Rejuvenation, Pt. 1

"Nova Matsui, 25, is sentenced to death for a genocide massacre."

Nova looked up at the judge with a sense of hatred in his black dilated eyes.

"But it wasn't me."

"There is no proof to prove that."

"There isn't proof to prove that it is me."

"You were the only person at the scene."

"I'm telling the truth.."

"Well, we can't trust your words."

Trust. Of course no one would trust him. Nova had never been trusted his whole life. He looked up at the people in the courtroom. Each pair of eyes held unnecessary resentment towards him.

'No matter how good humanity looks on the outside, their nature will never change.'

***

It all began about a week ago, when Nova signed up to be a Raider: One who would give up their time to take down the unusual occurrences that take place in MoonLight City. These strange phenomenon, they were dangerous things. Glitches were what they were called. A random event where a Glitch would spawn. Out of them came Mechs, humanoid robots installed with dangerous weapons that attacked humans on sight. Seeing as Mechs were a hazard to humanity, The Higher Ups banned acquiring materials from the bots, so any loot was to be handed in to the HU to be exchanged for money. However, this didn't stop the act of stealing. Mech parts were sold on the Black Market and some people took further measures to implant the devices in themselves - illegally of course.

Even though Nova needed the money, he wasn't exactly the strongest person, nor the luckiest either. As soon as a Glitch was announced, he left his small apartment, a kitchen knife in his backpack stashed with survival necessities. The man took the quickest route to his destination and made sure to sneak past any night clubs and sketchy bars he encountered on the way. Although MoonLight City was so developed, there were still areas of poorness like where Nova lived.

After wandering cautiously through the streets and alleyways, Nova finally heard it. A slight humming noise. Then, he turned a corner. There it was. The Glitch floating, large and intimidating, at the end of the street. With determination, he proceeded forward. As he drew near, Nova spotted two muscular men, one with an rifle (powered by motherboards), and the other with dual pistols.

"Just look at it JJ." The man with the rifle spoke up, turning towards his friend. "Isn't it a beauty?"

"Sure is." JJ replied. "If only I could just..." He reached his hand out slowly to the luminescent aura. Not before long, a reaction occurred. The man's hand was twitching out of control. But quickly, it was pulled by back his friend. "T-Thanks, Lay."

Lay scoffed. "Are you an idiot? Have you not heard the rumours?...It is said that the people who get too close to the Glitch, become the Glitch itself."

Nova took an awkward approach towards the men. "Greetings gentlemen. My name is Nova Matsui, I'm here to salvage the Mechs."

Lay's demeanour dissolved into a negative one in the matter of seconds and he glared down at the unsettled guy. "So you're the extra, huh? Don't think we'll be protecting you. You've got to save yourself, alright?"

"Understood."

'So Lay is probably the leader of the group. Speaking of which, aren't here yet...'

After what seemed like a decade, the rest of the Raiders finally made it to the site. A total of 9 altogether, but the others were stacked with rich equipment, so Nova definitely felt like the odd one out. As it reached the end of the first hour since the Glitch appeared, the area began to change. A large, transparent dome surrounded them, and the Glitch looked as if it was being ripped open from the inside. Sure enough, out came a group of the bots, about 9 or 10, ready to eliminate their targets.

Lay was the first the shoot. "Everyone! Attack!" Then, the fight commenced.

***

"Oi, get the load here, Extra! And don't forget the cores!"

Nova was beckoned over to the next pile of scrap. The group had finished wiping out wave after wave of Mechs that exited the Glitch every 15 minutes. An hour passed, Nova gathered the rest of the scrap and stuffed it in his backpack. More importantly, he picked up some small, blue crystals, that were the size of his fingers. They shined ominously. Through the man's weary eyes, all those crystals were to him was money. He couldn't fight his worth. He was weak. All he could do was be the lackey for a team of Raiders.

He put the cores in the leather pouch by his waist, and so the party readied for the Glitch to throw something at them again.

This time, it was something new. A Mech, yes, however it's metal was gold, and surprisingly squeaky clean. It stood double the height of a normal Mech and looked down at the bunch.

"This Mech don't look like the rest of 'em....! Get in position! It's the Final Wave!" The leader shouted with arrogance, and a slight bit of perseverance.

Nova stepped back, while this Mech began to activate. It's eyes beamed with a red hue, and it ticked like a time bomb. When the ticking stopped, it released a huge burst of steam.

'This isn't good.'

With a variety of weapons (ranging from large hammers and staffs to energy loaded rifles), the Raiders attacked the golden bot, dodging the hot gas bursts and energy pulses fired at them. Through the corner of Nova's eye, he saw something, or someone rush through the barrier. But that couldn't have been possible right? Absolutely nothing was able to penetrate it.

'Might've been the wind. Or maybe...'

But his thought was dismissed as a beam shot past his face. He watched Lay - the man focused up, spraying the Mech up and down. Quite unfortunately, this plan wasn't working. The mass of green bullets seemed to slightly dent it's armour, before bouncing off. More time passed, and the Raiders were tiring out. The golden bot caught JJ in one of it's steam bursts.

"JJ!" Lay dropped his weapon and ran to the side of his closest friend. Nova approached and took a look at JJ's condition. His face was completely jarred. Nova could see the man's flesh, and he looked like he couldn't move a finger. After digging through his backpack, Nova pulled out a med spray, and a roll of bandages. However, before he could attend to JJ, the Mech slowly approached them from behind. Behind the bot, the rest of the Raider's knelt wearily, defeated.

"Extra. Take care of him. I'll deal with this bastard." Lay stood up.

"But you'll-!"

"Extra. Just do your job."

Speechless, Nova handed him his kitchen knife.

Lay took a step forward, and prepared for the worst.