UNMASKED

UNMASKED is the second chapter of Ray Fox. It deals with Ray's first meeting with Liev and his fateful encounter with Summer and Asuka. when they arrest him for being Blaze.

## Plot

The chapter starts the night on which the Port Town Gang was defeated. Wasp is at a cave, building a weapon to defeat Blaze and capture him, planning to strike out on his own. After finishing boasting, Wasp is attacked by Blaze, who promises not to hurt him if he tells him about the Monroe Syndicate, since he was unable to obtain information from the rest of the gang. Wasp complies with Blaze's demands. After obtaining the information he needed, Blaze left Wasp tied up on the rooftop of Wayside Hotel, with a note giving instructions to the staff to send Wasp to the police.

The following morning, Jak is talking with clients who want to join the gym. However, he makes a bad impression due to an overexcited Ray overworking Ally in her training to the point of making her faint. Jak gives Ray a scolding (and a comical beating) for making him look bad in front of new members. Liz apologizes to Ally for Ray overworking her, instructing Jak to attend the members while she and Ray take care of Ally.

As Ally recovers, she explains her desire to become a Meta, mentioning how Khali saved Morales. Ray goes on a passionate speech on how to become a Meta by pushing the limits of one's race, exploit their personal traits to become a threat, and develop their own personal techniques. As they talk, Ally mentions her suspicion of Blaze burning her skirt, which makes Ray nervous about it.

Upon reaching lunchtime, Liz and Ray take the moped to buy a sandwich. As they travel, Ray tells Liz what he learned about the Monroe Syndicate from Wasp, voicing his desire to share his knowledge with the MCD. The talk makes Liz uncomfortable, as she's worried about Ray's safety, suggesting that he takes a break and not get involved in something so serious. Ray refuses, stating that he's already involved and voicing his belief that their father would have done the same.

Liz notices a lion standing in the middle of the road. The lion is Liev, who uses his Rein Breaker to destroy the street. Ray protects Liz by evading the attack, causing Liev to identify him as Blaze in public. Ray shoves Liz away, ordering him to leave while he fights Liev. The fox uses his Black Boxing training to fight the lion without revealing his identity. Unfortunately, Liev overwhelms Ray easily since Ray is not using his full strength by using his powers.

Before Liev can kill Ray, his Rein Breaker is intercepted by a tanuki's swords and he is then kicked away by a hyena. Liev is surrounded by Meta Officers, forcing him to teleport away as he is outnumbered. In a blinding display of speed, the tanuki handcuffs Ray without him noticing. She tells Ray that she's from S.O.S. and is arresting Ray for being Blaze. Before Ray can say anything, Summer, the hyena who partnered up with the tanuki, kicks him in the face, knocking him unconscious.

In a building close to the scene, Liev is angrily scolding a subordinate for not doing warning him about S.O.S. arriving. Kelly, Liev's right hand, suggests to forget about Blaze since he just got arrested. However, Liev still wants to go after Ray, treating his inability to kill him as a personal loss. Liev refuses, sending Kelly to deliver some packages to a designated spot while he and some underlings raid S.O.S. to find Ray.

Ray wakes up at the South MCD Station House, handcuffed to a chair in an interrogation room. Summer and the tanuki see Ray waking up from the monitor room. The tanuki sends her underlings to confront Ray, who believes that they are henchman from the Monroe Syndicate. Ray attempts to fight the officers, but his handcuffs restrict his fire powers. As a result, Ray is beat up and tied up in bindings for his actions.

Summer and her tanuki superior enter the room, with the former pointing out that the latter shouldn't interrogate Ray and to let the interrogation be done by the detectives. The tanuki introduces herself as Captain Asuka Himura, informing Ray that she's in charge of field operations. Ray offends Asuka by calling her a raccoon, causing the indignant tanuki to threaten him. After calming down, Asuka informs Ray that S.O.S. knew that he was Blaze for days and had been tracking him down for a while, which was how they intercepted Ray when he was attacked by Liev.

Asuka takes out Ray's notebook, which contains very detailed information about Blaze's activities. Asuka admits that she doesn't care about Ray being Blaze, but she's interested in his abilities, stating that she knows that he's more than a Meta with a lighter, calling him a neo-mutant. Asuka tells Ray that she figured out he was a neo-mutant thanks to the fire at the Arsenal and his inability to escape with the handcuffs she put on since theya re designed to restrict neo-mutant powers. She asks Ray if he works for someone, where was the facility that made him, and who was his lead geneticist. Ray can't answer, as this is all new to him, admiting that he doesn't know what the the term neo-mutant means.

Asuka is shocked upon realizing that Ray doesn't know about her origins. Before she can continue the interrogation, Detective Saachi and Detective Reese arrive to interrogate Ray. Feeling desperate, Asuka uses one of her blades to give Ray a cut in the ear, forcing the detectives to forego their interrogation in favor of sending him to the infirmary.

Meanwhile, at the Meva City Capitol, Morales is at a meeting where other important figures in Meva City are talking about Liev and the Monroe Syndicate. A raccoon woman asks Morales about the Cremators that the Monroe Syndicate wanted. Morales explain that the term cremators was a cover-up. In reality, they are Parallax technology known as Rifters. The rest of the group don't believe Morales, believing that Parallax technology was a hoax from 70 years ago.

Morales explains that he was the former litigator of Project Cremator, learning about the project while he worked for them. He states that the Rifters have the ability of manipulating the space/time continuum. Georgia Avery, the raccoon at Morales' side, explains that the Port Town Gang nearly killed Morales for this explanation. She then states her desire to send Meta Agencies to track down Liev. The meeting ends when Morales is told that they captured Blaze during Liev's attack in the city.

Liev's men manage to infiltrate S.O.S. to find Ray's whereabouts, learning that he was in the interrogation room. Liev decides not to attack Ray while Asuka is around, as she's the only Meta Officer strong enough to get on his way. Because of this, Liev instructs his men not to do anything recklessly until he gives them the signal.

Ray wakes up at the infirmary with his ear bandaged up. Asuka enters the room, sheepishly apologizing for the act. Ray is naturally mad at Asuka for illegally interrogating him and cutting his ear. Asuka convinces Ray to talk to her by asking if he wants to know more about his powers. Feeling legitimately curious, Ray follows Asuka to her van, where Summer insults him. Asuka is shocked upon finding out that Ray was born with his powers, stating that it shouldn't be possible.

Asuka explains that a neo-mutant is a genetic test subject who obtain their powers upon having their neo gene altered, which enhances or changes their unique animal traits. Asuka states that other neo-mutants like Ray can throw lightning or turn their fur into metal. She explains that neo-mutants are government property and are normally kept secret, stating that she's one of few people who know about them. Her interest in Ray was born in the fact that a neo-mutant whose existence should be secret made his presence known by becoming a vigilante.

Ray tries to defend his case, voicing his desire to help and how he saved Morales. Summer loses her patience with Ray, calling him a poser and voicing her disapproval of him becoming a hero. Ray, fed up with Summer's verbal abuse, is about to fight her. Asuka gets in between them with her swords at their throats, telling them to cease their fighting.

Asuka tells Ray that she's giving him a second chance, but he must give up on being Blaze. She destroys Ray's notebook to prevent any Meta Officers from having evidence against him, but she also instructs Ray not to use his powers again, as there won't be a chance to prove his innocence if he gets arrested a second time. Outside, the S.O.S. is attacked by Liev's henchman. Ray tries to defend his cause, but Asuka explains that Ray already endangered himself and his sister by being a vigilante who knows nothing about his powers. Realizing he has no choice, Ray accepts Asuka's deal.

The meeting is cut short when Detective Saachi informs Asuka that the Monroe Syndicate is attacking S.O.S. and they need her help. Asuka orders Summer and her underlings to transport Ray to a safe place while they fight Liev. Detective Saachi warns Asuka that she will face punishment for her illegal actions (fake interrogation, assault of suspect, and having hidden conversations with him). Asuka doesn't mind the punishment as she just asks where Liev is so that she can take him down. Unknown to her, Liev's soldiers already accomplished their objective, so they teleport away before Asuka can help.

As Ray is being transported, the Monroe Syndicate attacks him, Summer, and Himura's subordinates by using a Rifter to knock down the van and suspend it in the air. Liev is outside the van, telling Ray that he's a threat to his plans as only a neo-mutant can stand against the power of the Rifter. Realizing that he indirectly put citizens in trouble by antagonizing Liev, Ray summons a bit of his powers to destroy a Rifter, allowing the van to fall down so that the officers can escape.

Summer bursts out of the van to kick Liev in the face. The hyena rushes at Liev, but Liev easily knocks her down by dodging her attack and elbowing her in the face. As Liev is about to kill Summer, Ray destroys his handcuffs with fire to attack the lion. Thanks to being able to use his fire powers in public, Ray fares much better against Liev, hitting him with fire enhanced attacks. Ray finishes the fight with an exploding punch, but he is shocked to see Liev still standing around. Liev punches Ray in the gut, promising to meet him again before teleporting away.

With Liev gone, Summer arrests Ray now that his identity as Blaze was confirmed. Asuka thanks Ray for saving her team, but she also voices her anger at him for breaking his promise to not use his powers since she can't protect him anymore. Ray apologizes for breaking his promise, but he felt he needed to do this since it was his fault that Summer nearly died because of him. He states that knowing that he's a neo-mutant makes him happy because he wants to grow and uses his powers for good.

Asuka is satisfied with Ray's answer. She offers Ray the chance to work at S.O.S. under her supervision, promising that she'll help him with his sentence. Ray doesn't get the chance to enjoy his new situation as he realizes that, with his identity as Blaze exposed, Ally will find out that it him who burned her skirt. Summer is indignant at having to work with Ray while Asuka works about having to work with teenagers, knowing that dealing with Ray in her team will be a challenge for the future.

## Trivia

* Starting this chapter, Ray, Liz, and other characters don't wear shoes anymore, as they go barefoot with wraps around their feet.
* Georgia Avery makes an appearance in this chapter, but she looks different in design when she appears on Chapter 4.
* Other than the sheepish smiles that Ray and Asuka give in this chapter, the teeth of the characters resemble fangs to highlight their animal nature.