"Let's see if you guys can!"
Ross punched one of the twins, but the attack failed, and Shoe, with his bare hands, struck James' neck. However, Ross blocks the enemy by jumping back.
Seeing James move further away, he teleported above Ross and swung his kicks into the investigator's head. After falling, he tried again. But this time, Ross grabbed his feet and was prepared to slam him to the ground, forcing him to teleport away to escape.
Reappearing again from behind with his older brother in front of Ross. They both attacked Ross simultaneously.
'James Ross is weak, brother.' Shoe said telepathically to Horse.
Horse with his daggers and Shoe with his hands damaged James Ross. Each time Ross wanted to attack them, they would teleport away. The nanobots were having a tough time predicting their attacks. That's why wounds were created everywhere.
Ross tried to focus, but Shoe appeared behind his back and tapped his back, making him turn around. After turning around, Shoe was nowhere to be seen.
"I am here, not there."
Ross rotated back around, didn't see anyone, which was weird when he felt stabbing pain from his front and back. Eventually, Horse appeared in front of his face, kicking James' chin.
'We need to finish this Shoe before we connect back.'
'I have an idea.' Shoe said. "Hey, you look down."
James followed the voice, and they attacked Ross after looking down.
Ross instantly raised his head, grabbed Shoe's neck, "Gotcha!" He said smugly, then, by force, hit him to the ground. By the impact, Shoe went into a non-conscious state.
Horse swings his dagger at the enemy. Without looking, Ross grabs Horse's neck, throwing him into many walls, going through them individually. He stopped after his momentum slowed down.
Ross approached the man he had tossed, looking directly into his eyes. "What should I do with you?" he asked. He glanced back at Shoe lying on the floor, and he smiled.
James grabbed Horse's collar and dragged him where Shoe is, hurling him onto his twin's body. He raised his legs, about to swing down on them, but he stopped when he heard a woman's voice coming from the siblings' bodies, repeatedly saying, "Times up," while smoke emerged from them.
James was surprised and confused, so he put as much distance between himself and the siblings as possible, yet he remained intrigued about what might happen.
A bright light shone out from the brothers, disappearing instantly and briefly blinding Ross for a split second.
"What the hell did you two do?" He brushed his face with his hand, moving closer to where Horse and Shoe were. "Your tricks wouldn't work anymore. Stop teleporting."
He looked around and didn't feel any pain from attacks. Eventually, he realized they were gone.
A mysterious voice suddenly rang into his mind, "Guardian Candidate, let full of XI0 information fill your brain!" Severe pain of data suddenly overwhelmed his senses, giving Ross few details about his new arm, Model XI0 abilities.
It made Ross's head hurt, but the pain quickly subsided. He stands up and leaves, searching everywhere, every nook and cranny, for Samuel. Unfortunately, his friend was nowhere to be found.
"Samuel, I'm sorry." He looked back at the hospital before stepping outside, "I wanted to find you, but you were nowhere to be seen."
He turned around and faced the exit. "I hope you find a way out." He left the hospital.
After not seeing the sunlight for so long, he let the light absorb his face. There are many police officers outside at a distance, keeping watch at the exit.
***
His younger sister, Shy, had a happy face that became more visible with each step. She hugged her brother instantly. Her long blonde hair touched his back.
"I am so glad you are okay, James." She said while crying, "I heard the news that many police officers were killed, and new officers searched everywhere, but couldn't find you two."
She was happy seeing her brother. She continued, "Isn't Samuel with you?"
Ross's face got gloomy, but he told his sister the truth about her husband.
"Sorry, Shy. I was trying to find him, but everywhere I looked, he was gone. I tried multiple times, but nothing." He was tearing up as he continued, "I am so sorry, the White Clan was also getting my way of founding Samuel."
Shy wasn't mad, "It's not your fault, James. That's why I gathered the police here to search for you two. Now you are here, for Samuel."
A police officer emerged from the crowd of officers and said, "Mrs. Shy Cilffhanger Ross. You are looking for Samuel, Samuel Cliffhanger, and James..." He said this, seeing Ross's face.
"Oh, you found your brother."
"Anyway, we located your husband, and he's at the hospital nearby."
He sent the location to both of them. Before going, Ross questioned the police why he hadn't said this before. He answered the question by saying he didn't want to make Shy feel bad when they found his husband instead of his brother, but when he saw Ross, he courageously did so.
They reached the hospital's location. It was very tiny compared to the other one, but unlike the previous one, it wasn't dead.
"Where is Samuel?" Ross asked the same police officer who was waiting for them.
"Sigh." He went straight to a nurse who passed by them.
"Wow, he has no clue where Samuel's room is," Ross said to Shy.
"Excuse me, sir?" The nurse stopped, "What do you want, brother?"
The cop was blinking at why the nurse called him brother, "I'm not your brother."
The nurse chuckled, "Come on, brother, I call every stranger my brother or sister."
The police then asked the nurse where Samuel's room is located.
"Sorry, brother, I can't help you with that. You can ask the lady sitting over there." He pointed to the old lady with red heels, "She has the list of patients."
They went over the receptionist's desk. Shy went closer and asked,
"Excuse me? Do you have a moment, ma'am?"
She crossed her legs and said, "Young lady, what's the problem?"
"Do you have a list of updated patients today?"
The old woman looked at Shy and said, "Why?"
The police went forward, "Madam, my friends and I are investigating how, why, and what happened at the hospital that was in the news. I heard that many victims from that tragic event end up here, so we want to ask them directly what happened."
The old lady pushed open her desk. "If it's for investigation, then here." She pointed at Samuel's name, "He is the only one who made it out alive."
Shy looked and saw that it was her husband's room. She happily hugged the police officer for helping her and turned around to hug Ross, but he wasn't there. He had disappeared.
It made Shy worried, so she rushed to ask doctors, nurses, and different security personnel where Ross went. Before she went to ask, she saw many people gathered around.
She went to the nearest person, "Excuse me? What's going on?"
"A man named James Ross suddenly vanished after going into that room. It-?!" Before letting her finish, Shy ran into the room where everyone was gathered.
"Be careful... not harm yourself, and your-"
Shy entered the room and fainted after hearing Samuel and James vanish together.
"How did these two vanish?" A nurse asked another nurse.
"I was cleaning the patient, Samuel's room, when this man, who might be James Ross, came into the room. They disappeared when their skin got touched." This is what Shy heard before she fainted.
***
Ross fell from the air, heading straight toward the ground. The Model XI0 automatically formed armor around him, saving him from the impact.
Before he could process why he was in the air, someone called his name.
"James? Is that you?" A 70-year-old man with white hair and a cane stood 4 feet away when Ross fell.
At first, he didn't recognize the person until he said his name, "You don't remember your dad's friend... Mike?"
Ross remembered him after he said he was Mike.
"Ohh. Mike, how's it been?"
***
Somewhere else in a hidden place, a woman knocked on the door, "May I enter, Sir?"
The woman had a tiny top hat tattoo on her cheek and a rose tattoo on her arm. She was very beautiful with many freckles dotted across her face.
"Ms. Rose, you may enter."
Ms. Rose entered, her blue eyes meeting those of a man in a top hat sitting in a comfy chair, gazing at his knight statue.
"Mr.- The A-ranked Investigator, James Ross, killed the Iron Jaw Monster!"
The man was flaming after what he heard from Ms. Rose, but he calmly said, "Anything else?"
She replied, "Not to make you mad, but the Pantheons you send also failed to exterminate the target!"
It made him even angrier, and he yelled, "Ms. Rose, leave before I harm you!" She instantly left.
"I will punish Horse, Shoe, and Diamond!"
Ms. Rose came inside and said, "Sir, before you punish them, look at why they got defeated."
He saw what Ms. Rose showed him, so he relaxed and said, "They need to thank you for making me stop thinking about their punishment. Thanks for the info, Ms. Rose. You can now leave!"
When she left, the man stared, laughing wildly.
To be continued.