Alright, this has been in waiting a lot longer than I'd planned, but I finally managed to get it finished. Without further ado, ladies and gentleman, I proudly present the sequel to my first story, Crossed Fates, entitled Crossed Fates: Legacy.
The cafeteria of the Hi-Skool was a mess of the usual chaos. Kids chattered lively at their tables while plucking at the parts of their food deemed edible, popular students discussed the latest trends they'd follow blindly for the next few weeks, jocks dumped the unfortunate nerds into trashcans, and so on. There was, however, one anomaly among the masses.
Seated alone at a table near one of the room's exits, a boy of seventeen devoted his whole attention to a small device that he was tinkering with, his food tray totally untouched. The boy would be considered unnoticeable, save the slight lime green shade to his skin, and the fact that each of his hands only had three fingers. From the edge of the boy's field of vision, he spotted a large boy wearing a football jersey skulking towards him.
"Hey Ryder!" The large boy shouted in an obnoxious tone. "Watcha got there?"
The boy, Ryder, made no effort to respond, instead keeping his attention solely on his work. The large boy's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, expecting the kid before him to cower in fear. "I asked you a question, freak." He started to reach for the device with a meaty hand. "Lemme see that." Before he could make contact, Ryder snatched the fork from his tray and planted it firmly into the table, barely grazing the large boy's skin.
"Jack, I recommend you walk away." Ryder finally said in an even tone. "I'm quite busy, and don't have time to entertain your narrow mind."
Jack's face began to contort with rage. "You calling me stupid? Huh? I ain't afraid of you, shitstain." He pulled his hand back and balled it into a fist. "Let's see how fast that alien blood of yours heals broken noses." Before Jack could throw the punch, though, Ryder snatched up the spoon on his tray. Without missing a beat, Ryder filled the spoon with some of his mashed potatoes and flung them in Jack's direction. The glob of starch-food hit Jack square in the eye, and the rotund boy was sent reeling backward, screaming in pain as his eye started to burn.
The other students in the cafeteria watched the scene with only mild amusement. "Man." One boy commented. "That's the third kid this week. Zach must be working on something really important." A girl nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and that's the second football player, too." Jack crawled towards the door, still screeching like a howler monkey from his fresh wound.
Zach didn't even give the injured boy a second glance, only scoffed under his breath and muttered something about the boy's stupidity in not heeding his warning. Another student cautiously approached the table, this one a timid looking girl dressed in a large jacket and baggy jeans, with chocolate brown hair partially covering her face. "Lucy." Zach said simply, still engrossed in his work.
Lucy silently dropped her lunch bag on the opposite side of the table and sat down, pulling out her baloney sandwich. Zach spared a glance upward and made a face of disgust. Once Lucy saw the look she put the sandwich away quickly. "S-Sorry. I forgot you don't like baloney." Zach raised an eyebrow and watched the offensive meat product disappear from view. "It's not a matter of dislike; it's a matter of intolerance. Irkens can't have meat at all. I apparently managed to be born without that trait, mostly, but baloney's still so…repulsive." Lucy nodded, taking a mental note of Zach's words. "So, basically no baloney. Got it." The two fell into silence, Lucy settling on eating the applesauce in her lunch, while Zach still concentrated on his project.
"Say." Lucy finally piped up after a long while. "What, err, what is that anyway?"
For the first time that lunch, Zach looked up from his work for more than a few seconds, his royal purple eyes meeting Lucy's emerald green ones. "You really want to know?" When Lucy nodded her head eagerly, Zach put his screwdriver down and took a deep breath. "Well, it's supposed to be a dimensional portal. A few weeks back, my father and a few of his colleagues finally confirmed the existence of parallel universes. So, working off of his findings, I've been trying to develop this little device which, theoretically, would allow the user to cross the boundaries between worlds. For example, I could travel to a universe where Gandhi hadn't been assassinated, and see what differences there are."
"Well what's keeping it from working?" Lucy asked, eyeing the device with increasing interest. "I can't imagine someone as smart as you having trouble with this sort of thing."
The compliment barely seemed to register with Zach. "The issue is that there's no way to ensure the portal's stable. Without being one hundred percent sure, there's the risk the portal will collapse mid-journey, leaving someone lost in the void between dimensions, with no hope of escape. That's the last part I need to work out."
Lucy gave the device one last look over before turning her gaze back to Zach. "That can't be too hard. Especially not for you. I mean, you're the smartest guy I know." A slight flush seemed to cross Lucy's cheeks, but she quickly brushed more hair into her face to conceal it. Zach made no comment on the motion. The conversation was interrupted when Zach's backpack beeped. Unzipping the bag, Zach pulled out his laptop to find video call waiting for him. The screen bore the Swollen Eyeball insignia.
"What is it?" Zach asked flatly.
The screen flickered until it switched to a silhouetted man's image. His long, scythe-like hair jutted well out of the camera's frame. "Agent Doppelganger, we've got an important mission for you. Are you familiar with Darkpoint Cave?"
"Should I be? It's only on the eastern edge of the city." When the man narrowed his eyes Zach dropped the sarcasm. "What's so important about the cave, anyway?"
The Agent on the screen chuckled. "Other Agents in your area have compiled reports of strange activity concerning the cave. All the reports seem to match up to one conclusion: Spell Drives burning off excess energy."
One of Zach's eyebrows arched upward. "And I'm assuming all these other Agents are already working on something for the Eyeballs, so you're sending me in." The Agent onscreen nodded. "Alright, would I also be right in assuming you've already taken care of the rest of my school day?"
"The principal has been told that you have a family emergency, and your teachers are excusing you from whatever classes you've got left. All that really matters are the spell drives. The Shrunken Head Foundation might be looking for them as well." With that, the call ended.
Without a word Zach closed his laptop, put it back where it was in his bag, and stood from the lunch table.
"H-Hey." Lucy started. "Do you think I could, you know, tag along this time?"
"Skool's not over for you." Zach replied simply. "Don't be stupid and cut classes."
Lucy lowered her head with disappointment. "Next time." Zach promised. "Next time you can come." That seemed to lift Lucy's spirits a bit, and she gave Zach a lingering smile as he turned and started out of the cafeteria. "You dolt…" She whispered to herself as she watched him leave.
After turning out of the skool exit and into the street, Zach shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and started down the sidewalk. His parents had both decided to move into a house within walking distance of Zach's middle and hi skool. The logic was, since they were both busy adults, it wouldn't be hard for Zach to get home if neither of them was available to pick him up. After roughly five minutes of silent walking, the front porch of his house found itself firmly under Zach's feet. He punched in the alarm code and opened the front door, shutting it behind him with a soft click.
"Possible intruder detected. You will identify yourself!"
The metallic voice rang through the house, its exact point of origin unknown. Zach let a semi-amused chuckle pass through his lips. "It's only me, TAZ. You can quit the guard-dog act."
"Zach? ZAAAAAAAAACH!"
A section of wall opened up, revealing the small, lifeless body of an outdated SIR unit. There was a clinking sound before the top of the SIR's head was opened up and a small chip was inserted into it. Zach watched as the SIR's eyes slowly lit up with a gray glow. Once TAZ had powered up, he dashed out of his body's storage space and snared Zach's legs in a death-grip of a hug.
"You're home early!" The little robot squealed against Zach's leg, acting as if the boy had been away at war. "What's UP with that, man? You're almost never home early."
"I know, I know." Zach replied, doing his best to pry TAZ from his leg. "Eyeballs sprung me. They've got some big important job that needs doing, and I guess I'm the only candidate. Uh, think I could get to my room? I just stopped by to grab a few things and check something before I get going."
TAZ's face fell. "You mean…you're not home just to play?" Zach shook his head remorsefully. "Sorry little bud, but duty calls for now. But, you know, you gotta watch the house. You're like a superhero, and I can't get in the way of you doing your superhero house-watching thing."
This brought a smile back to the cheery robot's face. "Ha-ha, ok then! I'll make sure NO ONE sets foot in this house."
"Good boy." Zach gave TAZ a pat on the head before heading for the stairs. He knew TAZ was originally a project of his grandfather's; an experimental AI that was going to be used for running cities, but after the project had been scrapped, his dad used the AI to power an old SIR unit, bringing TAZ to life. After his mom and dad moved into their new house, his dad had the house wired especially so that TAZ's AI chip could be uploaded into the houses security mainframe, putting the small robot in charge of housesitting when no one was around. Opening the door to his room, Zach tossed his backpack onto his bed and pressed a button near the edge of his desk. The top of the desk folded up and into the wall, revealing a large computer screen underneath. "Computer, pull up the Swollen Eyeball database."
"Please provide voice recognition key and codename."
"Agent Doppelganger."
The computer chimed and the Swollen Eyeball Network opened up to him. He directed the computer to exactly what he needed; the briefing for his mission and the exact location of Darkpoint Cave on a map of his city. He was about to close his desk up again when something the Agent who'd given him his mission had said popped into his mind.
"The Shrunken Head Foundation might be looking for them as well…"
"Well, information is power… Computer, show me everything there is in the database about the Shrunken Head Foundation."
There was a pause before the requested information replaced the map on the screen. Zach read what he saw onscreen out loud.
"The Shrunken Head Foundation; a private organization started almost immediately following the invasion of earth nearly twenty-five years ago. Similar to the Swollen Eyeball Network, The Shrunken Head Foundation, or SHF for short, is devoted to the discovery of paranormal and supernatural beings, making the Foundation a major rival of the Eyeballs. A stark difference between the two organizations is that, while the Eyeballs investigate their discoveries for the sake of better understanding the paranormal world, the SHF uses its discoveries for commercial success, such as acting as a private weapons developer, massing itself with a large paramilitary force. Agents of the Swollen Eyeballs are advised to exercise extreme caution around SHF members; they are ruthlessly trained, and more than a few Eyeballs have gone missing coincidentally close to the SHF making a new discovery."
Zach rubbed his chin after rereading the information. If the Shrunken Heads were in fact looking for these Spell Drives, he'd have to act quickly, or the Eyeballs would have his head. Closing his desk, Zach stood and emptied the books from his backpack, instead packing a flashlight into it to act as a spare, then picking up another, larger flashlight, but still small enough to not hinder his movement. Slinging his backpack back over his shoulder, Zach left his room and quietly left the house behind him.
The bus pulled to a stop and the doors slid open, letting Zach in. He fished the dollar and fifty cents needed for bus fare out of his pocket and gave it to the bus driver as he made his way to an empty seat. His house was near the center of town, so the bus was the quickest way for Zach to get to Darkpoint Cave.
"Hey, kid, what's wrong with yer skin?" Zach turned his head at a slight angle, making eye contact with an overweight woman sitting opposite him on the bus.
"Nothing." The reply was polite but curt; he could already tell he didn't want to drag this conversation out.
"Yeah there is! Ya look like one a them Vortians, or something."
Zach couldn't help but slap a hand to his face. Was this woman serious? "Miss, you seem to be mistaken. The Vortian race's skin tone is usually a gray color. You must be thinking of the Irken race, which is known for its green skin pigmentation."
The woman stared at him, dumbfounded. One of her eyes twitched and drool dribbled from her mouth. "Wha…huh…?" Zach slowly turned away and looked out the buses window. When the bus finally pulled to a stop as close to his destination as he could get, Zach stood and walked towards the exit.
"Wait a second, Irken. Ya gotta pay me two seventy five if you wanna ride on my bus!"
Zach faced the source of the belligerent shouts, coming face to face with a disheveled, probably homeless man. His clothes were tattered, and the man was coated with a thick layer of grime. "You heard me, now pay up, scum."
Zach raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware you owned this bus."
"Well, err, I don't, but I ride it all the time. 'Sides, I don't want you Irkens here, so if yer gonna be here, ya gots to pay!"
Rolling his eyes, Zach pulled a ten dollar bill out of his pocket. "Go get yourself a decent meal." He pushed the bill into the man's hand, who grunted in thanks, not actually expecting Zach to give him any money. Without a second glance, Zach closed the remaining distance between where he was and the door of bus. He was already at the edge of town, so Zach only had the ten minute hike left to the cave.
Zach's POV
The walk through the grass and hills was quiet and uneventful, but peaceful nonetheless. While I made my way, what those idiots on the bus had said crossed through my mind. I could never put my finger on why Irkens were still so despised. I mean after all they'd done, the least the human race could offer was some damn hospitality. Thanks to the Irkens, we had made major scientific advancements, we had planetary defenses and we were sending people into space regularly.
Still, I suppose old wounds take a while to heal. It's true; the Irken race did invade earth all those years ago, and it's not like I wouldn't have been pissed after something like that, but humanity was just too stubborn to forgive and forget. The Tallest had done everything they could to make amends, and all the governments of the world joined together in an act of peace, but so many of the people still held onto that grudge.
I stopped to observe my surroundings just in time to notice that I'd finally arrived at my destination: Darkpoint Cave. I could already see from outside that the cave's entirety was almost pitch-black. Clicking my flashlight on, I started on my expedition.
Darkpoint lived up to its name effortlessly, and before I knew it the only light provided was coming from my flashlight. The darkness was all-consuming, leaving me fumbling around the cave, trying not to trip over rocks. What were the Eyeballs thinking, sending me alone like this? Putting aside the risk of falling down some unseen chasm, where do I start looking for these Spell Drives?
The cone of light given by my flashlight only served to light the immediate path in front of me. I kept myself on the simple path, leading me deeper into the bowels of the cave. Wait, what was that? I could've sworn I just heard something, like stones being moved. Was I alone in here? I knew the stories about Darkpoint Cave being haunted, but I doubted it to be true.
I'd been walking for a while when I heard it again. It sounded like someone else walking through the cave. I took a risk and shone my flashlight around the corridor, but all I saw any way was more rocks, and the walls of the cave. Now I was admittedly nervous. This time, however, the sound was accompanied by more footsteps, and I could barely hear whispers. Taking a chance, I temporarily left the Spell Drives on the back burner and started in the direction of the voices, determined to find their source.
As I made my way farther, the voices became more distinguishable. "We gotta be close." The first voice I clearly heard was low and gruff, and I guessed it belonged to someone in their twenties. "Why did they send us after these things anyway? Spell Drives are infamous for almost always being out of Power Points." The second voice was feminine, and spoke with a stubborn inflection. I took a deep breath, realizing the two had to be SHF agents.
'Might as well see what I'm up against.' Turning my flashlight off, I used one hand to steady myself on one of the walls of the cave while I turned a corner. The cave opened up to a large chamber, which was surprisingly well lit, thanks to the set of lanterns spread out. The two agents I'd heard were standing in the center of the room, and there were three others, each seated near a lantern; the sentries. All of the agents had one thing in common: the black trench coats they were wearing, each labeled with the Shrunken Head logo. Well, looks like I was right. Big surprise there.
"We've gone through this." The male agent snapped impatiently. "We need those Spell Drives for study. Do you know how large the Eyeballs' collection of Drives is? The largest recorded on the planet. We can't let them get ahead. That's why we're here."
"Man, I just hope some of those amateur Eyeballs show up." This came from another member seated in the room. "Been too long since we've had a little fun with some of their agents."
I'd been so engrossed in my eavesdropping that I failed to notice the rock mere inches from my foot. Shifting my weight, I accidentally knocked my foot into the stone, sending it rolling across the floor, and causing the sound to echo through the chamber.
"Oh, fuck me." I scolded myself as attempted to duck out of the chamber. Too late, though; one of the SHF agents had already snatched up a lantern and aimed the light my way.
"Well well well." The agent said smiling smugly. "Looks like we got a little lost lamb here, don't we?"
Another agent stood and took a few steps forward. "Check his skin, boss. Either the kid's got some skin condition, or he's part Irken."
The agent with the lantern eyed me with a curiosity that did not sit well. "Can't be. Only one person I know of that's part Irken. Kid, you ain't the son of Shawn Ryder, are ya?"
"What's it to you?" I spat, taking an unnoticed step back. Did he really expect me to just give out that kind of information? I knew people were stupid, but I didn't know how stupid.
"Well, it's just, if you are, then you'd make the perfect hostage, don't you think?" The agent's smug grin widened and I could see malice bloom across his face. "If not, well, I'd always been curious what a half-breed's insides look like."
I could almost feel my stomach tie itself into knots. The agents all started to move closer, and I knew I needed a way out as fast as possible. Acting on mostly instinct, I threw my flashlight at the nearest agent, hitting him in the stomach before turning and running down the corridor.
"Shit! Someone get that brat so I can dissect him myself!"
The voice rang through the cave as I ran. I bumped against rocks and smacked into the cave's walls, but I knew stopping to get my spare flashlight from my backpack was not an option. The darkness was impenetrable to the naked eye, but I was able to find my way down into a separate pathway. I could hear the rush of footsteps still behind me, but it seemed like they were getting farther away. I spared a glance backwards. That was a mistake. I slowed my pace, and my foot caught on a particularly stubborn rock, sending me into the ground with an undignified crash.
"You hear that? He's this way!"
The footsteps again picked up in volume, and the light of the lanterns began to shine at the end of the hallway. Pulling myself onto my feet, I started to back up until I felt myself hit a wall. I would've taken off again, but the SHF agents were already upon me. I looked around for any way out as they closed in, but didn't see anything that offered any help.
"Give it up kid. You're coming with us."
"Spare the dramatics, idiot." I knew the smart remark was just a ploy to buy myself time. They knew it, too. One of them, the leader, I guessed, started to close the distance, but he stopped when we all heard something. Was that…cracking? The agents looked at the ground beneath my feet as looks of realization dawned on them. I looked down, too, only for the area where I was standing to lurch violently under my feet.
"Oh, you've gotta be ki-"
The ground under me caved in, sending me falling into the endless black abyss below. I couldn't see anything, but I felt the air nip at my face as I plummeted down. One of my hands shot out, groping at open air, trying to grasp onto something to steady myself. An outcropping of rock brushed against my palm, and my fingers closed, keeping me suspended in the air for a second. I reached up with my other hand, but before I get grasp the rock firmly I slipped, plummeting the rest of the way.
My back hit a wall behind me, which in turn sent me into the wall in front of me, knocking the air out of me. My eyes fluttered shut, then back open until I finally hit the ground with a solid smack. My vision got darker than it already was, and I felt my grasp on the world fade.
Regular POV
The Shrunken Head agents stared in disbelief at the newly formed hole in the ground. One of the agents took a slow step forward, shining their flashlight down the hole.
"Should we get some rope? Go in after him?"
The leader shook his head. "Ain't no way the kid survived that fall. Let's just get going."