This story takes place before the events of season one.
Warning: Part of this chapter includes a fighting scene and blood scene – young audiences are to be advised (this is where the "T" rating comes in).
All chapters featured in Midnight Heroes are told completely through Timmy's point of view (and thus, I will not repeat this message any other time throughout the story). I am hugely indebted to Renwotac1, since she is currently editing the whole story, and for giving me fantastic ideas! She is so helpful! And I cannot thank you enough.
Chapter One: A Horrible Day to Start an Adventure
I sat at my computer, typing away on the keyboard with the program I had started developing a few days ago up on the screen. While processing the changes I had just made, the screen went black, the only sign of it still working a small, blue bar on the bottom, with lettering dictating the phrase "DO NOT SHUT OFF COMPUTER" below. Through the black screen, I could see myself; I squinted to see better the image, and realized my hair sticking up near the back of my head. Ugh, I silently upbraided myself, even after ten minutes of combing my hair, it still won't stay flat on my head. It resembled somewhat of an orange, matted bird's nest. Of course, Zenith does not actually have any such "primitive" creatures as birds (unless they are animatronic or robotic) – the only way our populous actually knows about the species is from our technology, and as Zenith is the most advanced planet in the magical dimension, we most certainly have the technology to do so.
My thoughts were abruptly interrupted when a loud DING! came from next to me. I turned to see that a new message had arrived at my ZPPA (Zenithian Portable Planner and Analyzer). My face immediately perked up when I saw who it was, and I picked up the device. Abandoning the program and my hair problems, I hurriedly unlocked it and read the top of the message:
TEXT MESSAGE FROM COUNTESS VELOCIA.
Velocia, Countess of the Meta Province of Zenith…okay, maybe she is not a Countess yet, but she will be one day, just as he mother and father are Countess and Count at this time. I always had what one might call a "crush" on her – her kindness towards me and attractive looks had me falling for her. Though, I cannot say that I was or am surprised by my emotions. When I was younger, I consulted the Zenithian crystal reader, a device that can predict the future based on intense algorithms and mathematical equations only understood by the elders and greatest minds of Zenith, on the subject, which told me that this would happen during my adolescence. Breaking my thoughts purposefully, I turned back to the small, backlit screen and read the message silently:
Timmy – I need to talk to you. Come to my place by 4 pmt sharp; don't be late.
By the end of the text, I was up and speed-walking towards the other side of my room. Grabbing an orange jacket, I ran towards my dad's room and knocked on the open door. I told him once he turned around to look at me, "dad, Vel just texted me. I'm just going to go meet her and be back in about an hour." He nodded, and I took it as an, "okay, Timmy." After waving to him and gingerly closing the door, I ran to the elevator leading down to our apartment complex's lobby. My dad and I keep time by the Omicron, not the Theta, so I was still unsure about what Thetan time it was. With the rush, however, I forgot my PDA had both time zones installed into it by the manufacturer, by which time I was at the third floor. I almost screamed when I saw what time it was: "4:03 p.m.t. Ugh, I'm already late!" I rushed down out of the doors once the elevator reached the lobby, heading left towards the western end of the providence.
It took me 11.26 minutes to get to Velocia's house – usually, I would only need 7.4 minutes, but on the way, one of my shoelaces decided to untie itself and I tripped on it. "Such primitive technology," I muttered to myself as I retied it and rubbed my knee where it came in contact with the pavement. When I did finally reach Vel's house (well, maybe I should say palace – as her parents were the Count and Countess of Meta, Zenith, they have an extremely lavish, large house more so resembling a palace), I realized that the gate was kept open for me. Knowing the layout like the back of my hand, I directly rushed to the discussion room, panting heavily as I entered through the dark, wooden doorframe.
"Exactly 4.15 p.m.t. How…punctual of Timothy." I winced as the same, irritating, cold, anti-emotional voice came from behind me. I turned around to see her there, sarcastically commenting on my tardiness.
Tecna…the bane of my existence. The cockiest, meanest and the rudest girl in whole Zenith, Tecna has been after me since we met through Vel. Somehow, Velocia befriended her, probably due to the fact that both of them are fairies, and thought that we would get along – boy, was she wrong. I still do not have the faintest idea as to why she is always after me as if I am some kind of computer inflicted with a virus and it is her job to debug me, but I, nonetheless, have to put up with her. However, on her side, she has to be nice to me because I am Vel's friend as well (something that has most likely saved me from most of the more hurtful comments she would like to have thrown my way over the years). The worst part was, though, that she, Vel, and I all went to the same school, so she and I have had to put up with one another since we were young. Though I hate to admit it, she always was a smart girl (in school, it was rumored that she had an IQ of 150, even higher than my own [though just barely]), a fact only enhanced by her being the fairy of technology. Today, just as always, she was wearing a purple t-shirt hanging loosely on her body, pair of dark-wash jeans with a light green belt attached, and pair of purple and light-green sneakers; her purple glasses were present on the bridge of her nose, with a smirk to top the whole outfit off. Her short, bright pink hair shook slightly as she nodded her head left to right and muttered, "not."
"I'm sure he just received the message a late, Tecna." Just then, Velocia appeared. Her long, curly, light-brown hair was down, reaching halfway down her back, and on her slightly-tanned skin was a sleeveless, pink dress with gold detailing ending halfway to her knees. I smiled as she came into the room for saving me from Tecna's wrath (bar a death-glare she sent in my direction when Vel was not looking at us). However, my smile quickly faded when I saw the nervousness on the Countess' face.
I asked her, "Vel, is something wrong? You look worried."
She hesitated, then requested, "Tecna, would you please check if the room is sound proof?" Tecna nodded and, pointing her hands at the ceiling, created a neon-green bar that split, moved from the top of the room to the floor beneath our feet via the ornately-decorated red walls, and rejoined together before returning to the technology fairy's fingertips.
"Analyzing…sound getting out, 0% chance. This room is soundproof." Her voice was so animatronic, I could not believe it had come out of a human's mouth.
After nodding, Velocia took a deep breath and continued. "Something serious is going on around here."
"Yes, as someone like him is your trustworthy friend." I glared at her. Really, was that really necessary?
"Thanks," I dryly remarked. This time, it was her turn to glare at me; however, I just turned back to Vel and nodded, signaling her to go on.
"No, Tec. It's my parents-" Vel paused and turned towards Tecna. I followed suit, awaiting her response (both anxiously and nervously). We all knew how Tecna did not know who her parents were – or if she even had any, for that matter. I have heard Tecna called a "government experiment" by both herself and some of the other kids in our class, the "experiment" supposedly being to try to create the 'perfect" Zenithian fairy. No one knows what kind of person that was supposed to be, but what they got was, and I quote from Tecna's own words, "an intelligent, emotionless fairy of technology (a type of fairy which had not surfaced for a thousand years or more in Zenith, though it is the magical dimension's technological capital)." Another thing we all knew about her is that Tecna would never talk about the subject, let alone cry or be emotional about it; however, just to be on the safe side, we tried to avoid bringing up the subject of "parents." The last time someone did so referring to Tecna in her presence following ten minutes or so of persistent provoking, the antagonistic party was sent to the emergency room.
"Do not create suspense. It is highly illogical to do so." Tecna stated to, I believe, comfort Vel to the best of her efforts. And your behavior towards me? What kind of "logic" do you call that?
Vel took another deep breath and continued. "My…my parents think that I shouldn't go to Alfea with you…that…that I-I'd be better home studying." Tecna looked wide-eyed at Vel as I gasped. We had all agreed that year that we would all apply to go to Magix next year together for schooling at two of the three premier schools of the magical dimension – the Alfea School for Fairies for Vel and Tecna, and the Red Fountain School for Heroics and Bravery for myself. And now, just three weeks after all being accepted to our respective schools, that plan was put in jeopardy by the Count and Countess themselves…not exactly what we thought would happen.
"But they're absolutely wrong," Tecna and I exclaimed in unison. Ugh, I hate it when we do that.
"But Vel, you are the greatest velocity and speedy fairy I'd ever seen," I assured her.
Tecna turned to me, a sarcastic look on her face. She rebutted, "and exactly how many have you 'ever seen,' Timmy?"
"None – but that's not my point."
"Guys…" We both turned towards Velocia, stalling our argument for the time being. "Um…do you believe in destiny, guys?" Where did that come from? I quickly nodded my head as if to say no – I mean, everyone is "destined" to do something, per say, in that we all are supposed to do something in life, but it is near impossible to determine if one has a particular preset "destiny"…right? An awkward silence ensued. After a minute or so, Velocia turned to Tecna. "Tecna?"
"I tend to try to avoid such hypothetical questions. You can present ample amounts of logic to both sides," she explained.
"Well, I perfectly believe in destiny, and, yesterday, I think I had…a vision."
My eyes widened; I questioned, "wait, visions – visions, as in seeing the future? But that doesn't make any sense – visions are extremely rare for one to have, and they are usually either the result of an imagined reality or dreams that one can think of as a view of the future."
"Exactly," Tecna agreed, her tone a bit snappy. I'd presume she was just a bit mad that I beat her to explaining what visions usually were to Vel. "However, one cannot be too sure. What did you see in your visions, Vel?"
For the third time that day, Velocia took in a deep breath – this one was most definitely sharper than the former two – before explaining her dream. "I…I saw my p-parents." The hesitation in her voice was plainly evident. "They…they w-were being k-killed." She broke down after saying the last word, causing Tecna and I to look at one another, unsure about what to do at this point.
Okay, how do I handle this without making Vel even more upset…I guess I will just have to give it to her straight. "Um…t-that's just a normal reaction, Vel – you care for your parents deeply, that's all. There's nothing wrong with it."
Tecna added, "I hate admitting this, but I must agree with Timmy's summation. Now, let's forget this – the more pressing matter is that of you going to Alfea. We could go and talk to your parents about allowing you to attend, if you wish." Velocia wiped a tear from her eyes, then nodded slightly. After bringing her to her feet, Velocia, Tecna, and I walked down the main hallway and into the Count and Countess' waiting room, where we would have to get an appointment to visit Velocia's parents. Yes, even Vel had to get an appointment to just see the faces of her parents; let me just say that Zenith's high privacy system is, in one word, lame. Once we arrived there, the animatronic robot acing as a receptionist for the Count told us that someone had just gone in, so we would have to wait. And so, we were reduced to sitting down and waiting for Velocia's parents to be ready to see us, myself on one side of the Countess and Tecna on the other. We sat in silence, though Tecna did, at one point, pull up one of her neon-green, pixelated screens, not telling us what she was doing before, during, or after she did so.
"Water?" The receptionist robot came over to and asked us this after a few minutes of silence.
"Yes, please," Vel replied. Tecna and I, meanwhile, both shook our heads. The robot walked forward, bringing out a glass of water from its inner storage compartment in its hand. Suddenly, a small tinge of electricity came out from the side of its neck, and the robot dropped the glass on the floor, but not before allowing most of the water to spill on Velocia's dress. "What kind of behavior is that, you mechanical buffoon? Do you even know who I am?" Velocia stood up as her voice increased almost to the point of breaking our eardrums. The robot then fell down on the floor and, simultaneously, sirens started to ring out around us; a red light became the only light source in the room.
"Something's wrong," Tecna abruptly stated. Her voice was solemn, for the situation had turned serious – she pointed to another robot, who had also collapsed on the ground just a few feet away.
"Power failure?" Velocia said.
"No." Suddenly, Tecna's eyes grew bigger, and she turned to Vel. "Vel, stay here. Timmy," she turned to me, "follow me." She started running towards the room in which the Count and Countess were, scaring me a bit by whatever she may be thinking. The room was locked; thus, Tecna reverted to kicking the door hard, forcing it in instantaneously. All hail the Zenithian security!
Tecna was the first to see the scene that laid before us. I had never seen Tecna show any emotion whatsoever – and, being as she herself thought she was just a "government project" and, even if she was inclined to believe otherwise, she would never show her emotions to anyone (especially me) – but I could have bet all of my technology on her face showing just the slightest tinge of fear. I, personally, was flabbergasted. If this scene gave Tecna of all people a reason to show emotion, then it had to be terrible, and, until I saw it myself, I did not realize how bad it was. I quickly turned around – Vel was right on our tail, trying to see what was in front of us. She just cannot see it…she just can't.
"Don't let Vel see it," Tecna murmured, having the same idea as me. However, by that time, it was too late: Velocia had overpowered me (not a difficult task to succeed at), and gasped the scene before us, giving a loud shriek at the sight. Before her stood a room was filled with blood and, in the center, lay a sight none of us ever hoped to see. There laid the lifeless bodies of the Count and Countess of the Meta province of Zenith.
Velocia turned towards and hugged me, sobbing into my chest. I stood there, enjoying having her choosing to hug me in her time of need, yet utterly baffled both by the scene before us and what to do next. Tecna's face, however, was still stoic as ever.
"Easy, Velocia," Tecna told her after a few minutes of crying. I assumed she did so because she was uncomfortable being surrounded by a volatilely-crying Countess and boy she hated at her core, but I learned a few minutes later that she did so to get a word out over our friend's loud sobbing. Hushed, she whispered to me, "obviously a murder scene. We should inform law enforcement immediately." I nodded to her and, in an attempt to get in touch with the Zenithian police, brought out my ZPPA. Wait, this is weird…I told myself as I stared at a black screen, I never turned my ZPPA off… I tried to turn on the device, but it would not comply. A look of terror came over me, and I looked at Tecna; only a frown emerged from her face, but I knew that she had in mind exactly what I did.
"If a device as primitive as that does not work, then something must have occurred to the technology of Zenith as a whole – something possibly connected to the murders." The technology fairy stated the fact as if she was stating a statistic. Velocia was now crying on her shoulder, leaving me to wonder exactly how these two people – a fragile, emotionally-driven Countess and stoic, emotion-less "government project" – became friends in the first place.
Suddenly, another terrible thought came into my mind. "Wait, what about the other Zenithians? If technology has been affected, then what has happened to them?
"Let's just get her out of here – I do not believe Velocia can stand much more of this." I nodded and, leading a still-sobbing Vel through her own mansion, exited with the two girls outside onto the streets of Zenith. They were littered with robots, both broken and shut down, lying on the pavement and collecting mounds of snow on their metallic surfaces; however, no actual people were present. Tecna is right – the technology had been disabled. I could not bear myself admitting it, not because it was her that stated it, but because of what the statement meant, assuming it was true.
"It's my fault, I should've warned them earlier," Velocia sobbed, speaking for the first time since seeing her parents' bodies. Before either Tecna or I could console her, a voice came from behind us.
"Velocia!" We both turned around and saw a man (the first human I had seen since coming outside) running towards our small group. Immediately, I recognized it as Velocia's uncle, Sir Cosecant (though he insists that everyone call him "Sir Cos," despite that no one really knows why). His slightly-graying black hair stuck to his head in a way that could only be done with hours of grooming and a tube of gel, and he wore his official palace attire, consisting of a red, long-sleeved shirt, gray pants, and an obnoxiously-long red cape (which, if you were not too careful, could trip you easily when you walked behind him).
Seeing her uncle, Velocia ran to and hugged the large, somewhat muscular man. He, in turn, started to caress her hair and hold her head with his hands with great care. "I know it must be hard, Velocia, to see your parents die in such a gruesome manner." Velocia nodded at his statement; however, that was not what struck me as odd – from the corner of my eye, I could see Tecna's eyes getting bigger by the second, an action that left a confused expression on my face.
"VELOCIA," Tecna exclaimed, "he's not supposed to know that, unless…" I immediately got Tecna's drift and turned towards Cos, a look of fear developing on my face.
A smile grew on Cos' face – not a benevolent smile, however, but one of pure evil. It scared me to my core. "Unless, I'm the one who killed them, right?" The atmosphere became so horrible at that moment that I thought I would faint. It was only because of my inner Specialist aura that I remained conscious…well, that and if I had fainted, I would have given Tecna another thing to laugh at me for. But, more so, because of my Specialist aura. "And you'll face the same fate, my dear niece." Just then, Sir Cos took a knife out from the inner folds of his shirt (a knife…such an embryonic device), holding Velocia's arm firmly and staring at her in madness. Vel started to scream; I almost fainted yet again, but held on for reasons unknown to me.
"NO!" Tecna ran towards the self-professed murderer and Vel, pushing the latter out of the former's way. However, the knife had already come down – no one could see if Vel was hurt, but I gasped when it fell down extremely close to her skin. I pulled Velocia out of the way and examined her – she appeared unscathed, bar this extremely-traumatic event, but I only had a moment to inspect her before getting my attention pulled away by our pink-haired friend. "FIREWALL!" Soon, a large, neon-green shield came out from Tecna's wrists, deflecting the knife from her own skin. I breathed a sigh of relief; however, it was short-lived, as her shield size was getting smaller by the moment.
"Timmy," she yelled at me, her face turned so she could look at both Cos and me via her peripheral vision, "take cover with Velocia! I can't hold the shield much longer."
"How long will you hold when your power source is disabled? You will all die today," Sir Cos commented, laughing maniacally at her plea. I nodded, taking Velocia to an alleyway about a hundred feet away from the scene.
"Stay here, Vel – I'll go help Tec." Before she could respond, I was off running back to the Fairy of Technology's side. Her shield was even smaller, and shrinking every second.
"Just admit defeat, you insignificant fool! I have all of the technology of Zenith – you are powerless!"
"Please, Tecna, give this up – I cannot live anymore." I turned around to see Velocia standing about ten feet behind me. I psychologically smacked myself, knowing that I should have seen this coming.
"Vel, I told you to stay over there!" What are you trying to do, get yourself killed?
"I will not stay over there while you guys are all fighting for Zenith." She then turned towards Tecna and yelled in her direction, "come on, Tec, I do not want to live anymore. Do not do this to yourself."
Tecna's shield was almost gone by this time. If I were to estimate, it would last for all of five more seconds. She turned around to face us – her face was still as stoic as ever, despite the current situation. "This is not the time to be sentimental! I promised your parents that would do anything to protect you, and I will keep that promise to you and your parents, no matter what it must take!" My mouth was near fully open at this. What is she talking about…and what in the world is she trying to do? If she doesn't get out of there, then Cos is going to kill her, then us. Why are they fighting about staying here?
By this time, Tecna's shield was gone; however, something else was in its place – a bright, neon-green aura was growing around Tecna, getting brighter around her every second.
"A transporting spell," Velocia muttered, the sound only barely reaching me. I was facing her as her face twisted into a fear-filled expression. "But that will cost her massive energy! She doesn't even have her transformation yet, let alone the power to perform such a powerful spell!" It was too late, however, to change Tecna's mind. In a moment, we were not in the abandoned streets of Meta, Zenith anymore – we were teleporting. Not looking around to see where we were now or if either of the girls were okay, I closed my eyes out of pure exhaustion, only having my thoughts to break the silence.
What Tecna did today, I thought to myself right before drifting off into a sleep of pure darkness, was way too cool for a cocky and selfish girl.
So, what did you guys think of chapter one - I hope you liked it!
