Rob laughs hard as Kohre explains all that happened when Rob was unconscious, specifically the part where Kohre fell off his chair while they laughed at old times with the battle dummy. "Oh it’s hard to believe so much time was spent fighting that thing." Rob says as he catches his breath, his back against the headboard. "Yeah, nothing quite like a dummy fighting back to tell you you’re not ready." Kohre says with a chuckle and a sigh, relaxing on the bed with his back against the wall. Rob nods in agreement as he grips his pillow close to his stomach, his body still incredibly sore but it helped to squeeze some of the soreness out on the pillow.

"Hey Kohre... Do... Do you ever wonder what it would’ve been like if that Roc hadn't shown up in our lives?" Kohre turns his head to his brother, giving him a curious and worried look. "Do... Do you remember much?" Rob looks down and grips his pillow tighter, his gaze seeming to become distant. "I just... Can't remember what it was like before we were with C and Noah..." Kohre places a paw on his brother's shoulder. "Hey now, you only had two years with our parents before that Roc killed them... I miss them too, you know." He says with a weak smile, Rob raising his head and smiling a little back. "But... I can't remember anything about them though... And it hurts because they look like strangers to me when I see them in photos or mask memories..." Rob says as a tear forms in his eye, Kohre scoots across the bed and pulls his brother in for a hug.

"It’s okay, Rob. So long as you remember them as our parents, then it’s not as big a pill to swallow that they're gone..." Kohre says as a tear falls from his muzzle. What Rob said wasn't untrue for Kohre either, as time went on less was able to remember about them aside from the good times. The best thing Kohre remembers is when their mom made them a huge birthday cake for them, dad just got back from a surveillance mission and brought back some masks and souvenirs for them. Rob loved helping bake the cakes, it seemed like he loved making the decorations for the cake the most. On his fourth birthday he got to help make his first scene with sugar figures, he made replicas of us and mom and dad together in the kitchen enjoying the cake... That was the day though that the Roc struck.

There was a large explosion at first, then a blood curdling scream and laugh. Kohre did as his parents told him if anything like that ever happened, to take Rob and run through the back of the house to safety. Before Kohre could react though their father was thrown through the walls into the kitchen, covered in blood and gashes. "Kohre, nnngh, take Rob and this mask... Get to safety... Hurry!!" Their father begged with tears in his eyes as a spider mask was shoved into Robs paws. Kohre nodded, grabbing his brother and running as fast as his legs could carry him, looking back to see their father get to his feet and pulling out his katana.

Kohre ran as fast as he could as Rob held the mask close to his chest, whimpering softly as he looked to his brother. "What about daddy? Today was his day back!" Kohre's tears streaming down his face as he shook his head. "Dad and mom will be fine, don't you worry bro. No mask is too tough for them to take down." Kohre says, trying to keep his voice from breaking too much as he focused on getting as far from the battle as can be. Before Kohre knew what was happening the Roc appeared before them, covered in his own blood as well as the blood of others. His gaze, a cross between a starving animal and a madman, on them and no one else.

"Hello children hehehahaha. That's a pretty mask you have there, why not give it to me? I promise to let you live if you do." The Roc says, cackling softly as he reaches for the spider mask. "ROB! RUN!" Kohre yells as he slaps the Rocs paw away from them, the Roc grabbing Kohre and tossing him to the side with ease. "Come now, child. I'm a Roc of my word, I promise hehehahahaha" The Roc taking a step forward towards Rob, Rob looking at the mask then to his brother. Kohre looks back to Rob, struggling to get to his feet. Rob bares his teeth at the Roc before putting the mask on, sprinting towards his brother. "YOU DARE USE WHAT BELONGS TO ME?!" The Roc shrieks as he grabs Rob by the tail and yanks him close, lifting him up in the air by the throat.

"For this serious you committed, death is the only punishment!" The Roc hissed lowly as he pulled out a sword from his side, raising it towards Robs head. Before the sword could touch Rob, he raised his paw and grabbed the sword, a clear aura encasing the sword from the middle of the blade and down to the Rocs paw. Kohre stared in amazement and horror at what just happened, the Roc shrieking and throwing Rob off to the side where Kohre was. The Roc tosses the web coated sword to the side and clenches a paw into a fist, turning to the two on the ground. "After all I did for your folks, killing them swiftly before the worst came, and now you insult my generosity like this?! Ooohhhh that is the end of my charity!" The Roc growled as he lifted his fist a bit into the air as he walks towards Rob and Kohre.

"Now I just need to finish this once and for all..." The Roc hissed lowly, Kohre attempting to shield Rob with his body before a large blast nailed the Roc from behind and send him flying over them. C and G both rush to Kohre and Rob, helping them up and walking them a short distance away before turning around. "What about mom and dad? Are they all right?" Kohre asked worriedly, C and G silently shake their head. "It’s best you stay here and see them for yourself after this." G said sadly as he glares at the Roc, lifting his fists up to his chest with his crimson colored gauntlets. "Let’s put this ghost to rest." G growled lowly as he and C charge the Roc, the Roc forming a pair of wings and readying to take to the air. C lasso's the Roc's ankle and pulls him down into G's heavy punch, the reverberations breaking the ground beneath him and around him and causing the Roc to shriek in pain and surprise.

The Roc hit the ground with a heavy thud, his aura changing from wings to hands and grips G tightly. "That really smarts you oaf." The Roc growled as he slowly got to his feet, C dashing forward to attempt to restrain him again. "That trick won't work a second time!" The Roc screeched as the other hand grabbed C. "Now I can finish you two at my leisure without being interrupted." The Roc said eagerly, Kohre staring in horror at the scene in front of him. "What do I do? What can I do?" He thought to himself before he noticed the sword, the webbing almost gone.

Kohre rushed to it and grabbed it, then dashed at the Roc. "LET THEM GO!" Kohre yelled as he stabbed the Roc through the back of the stomach. Blood shot out of the Rocs mouth and down the mask as the hands disappeared, G and C acting quickly to remove the mask from the Roc.The Roc cried out in agony as the mask was slowly peeled off his face, like having the skin peeled off all over and your body on fire until the mask finally came off entirely. The Roc stopped screaming, stopped moving, stopped everything and just... Fell over onto his front. "Finally, you can be put to rest old one, I just pray that it’s a peaceful one." C says as he wheezes from the grip.

G nods in agreement and pulls the sword out of the fallen Rocs back. "I think we better hurry and help this to some medics" C nods in agreement as G plunges the sword into the ground next to the Roc and turns to Kohre. "You did good kid." Rob was unconscious when C got to him; the medics patched the four of us up and destroyed the body of the Roc. Many tears were shed over the loss of both Rob and Kohre's parents, as well as many days of arguing as to who will be the caretakers of the children. Many thought that they should be shipped to the mask society headquarters to be trained, eventually they would be placed in the care of C.

From there the two we're taught everything they need to know how to fight against the masked foes they would face in their life. Every few months someone would show up from the masks organization to perform a few tests on Rob's psyche for several years since he was the youngest in a long time to channel a mask without training, most talk was that their dad secretly taught him without saying anything. Of course everyone who knew their dad said it was an impossible idea since he was home one night every few weeks, but rumors spread despite the facts. Rob never knew how he was able to the mask without being taught, but he said he heard his father’s voice from it telling him to fight. The years passed and they became the hunters they were today through the steady care of their uncle C and their cousin Noah.

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this chapter i got typed up almost immediately after ch. 19. Im so glad to be at this milestone, i hope to be able to get more typed up soon.
story by me
characters belong to: myself and  noah_pupper
the thumbnail for this was made by  jolijacques