"Didn't she say her house was small?"
"Yep, she did."
"They called the entrance a 'lobby', they have an east and west wing, and the party is at their pool! And why do they have so many lights? Aren't the chandeliers enough? Why have wall lights as well?" The young man shielded his eyes from the glaring lights before looking at the phone in his other hand.
"Tell me about it. Honestly, that the party is at their pool should have tipped us off that they are filthy rich."
"The fuck you mean 'us'? Her family name is all across the city! I told you she was lying about just 'having enough to live'."
"Naw, you were just yapping because 'going to a house party in a foreign country sounds like trouble.' You're always worried about what could go wrong. No wonder your ex broke up with you, you need to be more courageous."
"Shut the fuck up, that's why Mom doesn't love you."
"Pfft, as if I need her love, you freaking mommy's boy. You're 26, get a grip."
"Pfft, as if I need her love, you freaking mommy's boy." The man held up his phone with a video of their walk through the hallway and their voices in the background playing back.
"Oh, I wonder what she will say about that, she's gonna whoop your ass!"
"Sean, you were recording? I thought you were texting that other girl, you fucking snitch!" He tried to reach for it, but Sean pulled his arm away, holding it up behind him just out of his brother's reach. "You bitch. Why the fuck are you so tall?!"
"Alright, quit it 'little' brother. We got a party to attend to."
With an aggravated snort, he shoved Sean. "Tch. Honestly, I thought younger siblings were supposed to get LESS annoying when they are grown."
"Pfft, have you met Cory? You're lucky you are here with me. She would give you hell, and you would have to take care of her ass."
"Whatever. Why did you decide to come with anyway? Aren't you worried you’ll wake up in an ice bath?"
"Really? We are in a foreign country and you usually get shitfaced the moment alcohol is involved. If someone wakes up in an ice bath then it's you. So, someone has to drag your ass to our hotel or Mom is going to blame me for you not holding your liquor. God forbid someone offers you any hard drugs again. You're the older one, it should be you taking care of me! And don't whine again about our parents being stricter with you. Boo hoo, not an excuse for— and he is ignoring me. Tommy!"
"Thank you," Tommy said to a waiter who carried filled glasses on a serving tray, taking two of them before continuing to head to where the music was coming from. Sean quickly caught up before reaching for a glass, while Tommy immediately evaded it. "Hey! Both are for me."
"Tch. You're an alcoholic. How about slowing down for once?"
"Man, shit is free. If you don't take advantage of that you're an idiot."
"I can offer you a free ride to our hotel, limited time only."
"Shit deal, I get more value from drinking a lot here and paying for the drive later."
Sean rolled his eyes, knowing full well that later his brother would hardly be on his feet, let alone be capable of paying anything.
They opened the door, revealing the ongoing party. Music was loud, and there were lots of people intermingling inside and around the pool.
"Sean! Thomas, here you two!" Someone in the distance called out.
He looked for a moment before seeing the one who was calling them. "Mandy!" Sean called out with a bit more enthusiasm than before.
"Huh, so that's the real reason why you're here. You're trying to hit."
"That's not—"
"Alright! I'm going to say hello to the hostess and then grab some food, so I can drink more. Nice seeing ya, Mandy!" Tommy shouted before winking at Sean. "Get her, tiger." He slapped his back before turning away, shouting over his shoulder, "Be courageous!"
Sean sighed before turning to Mandy, who was waving at him with a big smile on her face. He walked toward her without realizing that he directly stepped into the path of a waiter.
Bang!
The serving tray crashed against him. He lost his balance, but was trying his best not to fall inside the pool. His back hovering over the edge, while his arms were flailing. He could only think about his phone, the videos of their vacation trip would be lost. The world turned into slow-mo as the balance tipped toward the pool. Glasses from the plate shattered. A big splash as he plunged into the water.
'I hope Thomas will get back safe without me.' This strange thought entered his mind. No thought wasted on how embarrassing the situation would be or that he was going to be soaked for the rest of the night. 'Mom is going to be mad, I hope they won't fight too much.' He dived deep into the water. The music and the people's voices quieted down almost to obscurity.
The pool seemed to be three times its actual depth, while the light grew distant. It was almost like he was being swallowed by an endless abyss. For some reason, panic arose in his heart. It wasn't air he was craving.
"Sean!" He could hear his brother's panicked voice. It was the only thing that significantly stood out from the noise. His body felt heavy from the clothes. They were like anchors pulling him down. Even when trying to swim, he only sank. He tore at his clothes, ripping them off, and with each piece he felt like he was losing something important. Fortunately, it made him lighter, he started to get closer to the light. The noises that grew distant now returned, but they had changed. They were getting louder with every moment.
"Sean…"
Louder.
"Se… Sa… Saiyan!"
It was deafening!
"Hhhhh-!" He gasped for air as he turned his face to the side, letting the water drip from his face. He propped himself up so he wouldn't kiss the carpeted floor. He was coughing heavily, getting the water out that entered his airway. The carpeted floor turned dark from the water dripping off his face.
Breathing was still a struggle, it felt like he had to breathe life into his body. While he was struggling, he could hear laughter from several people booming around him.
"Holy shite, lad. A spectacular lame way to get knocked out." Someone with a Dublin accent and mirth in his tone called out close to his ears.
"Who would have thought that he was this jumpy?" An amused voice asked with a snort.
"Fuck. I saw you fall from the roof just yesterday, why the fuck are you getting knocked out from that? I thought I killed you." A woman let out a deep breath that she seemed to have held before using an inhaler as if to calm her nerves.
"W-where?" Sean looked around, not recognizing the room he was in. There was a big table in the middle of the room, reminding him of the conference rooms at his job. "Where am I?" He glanced at the few people before freezing. "Cosplayers?" His voice came out almost delirious. It was clear that he wasn't fully there yet.
"Was that— is he questioning whether we are cosplayers?" the male voice muttered, causing Sean to look at him. His eyes shot wide open as he glanced at the person, the way his face moved as naturally as it could be. The entire situation was overwhelming, especially to a person that wasn't quite there yet.
"W-what the fuck?" Sean, as if injected with adrenaline, tried to jump up, only to lose his balance and fall to the ground. He scurried back until his back hit the wall.
"What the FUCK?!" he shouted, a bit more aggressive now. His chest was rising and falling at a dangerous tempo, clearly hyperventilating. The finger he used to point switched between two people, making the group look at each other.
"Sonar, I think he is pointing at us?" Her voice came out with an echo, her skin was red and two large horns protruded from the sides of her head, resembling the characteristics of a stereotypical demon.
"Yeah, the fuck is his deal?" Sonar responded, his head that of a creature that closely resembled that of a bat. Sean was confronted with what seemed to be a demoness from hell and some humanoid bat monster.
The woman with the inhaler narrowed her eyes, "Shit, you guys think he is concussed?"
"Who the fuck are you people?" Sean scrambled up to stand, only for him to lean against the wall as he almost collapsed. He grunted as he reached for his neck as he felt a stinging pain coming from there.
"I think that should settle that, right?"
"Great, more paperwork."
"Yup, definitely concussed."
"Seriously, it's one thing to literally jump out of a chair because you are surprised by someone with invisibility, but to get concussed because of it? Are you sure this job is something for you?"
Seeing his reaction, they looked annoyed at the inconvenience but were otherwise not really concerned. The short man just stepped out of the room, and through the doors one could hear him shout, "Hey, can we get a medic up in here? We got someone concussed again!"
The emotional upheaval, the transition from passed out to adrenaline-fueled confusion plus the head injury, was clearly overwhelming. It was like his body and mind were at war as they tried to make sense of the situation he was currently experiencing. An extreme sensation of something akin to jet lag came crashing down on Sean at this very moment.
Sean's world was growing darker as if he had entered a deep tunnel, the voices muted like he was underwater again. He felt his body tense up as if to respond to some expectation of his mind. Even the fear of seeing a real-life demoness and bat monster faded to the background.
He glanced at his hand that had been rubbing his neck. A bit of blood was smeared across his fingers.
"Oh, shit. He is bleeding," someone called out.
"The fuck were we called back for? This is a waste of my— Monkey boy, why the fuck are you standing in the corner for?" A new heavily accented voice called out after entering the room. "Why is the monkey bleeding?"
"Medic here, make way!"
The medic guided him to a chair before kneeling beside him. Even though Sean wanted to run away, he was on the verge of passing out again. "Alright, stay with me." The medic was calm, seasoned. He checked the airway and breathing as he stabilized Sean's head and neck before bringing out a small penlight and briefly lifted one eyelid, "Saiyan, I'm going to shine a light in your eye, just… Hey, just look at me. That's good."
The medic assessed the wound at the back of his head, applying some pressure with a gauze that he took out from his kit. "You're bleeding a bit back here, but it seems to have already stopped. How are you feeling?"
With the professional procedure of the medic, Sean calmed down a bit and the tension in his body subdued slightly, though he was still dizzy. The world still seemed distant, unreal. "It's difficult to think. Everything is turning. I think I'm going to pass out."
"I need you to stay awake, you hear me? Keep your eyes open." The medic continued to assess for other injuries, for tenderness along the neck.
"I need something to drink, something to eat too," Sean instinctively called out.
"Sure." The medic turned around and directed someone to get something. The moment Sean got something to drink and eat, he devoured it. Then, like a switch was being flipped, the world returned in all its sharpness—no. Sean felt like reality was sharper than usual. It was like his mind was being forcefully opened to a new experience.
He glanced at the medic and then at the other people standing together, watching him while discussing something among themselves as if they were making bets. There wasn't much concern from the majority, it was like they knew this wasn't anything serious.
Sean's gaze wandered to the creature that seemed to have been called Sonar and then to the demoness before another… creature attracted his attention. A hulking figure seemingly made out of mud. "What's going on here?" His voice was deep and slow.
"Hey, do you know where you are now, lad?" The short man asked, making Sean frown. He glanced at this group of… individuals before turning to the room. A conference room, clearly. Maybe some room in this mansion. His gaze wandered outside the room through the open door. Some people peeking inside, probably attracted to the commotion. They didn't look like partygoers. Besides it was bright outside of the windows.
The medic noted his behavior with surprise. "Do you know what your name is?" he asked seriously.
He hesitated for a moment. Something about the situation made him wary. "…Sean." He wasn't sure why, but in the end he answered truthfully. It's never wise to lie to those that are responsible for keeping you healthy, especially after an accident he apparently had been in.
"Oh, crap. Did he just leak his real name?"
"No, he didn't," the medic answered solemnly.
"He didn't?" someone questioned, confused.
"Fuck."
"Shit."
"Oh, no."
"So, who the fuck tried to kill monkey boy?"
The medic ignored the commotion behind him. "We will need to make some scans, make sure everything is fine."
"If you say it's needed, but I feel better already. The dizziness is gone, I can hear again. In fact, I've never felt this good before. Still a bit confused on where I am. My brother was here with me— Hm?" It was then that he noticed something, a strange sensation of having another limb. It was as natural as having an arm; you normally weren't consciously aware of it if you weren't paying attention. It was only when he stretched slightly that he noticed it. "What the fuck?" He stared at the offending appendage, a brown tail following every command his mind gave it.
The medic gave him a deep look, "Yeah, you definitely need that checkup. Don't worry, the SDN got you covered."
"W-what? You see this?" Somehow, a tail that was attached to his body gave him a shock that was several times more severe than the demoness, the bat, or the mud person could give him. Perhaps, with just mere vision, he could still delude himself as if everything were just illusions conjured up by his confused mind, or cosplayers with extremely realistic designs, a prank targeted at him, but the mind-connection to a literal appendage that he could move and feel through wasn't something easily explained by someone messing with him.
"Yes, it's your tail. Alright, you people out of the way!"
Without further ado, while Sean was dazed at the sudden realization that he couldn't push this entire thing as some weird dream or illusion, he was carried out of the room and into an elevator. On the way, he saw all sorts of individuals, hammering further into him that he truly needed that checkup because he was slowly losing it. He wasn't sure he could trust his own mind anymore.
A heavy feeling in his stomach settled regardless of his wishes. He wanted to deny it and clung to the hope that the medical checkup would clear up his confusion. He was sure as hell that he wasn't in Greece on vacation anymore.
The Australian accent of the demoness and the Dublin one from that short man made him second-guess where he was, but besides them, most were speaking English in an American accent. However, he doubted that he simply lost his memories on his trip to America. The obvious tell were the individuals. Although America was a weird and dangerous country, it wasn't to the degree that multiple people dressed up like some superheroes or some monster/demons and went to work that way, was it?
He could understand if he found himself in New York's subway and found a crowd keeping up the reputation of it, but this seemed like a regular office.
Was this a set, a studio? Was he here for a photoshoot, or did he start acting? But where were the cameras? Was this some sort of experiment ala Truman Show? Several thoughts and ideas came to mind in order to rationalize what was going on. However, one of these ideas kept creeping into his thought process. The one that seemed the most unlikely.
What if he was transmigrated? 'No.' He instinctively denied. Sean shook his head, 'Transmigration only happens to losers that otherwise wouldn't accomplish anything in life.' Anyone who found themselves in Sean's position and had the first thought being that they actually transmigrated must have fantasized about that scenario ad nauseam.
Being confronted with such a circumstance in which transmigration was one of the options as a possibility meant that there were dozens, if not hundreds, of more likely options. Even one that was as ridiculous as someone at the end of the world kidnapping him and creating a city with hundreds, if not thousands, of actors with all kinds of gadgets and props, while also genetically altering his DNA to grow a tail was a more likely scenario than something fantastical as being transmigrated to a parallel universe.
Or he could be in an induced coma, strapped into an experimental machine to test how much the human brain buys their simulation.
His mind seemed to get more chaotic the longer he sat still. The medic handed him over to the onsite doctor. He had introduced her, but Sean wasn't really paying attention and had a hard time focusing on something like names at that moment. The doctor continued her checks and even put him through what he figured was a CT scanner. He briefly wondered what kind of office this was for them to have something only a hospital should have.
"Your tests came back fine. Physically, there isn't anything wrong… Can you tell me what's the last thing you remember?" the doctor asked after the tests were done. He was looking around, wanting to catch a flaw in the façade, but in the end, he was momentarily getting distracted by the reflection from a window. He just couldn't recognize the person staring back at him, and every time he realized that he couldn't recognize the person, the sinking feeling in his stomach intensified.
'A cosmetic surgery?', his mind offered a weak explanation.
"I-I was at this pool party— Oh, shit. You got my phone? I should call my brother and tell him that I am fine." The doctor gave him a wry smile before sighing as if the weight on her shoulders had been magnified.
"I think you got it in your pocket." She pointed at his thigh, and for the first time, he truly registered what he was wearing. His pants seemed to be tight-fitting, but not exactly the running tights that he wore during winter; these were padded. His chest seemed to be some sort of a black Kevlar vest, hard to the touch like steel plates but still flexible. It perfectly covered his torso. He wore some boots and gloves. Everything was black except for some features that were colored a matte brown.
'It kind of looks like Vegeta's armor with different colouring.' A Saiyan's armor without the ridiculous shoulder pads. He pushed that conclusion into the back of his mind, pulling out the phone. The lock screen was that of a young boy with what seemed like his mother. His tail wrapped around the older woman's hands. In that picture, she looked thin, sick…
Sean unlocked the phone with his fingerprint, which thankfully worked. An unfamiliar background was reflected back with unfamiliar apps that were scattered across the screen. He ignored all of it and took a moment to identify the contact app.
"I don't know who these people are." Sean muttered as he scrolled through the rather short list. "He— my brother isn't in the list. Neither is my sister, or my mom. My friends aren't listed here either. Who are these people? Theodore, I don't know a Theodore! I don't recognize anything! It is all wrong!" The doctor offered a bitter smile at his raised voice.
"I think the concussion seemed to have rattled you quite a bit. I understand you're confused. I need you to answer some questions, can you do that for me?"
"Confused? I'm not confused about this! You think I don't recognize the names of my family?! In fact, I can just call her!" Before all vacation trips, his mother made him and his siblings memorize her number in case of an emergency. All of them knew it by heart already. It had come in handy once, so he went through the formality of memorizing it on the flights just in case.
However, he glanced at the number pad and drew a blank.
"I know her number." His voice was less firm, more like he was reassuring himself than anyone else. "It's 0146 or was it 0157? And then 9? There was definitely a 6… somewhere."
"You know as medical providers here for SDN's heroes, we have to know the backstory and medical history of all active personnel. This is your file. All of your… information is in there." She placed a folder in his view. Sean took it, slightly creasing it, and for a moment he considered just crumpling and throwing it away before just escaping this building. "I know it's probably a lot to take in. Take all the time you need to come to terms with… with what you are going through. I'm sure it will all come back to you. People with elevated regeneration usually recover more quickly with some rest and information about their past. If you feel worse just push this button, someone will immediately come and help you."
With that, the doctor left the room. The procedure wasn't short, but it wasn't incredibly long either. At least, it felt to Sean as if she had taken her time with him, but he wasn't really in the right mindset to accurately tell the flow of time anymore. He continued to stare at the folder, his mind waging war on whether to just leave or open it. "Recover with information about their past?" He muttered a bit unsure…
Saiyan
Monkey Burglar
Age: 26
Height: 6'2 / 188cm
Abilities: Extraordinary Agility, Wereape
Birthplace: Princeton, New Jersey
Bio: Transforms into a giant ape with no self-control on full moon. Seemingly timid and conflict avoidant, but a bully to those he deems weaker. Kleptomaniac.
Crimes: Burglary, Robbery, Larceny, Assault, Manslaughter
"Same height besides that… What kind of person was this?" He skimmed over the crimes he had committed and the brief overview in the form of a Bio, clearly indicating that he wasn't a good person. Forget about being a good person, he was a damn felon.
However, even this information paled slightly against some other important details. 'Wereape' and 'Transforms into a giant ape on full moon' were something that most had a particular race come to mind, not to mention the literal label 'Saiyan' that was slapped right above a picture of his.
However, he had heard some people call him Saiyan as if it was his name. This made him doubt whether they were calling him by his race, but then again, he wasn't sure what to expect anymore.
He turned the page only to see some more intimate details of where he grew up. The great ape incident when he was a teenager, his sick mother that had passed away shortly afterward, how he turned to theft to keep afloat. How he was incarcerated and then allowed to participate in this Phoenix program to give back to society again.
It was a brief introduction and Sean could feel the hardship in between the lines. All of it left a bitter sting and a hollow feeling behind. He didn't want to mull over it, so he turned to something else that was critical.
"Real name is Kohjin, huh?" The name felt strange on his tongue. He turned back to the first page again to confirm, "Strange name for someone from New Jersey, but then again, I'm not American. Is he even American? Is that supposed to be me??" His face grimaced slightly. He rubbed his forehead as if to ease the information into his brain through a massage.
With a big sigh, he let himself collapse into the hospital bed. His tail swayed slightly in front of him at his beckoning, "So, is this my 'golden finger'? My cheat?" Although there were dozens of explanations that should be more likely, that were more grounded in reality, he was almost convinced that he was a transmigrator. "I feel insulted."