carefully allowed for a surge of energy to manifest on my right arm as I touched the lock, overriding its security and cracking it so I could open the safe. Hamon soon receded, but the tension didn’t.

There were two things inside. A diary and… a picture. It was us all, Zhalia, Harry, Den and I. She had written on it.

I miss you, guys.

This raised my resolve as I continued to look around. At this point, it was clear Zhalia wasn’t there, but with her diary and, hopefully, what data I could find in the server nest of this facility, we should be able to track her down.

We were so close, and I refused to leave until I milked everything I could find there. As I took the lift to the lowest floor, I was greeted by a lab with a circular station with terminals and screens all around.

Pillars meant to be used to preserve vials and genetic compounds were now emptied of their content. Klaus had clearly moved everything out, but there was a chance the mainframe had some backup saved he wasn’t aware about. After all, the scientist was more of a geneticist than a computer engineer, and I had plenty of experience through geek-talking about it with Harry.

Speaking of the computer ‘god’, I tried to activate the comms, but I was greeted by static. Not surprising considering how below ground I was, still, I couldn’t help but feel like I wasn’t alone in the room.

Maybe it was just the creepy feeling of how dark the room was, so I rushed to the terminal and used the hacking USB pen that Harry gave me for this sort of occasion. After breaking through the first set of passwords, I could confirm that most of the data had been removed. Some back-up files were there and I quickly saved them on the USB, but it wasn’t a process that lasted for long- not when something rushed from above, wrecking part of the terminal.

“Shit!” Tendrils came from the entity, and I realized it was a plant-type Titan that appeared to be a carnivore plant.

I barely moved in time to stop it from shutting its mouth on me and devouring the front of my face and torso. A chuckle came from the nearby screen and I realized it was-

“KLAUS!”

“Well, well, well- if it isn’t our recent thorns. Herr Bukharin, how are you?”

“Peachy- Especially when I will get my hands on you, you monster!”

“Ah yes, I have been called that many times. But do tell, how are you? After all, for a young man your age to be able to be such a troublemaker together with your friends. And without the support of the Huntik Foundation at that.”

“We are crafty guys, especially when we are driven by a strong purpose.”

“Would it soothe your worries if I said that Zhalia is growing to be a fine agent of our organization?”

“No, but you dying for good would make my day.”

“Pity that is not happening, Herr Bukharin. Oddrey, please kill the intruder.”

The massive carnivore plant was quite desperate in devouring me just to please its master but… I wasn’t as harmless as the cruel scientist thought I was.

I felt my lungs filling with air as I took control of my breathing, energy crackling as yellow electricity rushing to my hands turned red and started to scorch the plant as I firmly kept hold of it.

“Scarlet… OVERDRIVE!”

The flames rapidly spread over Oddrey, the plant Titan consumed by those as I pushed it away and allowed it to perish before my ruthless gaze and Klaus’ amused look.

“Verwunderlich!” The scientist exclaimed. “So I can finally see this unique form of spells you use- no, it’s different, new!”

“I will find you, you bastard!” I snarled, and the scientist cackled from the screen.

“I sure hope you do. I would be disappointed if my daughter was left ‘unrescued’ by you for a few more years,” The tease was greeted by a growl but… the ground started to shake. “Still, this will be for now. You provided some data to work with, so I will give you a hint- this place is rigged to explode in a few minutes. I hope for your survival, Herr Bukharin.”

The shaking doubled, and I didn’t waste time as I rushed to the lift. I found it inactive and thus unusable. But I managed to break the upper section of the ceiling and allowed myself some space to the only way out.

Walljumping was not something I have truly trained much with, but with the place close to explode, I improvised and almost fucked my feet a few times while coordinating the process.

Eventually I got to the uppermost floor, rushed through the door of the book shop and made it to the streets- just in time to avoid getting hit by the flames but get pushed on the ground by the pressure exerted by the blast.

There were no people around, but two or so cars exploded due to being close to the shop, further alerting the locals of what happened. I put my hood on and started to run as soon as I got on my feet.

“-hn, are you there!? What is going-”

“Klaus knew,” I answered the comms, recognizing Den’s voice. “Our informant is aligned with the Organization. We need to leave Vienna ASAP!”

“I see- I will get things wrapped up-”

“And I will come to help you, brother,” Den assured Harry. “We need to make this one quick.”

“Got it, I will get us the train tickets, we should be able to make it in time to get on our escape plan for the Swiss border.”

“W-What about what you found? Did you find her?”

“I found her room and diary. And a picture in the safe with the diary- she remembers.”

That was relieving but-

“Just the diary? Couldn’t you find more?” Den pressed, and I could understand his anger.

“Tried to get some data, but I barely got anything as a Titan attacked me from above. Barely got out of that one,” I admitted, feeling embarrassed by that one as I did feel I hadn’t been alone back then and I got overwhelmed by the need to get things done rather than look around for the source of that uneasy feeling. “Still, the diary should have some info- mission records or any mention of places she was sent to. We will search there.”

“Dammit!”

Den was in a bad mood as we boarded the train with our bags. The fake documentation letting us through to Switzerland where we reached our main flat. We had found the place roughly three years ago through some favors with a mob boss in Amsterdam that decided to give us the place. It was clean, but he had been forced to have it given up because it could account in his tax registry and cause him issues.

We made a proper legal exchange and it was now ours to use at an affordable price. And with the money we made as ‘Independent Seekers’, we could afford the place and the equipment there.

All of it for the same goal: Find Zhalia and… keep up with our promise to her.

—-------d-d-d-d—--------

AN

Huntik’s lore is so odd at times, it kind of makes sense that Hamon and Stands are a thing.