Encounter for the Big Apple.

The air stunk. Carriages filled the roads angrily yelling at everything around them. People moved in floods making it nearly impossible to move around without attracting attention if you looked different. Overall, it was a terrible place for Kaiju to be but the girl insisted on coming. There was suppose to be some big apple in this metal and brick forest and the girl just had to see it, if not take a bite out of it. However her first issue was her attire. Her traditional garbs with a cloak was not going to be enough this time. Scouting the area and view the different things people wore, the girl identified some combinations of clothing that would not be too uncomfortable to wear and still allow her access to most of her abilities. The only problem was that she needed money which she did not have.

Money was hard to get in this world. There was minimal conflict and a large group of knights in blue outfits with shiny badges on their chest. Though they were weak, any problems that arose in this world was easily taken care of by them. The bigger problems would draw in these meta humans. Beings who could do more than the normal population. This is the category that Kaiju fell into. While it was nice to be special, it was not nice to be treated bad for being different. It was not nice to hide her face all the time. So she accepted that she had to do a bad things or two in order to blend in.

Moving around in her cloak, she found a large building that sold lots of clothing. When she tried to walk in, she was immediate stopped by a young woman. Apparently, you could not walk into buildings with your face covered. Also, you needed shoes to walk around in these buildings. Confused, the girl allowed the security to walk her out. It was not right. Sure she planned on taking stuff, but it was for this reason alone. She wanted to wander the city freely and now she had the validation she needed.

As the sun set, the girl made her move. Sneaking into the building through a backdoor. She crushed all the locks and doors that stood in her way. Using her drones, she distracted security and lured them away from her so she could pick out clothing the planned seemed to work until a female cop found the girl looking through clothes, the same one that escorted her out.
"STOP THIEF!"
By this time, the commotion at the department store spread as people fled the area. Police sirens screamed in the streets. Worst of all, Kaiju was angry.

As the sun lit up the other side of the planet the skyline of NYC grew darker, the stary sky drowned out by the beeping of cars and the nightlights that filled the Horizon. A Young man stood atop the empire state building, his armoured hand grabbing onto the side of one of the corners of the building, taking in the view he was given. He watched the world below, the movement of the cars causing him to see his surroundings in child-like wonder, it was so mesmerising. All fears of hights had been abandoned due to such a spectacle, and the aspiring hero took his moment to take that in, before pulling himself up so that he could stand over the small world below.

"Man, it's beautiful up here, we should coming up here just to enjoy ourselves Pari..." The awestruck human gawked with a smirk hidden behind his masked face.

'Yes Shiloh, it is a great place to sit and think, but we should really proceed with the task at hand.' The voice of the parasite on his back replied in his head, it's logical tone causing Shiloh to shake his head, Pari was never any fun. 'We need to go find someone to takedown, if you want to get recognition then you need to bring someone in, otherwise you will not gain anything from just sitting here while I'm like this. Being active while you are just going to fool around is only going to make you feel drained later on.'

"Yeah I get it, yesh, you'd think you were my mother with how much you complain." Droning, Shiloh tied his jacket around his waist as bug wings suddenly began to sprout out of his back,  lightly fluttering as he was nearly ready to take off. He looked down towards the ground, seeing some sort of commotion, and decided that that'd be the best place to start.

'Did you ever come up with that hero name of yours? It will be important later on...' Asked the bloodsucker on his back politely.

"Yeah, The wonderful, powerful Parasyte!"

'So just my name then? That is... original...'

"No actually!" Shiloh tutted angrily, crossing his arms in a childish way. "It's actually spelt with a Y instead of an I, it's quirky and cool!" he continued angrily, soon letting the anger run off of him as he prepared for the journey he'd need to take.

Taking a step over the edge, Shiloh began his descent to the earth below, aiming straight down as his wings began kicking up their speed. Expanding the wings out, Shiloh turned through the tall buildings around him, smiling as he glided down to the earth below. If only he could enjoy the feeling of the wind hitting his face. He kicked up an impressive amount of wind as he narrowly missed the ground with a glide, fluttering gently to a stop in front of the building people ran from.

Walking into the building Shiloh kept his guard up, looking around the clothing store for the robbers, smiling behind his helmet.

"Showtime..."

Kaiju's eyes turned red as they locked onto the cop's face. The girl remembered the woman clearly. Kicking her out cause she was breaking some made up rule. The girl would not tolerate anymore. It was the woman's turn to be kicked out.

All of Kaiju's drones disappeared. She dropped the skirt that was in her hand. Then she slipped her hand into her cestus. The cop pulled out her baton.
"I am warning you! Stand down, you are under arrest monster."
Monster? So she knew who Kaiju was. That made things more difficult. A loud grasshopper chirp left Kaiju's mouth as she clenched her teeth. Her shells grew over her body as she activated her Uca Soul. She did not turn her hand into a claw though. There was no point in going that far with when dealing with normal people of this dirt world. They were all much weaker and the cop knew that.

The cop took a step back and pulled out a radio.
"The metahuman is here. I repeat, the meta human is here. I need back..."
A black knife lodged itself into the radio and brought it to the ground. Kaiju did not need more people coming. She just wanted to grab what she needed and get out. Too bad the woman had to get in her way.

Kaiju ran at the woman and grabbed her by her chest. The woman swung her baton but Kaiju blocked it with her Cestus. Then the Turman Slammed her onto the ground next to the broken radio.
"I want see big apple. You won't stop me."
Kaiju's voice clicked as it fought to urge to make more insect noises. Then Kaiju slammed her cetus into the ground crushing the tile next to the woman's face. The woman screamed with tears rolling down her face.
"QUIET KNIGHT, You are weaker than Kaiju!"
Kaiju then picked the woman up and threw her across the across the floor. The woman however was mostly unharmed. Kaiju did not want to hurt her, only to scare her a little bit. She was not a monster after all. So when the woman ran away, Kaiju would not chase her and returned to looking at the skirts. Of course, Kaiju had her cloak over her head to hide most of her face and cover her upper body.

Shiloh threw his jacket around himself as he kept his guard tight, peering through the mask he wore, looking for any movement around him. He heard a loud thud. Then followed by the cries of terror from a woman and the growling of another. The shouting one spoke in a very odd way, describing the victim as a "knight" of all things, making him assume that the thief was delusional. Probably some nut from a nearby asylum who got out her straight jacket and decided that stealing would be her great conquest for the king. Stepping toward the noise, the crying woman was hurled in front of him, a look of true fear on her face.

"Don't worry I'm not with whoever that is, I'm here to help, just get yourself to safety and tell the cops once you're there." Shiloh aided the woman, lifting her to her feet and shouldering her as she caught her breath. With the woman looked after to the best of his ability, Shiloh allowed her to run off, turning his attention to the matter at hand.

'She doesn't seem to be a regular criminal Shiloh, this is your first proper fight with a metahuman, I'll try my best but you should keep your wits about you regardless.' The parasite warned its host, worrying for him much like a mother.

"Yeah I will, you don't gotta tell me twice..." The host whispered back, making the knuckles of his exoskeleton grow spikes, forming a sort of pair of organic knuckle-dusters. Coming into the view of the woman, Shiloh kept his guard up, looking dead at the cloaked figure in front of him.

"I don't know what fantasy land you came from, honestly I don't care, but you're really messing up here lady if you think it's acceptable to just ransack stores because you feel like it." Shiloh taunted as he advanced forward, a cocky smirk behind his mask, he was enjoying this.

"You have two options as I see it, come with me and explain yourself, or we fight and I call the cops so they can collect you once its done. Which will it be?"

Emerl's eyes, which were green, continued inspecting the skirt. It was a dark purple, a color which reminded her of someone who was important to her. She shook her head as doubt built in her mind. He would be upset at her for sure if he knew she was stealing again, even if it was for a good cause. She pulled the skirt to her chest and tried to focus on her goal. She had to find the big apple.

Then a voice pulled her attention. She tilted her head to the stranger. He wore a mask and was dressed differently from the knights of this world. He also somehow knew she was not from the dirt world. Her heart raced. She took a step back and looked him up and down. He looked different. He was not from her world, at least not with those clothing, and she could not smell any substantial amount of aura on him. This meant he was this meta human. She clenched her teeth and held the skirt close to her chest.
"What! How you... you know this not home..."

Her eyes shifted to yellow almost glowing under her hood. She had to get away from him. Who knew what else he knew about her. Instead of outright fleeing, she decided to bluff.
"Am dan..dangerous. Stay away!" she warned adding the chirp of a grasshopper to her words.
The last meta she "fought" was way more powerful than her. He could be just as dangerous. She quickly toss the skirt back onto the clothing rack and drew her black bowie knife and cestus on her right hand. Then she puffed her chest out hoping look more confident and intimating. Finally she let out a loud cicada cry in hopes that her loudness would be the final straw that made the man back away.

'It seems this girl has powers similar to mine, or at least ones that are insectoid based, interesting...' The parasite documented as it protected Shiloh's ears as quickly as it could from the girl's powerful scream. The exoskeleton shifted under his mask and built itself up around his ears to block out the incoming sound. 'She's scared. Exterminate her swiftly.'

"No!" harshly came Shiloh's whispered response to the thing that was strapped to his back. "I don't care if it's more efficient or saves more time, I already told you Pari, no killing!" He scolded, putting his guard down and letting the spikes on his knuckles disappear back into the bio armour. The girl was scared, even he could see that, she wasn't exactly trying to be any sort of threat to anyone. He slowly approached the girl, hands coming forward to show he meant no harm, speaking in a softer and nicer tone.

"Look, it's alright, I don't want to hurt you or anything. You're clearly just in need of some clothes or something right? If that's why you're stealing then I suppose that I could let it slide, but couldn't you of stolen from a charity shop or whatever? Woulda' been a lot less serious if you avoided high-end places like this." Shiloh started, ending it with a sympathetic sigh as he looked behind him, checking that no one was coming to the scene just yet.

Walking over to the checkout that was close to them, Shiloh pulled out some money from his jacket pocket, whining internally as he placed down the money he had saved for the snacks he'd need to recover some iron later. The money totalled to about $65 approximately (using his parasite for extended periods was extremely draining) and thusly the girl technically wasn't stealing anymore, just trespassing, a crime that was basically null in Shiloh's eyes.

I've paid for the skirt you've grabbed, you may as well grab some shoes while you're at it, and then you can tell me about why you're snooping around here?"

Kaiju watched as the man stood there unphased by her tactics. Did he see through her bluff? Was she going to have to fight? Upon further inspection, the thorns on the man's armor receded. Then he started to approach her. Kaiju raised both her weapons and grounded her back foot. He raised his hands for what she could only assume was an act to show he was non aggressive. She did not lower her weapons and let out a katydid clicking sound, which was more quiet compared to her previous outburst.  

This man was a talker like the last meta and showed how much more he knew about her. Was he reading her mind? Was he a spy? Was this a trap? His voice was soft as he continued to play his peace act. Finally Kaiju humored him.
"If you dont want to hurt me... Then leave. Don't understand what charity shop is... Don't understand many things about your Dirt World. Only want to see Big Apple. People treat me different cause clothes. I get new clothes and be treated normal."

The boy sighed and then placed something onto the counter. This was not the first time she seen this act. Once again, someone was funding her actions. She gritted her teeth as her debt grew. Her heart felt heavier. Her arms trembled. She was wrong. She knew she was wrong. Now she had reason to stay wrong. Before she had an excuse. The people would not let her in. They kicked her out. They were mean. This man was none of that. He was a good person.
"AARGHHH" she screamed before knocking down nearest clothes rack, "DONT WANT ANYMORE!"

Tears rolled down her face as her eyes shifted blue. This world was not fair. Why couldn't he attack her. Why couldn't the strong people on this world validate her actions just once. She sheathed her knife and then rubbed her eyes.
"Wont accept charity... again!"

"Woah, take a breather okay? I don't want you blowing a fuse or anything okay." The man sympathised with the crying girl as he walked over to her, lifting up the fallen clothing racket as he did so, passing her a pair of sneakers and shaking them lightly as if to tell her to put them on.

He wanted to make sure that the girl didn't have a big meltdown in the middle of the city, and all this talk of a 'big apple' interested him, so he was going to do the best he could to try and humour her so that she'd be a little calmer for the time being.

"So you're looking for some sort of apple right? Tell me about it."

"Won't blow away this fuse..." Kaiju spouted while lower her hands. She refused to fall into an angry emotional state and risk losing control now. Fighting was pointless and would hinder her goal. When he moved closer she backed away to maintain a distance of a couple feet instinctively. When he picked up the fallen clothes, she clenched her teeth again. Then he held out some shoes as if he wanted her to have them.

She stepped forward grabbed the shoes. She would prefer not to wear them but she did not want to say anything, not yet. She looked it the weird item. They did not look very protective. They would not allow her to use her Dorylus exoskeleton. They also were probably uncomfortable too. She could never understand how anyone could wrap their feet and walk around without feeling the ground out side of snowy areas.

"People talk about this Big Apple. I want to find it. Lots of people wants to visit. Others want to live in this apple. Can only dream living in an apple. Will it rot? Can take bite? Sounds fun."
Kaiju started to smile a little bit.

'An apple? If such a thing exists we should definitely go and check that out, it would be a very valuable asset considering the struggles you have with sustenance, you should really consider taking residence there...' Pari wondered as his host just chuckled at the girls explanation of what she had come to the city searching for. It seems that both of the insect-like entities didn't have a good grasp on the expressions of everyday humans.

The big apple wasn't a thing that rotted, tasted, it certainly smelled but that wasn't the point. Ever since he first heard the expression for his darling city Shiloh had been enamoured by it, wondering why everyone called it such a silly thing, and he'd never gotten a straight answer from anyone he knew. His parents told him it was in the same vein as "the apple of my eye", which he honestly quite liked the idea of, but he'd gotten such other reasons for it. The city was cherished by almost all of the country, and so his mother and fathers definition is sort of what stuck with him, even if it wasn't a directly true answer.

"The big apple isn't a giant fruit, it's what people call the city itself, New York." He explained as he stretched on the spot. "No idea why they call it that but they do, but I understand the confusion, sadly there isn't anything like that. Not around here at least..."

"Don't really mean to disappoint you, but that's it really, just a nickname is all...

"WAT!" Kaiju's eyes turned green as she fell onto her knees. Her face was red. All of her work, waste of resources, were for nothing. Not only was her ideology wrong, she had once again worsen her image. Her heart kept thumping as she imagined "him" scolding her.

What was she to do now? There must be some way to scavenge this. There had to be something she could do to move forward in this grey forest. Maybe this person could help her? Other metahumans helped her.
"Then... What do I do?" She kept her head down not wanting to look at the man in front of her, "Maybe I help you. Then get small... apple? You remind me of home little. Feels more comfortable."

The last part was a half lie. His weird armor did resembled Turmans but being around other Turmans from other families rarely brought positive feelings. It made her always feel unease, scared, angry, or just competitive. The man brought none of those feelings despite his form but she figured it was only because he was not using a soul gem to obtain his abilities.